JPH0444215A - Manufacture of semiconductor device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To form a thin resist film even from a resist liquid having a relatively high viscosity and completely prevent liquid sagging so as to eliminate the occurrence of unevely applied states by applying the resist liquid while the ambient environment of a semiconductor substrate is set to an inert gas atmosphere of a low temperature within a fixed range. CONSTITUTION:A semiconductor substrate (2) is set on a chucking table (5) in a sealed coated cup (4). After setting the substrate (2), inside of the cup (4) is set to a low-temperature inert gas atmosphere by injecting an inert gas, such as N2, Ar gas, cooled to a prescribed low temperature from a gas pipe (6) connected with the cup (4). Thereafter, a resist film having a uniform thickness is formed on the substrate (2) by dropping a resist liquid onto the substrate (2) from a resist dropping nozzle (1) while rotating the substrate (2) by a spin motor (3). Since the vaporizing speed of the solvent contained in the resist liquid can be decreased by setting the ambient environment of the substrate (2) to the inert gas atmosphere of a low temperature of 0-20 deg.C, a thin resist film thickness can be obtained even from a resist liquid having a relatively high viscosity.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device, and particularly to an improvement in a technique for applying a resist liquid onto a semiconductor substrate.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, when applying a resist solution onto a semiconductor substrate, the environment around the semiconductor substrate is the same as the atmosphere inside the room in which the device is placed.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

Normally, when manufacturing semiconductors, there are around 10 steps to apply resist solution, and the resist film thickness is 2 to 3 times.
Generally, there are various types of conditions. By the way, in order to obtain a desired resist film thickness, it is necessary to obtain each resist film thickness by changing the viscosity of the resist solution, and in order to obtain a particularly thin resist film, a resist solution with a low viscosity is required. . However, since a low-viscosity resist solution has a low surface tension, there is a problem in that after the resist solution is applied with a nozzle, the resist solution remaining in the nozzle causes dripping, resulting in uneven coating.

The present invention is intended to solve the problems of the conventional semiconductor device manufacturing method, and its purpose is to provide a semiconductor device manufacturing method that can obtain a thin resist film thickness using a simpler method. It's there to provide.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In the method for manufacturing a semiconductor device of the present invention, when applying a resist solution, the environment around the semiconductor substrate is brought into an inert gas atmosphere at a temperature of 0° C. to 20° C., and the resist solution is applied. It is characterized by

〔Example〕

FIGS. 1(1) to 1(6) are cross-sectional views of a semiconductor device in an embodiment of the present invention.

A semiconductor substrate (2) is set on a chucking table (5) in a sealed coater cup (4). After that, inert gas such as N2 or Ar gas at a predetermined low temperature is injected from the gas pipe (6) connected to the coater cup (4) to create a low-temperature inert gas atmosphere inside the coater cup (4). First, the resist solution is dropped onto the semiconductor substrate (2) from the resist dropping nozzle (1), and the semiconductor substrate (2) is rotated by the spin motor (3) to form a uniform resist film on the semiconductor substrate (2). form.

By the way, the factors that determine the resist film thickness are the viscosity of the resist solution, the rotation speed of the semiconductor substrate when dropping the resist solution,
There are three possible rates of evaporation of solvent from the resist during rotation. Figure 2 (1) to (3), (5), (14
) is a cross-sectional view of a semiconductor device manufactured by a conventional method. To briefly explain the conventional method, first, a semiconductor substrate (2) is set on a chucking table (5) in a coater cup (14) that is not particularly sealed, and then the resist is dropped from the zero-order resist dripping nozzle (1). The resist solution is dropped onto the semiconductor substrate (2), and the semiconductor substrate (2) is spun by the spin motor (3).
) to form a uniform resist film on the semiconductor substrate (2). In the conventional method, the inside of the coater cup is always maintained at the same atmosphere as the room in which the apparatus is placed. Therefore, the evaporation rate of the solvent from the resist during resist coating is always kept constant. Furthermore, regarding the rotation speed, at low speeds the in-plane uniformity of the resist film thickness deteriorates, and at high speeds there is a limit to the ability of the spin motor, so the practical range is approximately 3000 to 6000 rpm; It was not possible to change the film thickness significantly within this speed. Therefore, conventionally, a thin resist film has been formed by lowering the viscosity of a resist solution.

According to the present invention, by creating an inert gas atmosphere at a low temperature in the range of 0°C to 201°C around the semiconductor substrate (2) during resist application, the solvent evaporation rate during resist application can be reduced. A thin resist film thickness can be obtained using a relatively high viscosity resist solution.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, according to the present invention, the rate of solvent evaporation from the resist can be suppressed by creating an inert gas atmosphere at a low temperature in the range of 0°C to 20°C in the coater cup during resist coating. Therefore, it is possible to form a thin resist film even with a relatively high viscosity resist solution, completely prevent liquid dripping inside the nozzle, and form a high-quality resist film without uneven coating.

First cause

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a semiconductor device according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a conventional semiconductor device. first cause

Claims (1)

[Claims] A semiconductor device characterized in that when applying a resist liquid onto the surface of a semiconductor substrate, the environment around the semiconductor substrate is brought into a low-temperature inert gas atmosphere in the range of 0°C to 20°C, and the resist liquid is applied. Production method.