JPH0413847B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a photo-etching resist for recovering a reusable resist solution after applying a photo-etching resist used in manufacturing semiconductor devices, etc. The present invention relates to a coating and recovery device.

(Prior Art) Resist spinners are used for most of the resists used in the manufacture of semiconductor devices such as ICs and LSIs. Generally, when applying resist to a substrate approximately 125 mm square, approximately 1 c.c. of resist is dropped onto the center of the substrate and the resist is applied onto the substrate by rotating the substrate at 1000 to 5000 rpm. At this time, the resist that is initially scattered from the substrate is in a liquid state, and then becomes a mist. Liquid resist hits the outside wall and accumulates at the bottom or is guided to a waste liquid reservoir, while mist adheres to the wall and solidifies, or solidifies in the exhaust pipe as the solvent evaporates during scattering.

In the conventional technique, the resist applied to the substrate, which is the plate to be coated, is less than 1% of the dropped resist, and the remaining 99% or more becomes waste liquid. For this reason, devices have been developed to recover the resist liquid dropped onto the substrate.
A resist coating device disclosed in Microfilm No.-52621 is known.

In the disclosed device, as shown in FIG. 3, a resist liquid suction port 10 is opened to surround the substrate mounting table 1, and a recovery container is provided at the tip of a resist liquid outlet port 11 connected to the resist liquid suction port 10. A tank 12 is provided in which the resist liquid 3 dropped onto the substrate 2 is stored.
can be collected in a collection container tank 12. However, in this device, the collection container tank 12
Resist solution is now being collected in
This resulted in the recovery of resist liquid that would be better disposed of as waste liquid, resulting in a problem in that the quality of the recovered resist liquid deteriorated and the recovered resist liquid could not be reused.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) An object of the present invention is to provide a recovery device for recovering only a reusable resist liquid in an initial state of rotation after dropping a resist.

(Means for solving the problem) Means for solving the problem in the present invention are as follows:
A rotating table on which a substrate to be coated with resist is set and driven to rotate, a ring-shaped collection container provided on the outer periphery of the rotating table, an opening of the collection container being opened and closed, and when the substrate is opened, the substrate is placed on the rotating table. a ring-shaped lid body having an opening formed toward a position higher than the substrate and reaching a position lower than the substrate when closed; a case housing the collection container and the lid body and having an entrance/exit above; A nozzle for dropping resist toward the center of the rotary table, a resist collection bottle connected to the collection container through a collection pipe, and a waste liquid container connected to the case through a continuous pipe, This system collects only the resist that can be reused during the coating process.

(Operation) A substrate is set on the rotating table, and resist is dropped onto the center of the substrate. The lid is opened and the rotary table is rotated, and the resist scattered during the initial stage of rotation is collected in a collection container and collected in a collection bottle or a supply bottle. The collected resist will be reused.

The lid automatically closes after the set time has elapsed, and the collection container is sealed, while the turntable continues to rotate and performs the resist coating operation.

(Example) FIG. 1 is an overall view showing the state with the lid off, and FIG. 2 shows the state with the lid closed. In these figures, the collection container 1 is a ring-shaped container,
A rotary table 3 is provided in the central cavity 2. The rotary table 3 is connected to a drive shaft of a motor 4 installed below the collection container 1, and is driven to rotate.

The recovery container 1 is provided with a lid 5 for opening and closing the upper end opening. The lid body 5 is formed in a ring shape, and a hem portion 5a protruding from the outer periphery is connected to an output shaft 7 of a vertical mechanism 6 installed at the bottom of the collection container 1. The opening of the collection container 1 is closed by moving up and down, and when the lid is opened, an opening is formed toward the rotary table 3.

In addition, when the lid 5 is closed, it is located several millimeters below the coating surface of the substrate (not shown) placed on the rotary table 3, and when it is open, it is located several millimeters above. Further, the lid body 5 is provided with an arcuate inner wall 5b so that the resist is guided into the collection container 1 when the lid body 5 is opened.

Further, both the collection container 1 and the lid 5 are housed in a case 8.
An entrance/exit 9 is formed in the upper part of the rotary table 3 so that substrates can be loaded onto and taken out from the rotary table 3.

Reference numeral 10 denotes a nozzle for dropping resist onto the rotary table 3, from which resist is supplied from the resist supply bottle 11.
Supply pipe 14 via pump 12 and filter 13
It is connected to the. A collection bottle 15 collects the resist collected in the collection container 1, and the resist is collected through a collection pipe 16. Note that the recovery pipe 16
is connected to the bottom of the recovery container 1, and the inner wall surface of the recovery container 1 is formed into an inclined surface 1a so that the resist can be easily recovered.

Reference numeral 17 denotes a waste liquid container for collecting the resist not collected in the collection container 1 as waste liquid, which is introduced from the collection container 1 through a connecting pipe 18 . 19 is an exhaust device provided in the waste liquid container 17, and 20 is a controller for controlling the motor 4 and the pump 12.

The embodiment has the above structure, and in order to collect and reuse only the liquid resist that is scattered initially during the resist coating operation, first, the substrate is set on the rotary table 3 with a vacuum chuck or a nail chuck, and then the substrate is removed. Resist is dropped from the nozzle 10 to the center. Next, the rotary table 3 is rotated by removing the lid 5.
Then, the liquid scattered resist hits the inner wall 5b of the lid 5 and is collected in the collection container 1, so that this initial liquid resist is collected in the collection bottle 15. The lid 5 is automatically closed after a preset time has elapsed, and the collection container 1 is hermetically sealed.

Example 1 1 c.c. of EB resist was dropped onto a 127 mm square hard mask plate set on a rotating table, the lid of the collection container was opened, and the rotating table was rotated at 3000 rpm. The lid was closed after 1 second, and rotation was stopped after 40 seconds. When this resist application process was repeated 100 times, 75 c.c. of resist was recovered. The recovered resist had almost no change in viscosity and composition from the initial resist.

In the embodiment, the collected resist is collected in the collection bottle 15, but in other embodiments, the collected resist is collected in the collection container 1.
It is also possible to return the recovered resist to the supply bottle 11 using the bypass pipe 16a.

Example 2 Using a system that returns the collected resist to a supply bottle, 1.2 cc of resist was dropped onto a 150 mm round substrate coated with positive photoresist and set on a rotating table, and the lid of the collection container was opened. turn the turntable
It rotated at 3000rpm. After 1 second, the lid was closed, and after 30 seconds, rotation was stopped. In the conventional coating operation, 100 substrates were coated with 120 c.c., but in this Example 2, it was possible to coat 350 substrates with the same 120 c.c. of resist.

[Effects of the Invention] The present invention provides a ring-shaped collection container having a lid that can be freely opened and closed on the rotary table in an apparatus for applying resist dropwise while a substrate is set on a rotary table and the rotary table is rotated at high speed. Since only the liquid resist that is scattered during the initial stage of the resist coating process is recovered, the resist can be recovered while maintaining its purity.

Further, in the present invention, the collection container and the lid are housed in a case, and the resist discharged after the collection container is closed with the lid can be collected as waste liquid.
The resist that is dropped can be separated and recovered into a reusable liquid and a discarded liquid.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing the entire assembled apparatus of the present invention, with the recovery lid open, and FIG. 2 shows the recovery lid closed in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing the prior art. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Recovery container, 1a... Inclined wall, 2... Cavity part, 3
... Turning table, 4... Motor, 5... Lid body, 5a... Hem of recovery lid, 5b... Inner wall of recovery lid, 6... Vertical mechanism, 7
... Output shaft, 8... Case, 9... Inlet/outlet, 10... Nozzle, 11... Supply bottle, 12... Pump, 13... Filter, 14... Supply pipe, 15... Recovery bottle, 16... Recovery pipe, 16a... Bypass pipe, 17 ...Waste liquid container, 18
...Connection pipe, 19...Exhaust device, 20...Controller.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 A rotating table on which a substrate to be coated with resist is set and driven to rotate, a ring-shaped collection container provided on the outer periphery of the rotating table, an opening of the collection container being opened and closed, and when the substrate is opened, the substrate is placed on the rotating table. A ring-shaped lid body with an opening formed toward a position higher than the substrate on which it is placed and which reaches a position lower than the substrate when it is closed; a case that accommodates the collection container and the lid body and has an entrance/exit above; , a photophotometer comprising: a nozzle for dropping resist toward the center of the rotating table; a resist collection bottle connected to the collection container through a collection pipe; and a waste liquid container connected to the case through a continuous pipe.・Etching resist coating and recovery equipment.