JPH05136040A - Photoresist coating device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a photoresist coating device of a blade dispense system, which is capable of dissolving the cause of the generator of particles at the time of transfer of a wafer in the process subsequent to coating of a photoresist film and is capable of corresponding to an actual wafer process in a realistic manner. CONSTITUTION:A photoresist coating device of a blade dispense system is provided with a wafer rotating mechanism for rotating a semiconductor wafer 1 after a photoresist film 3 is formed on the wafer 1 and a peripheral part treater 11 for conducting a removal treatment or a pretreatment for removal on at least one part, which is located on the periphery part of the wafer, of the film 3 formed on the wafer 1 in a state that it is being transferred.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a photoresist coating apparatus used in a semiconductor device manufacturing process, and more particularly to improvement of a blade dispense type photoresist coating apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Recent semiconductor devices have been advanced in performance and integration, and miniaturization and highly accurate alignment are required for a lithography technique used in the manufacturing process thereof.

As a photoresist coating apparatus for coating the upper surface of a semiconductor wafer with a photoresist material, which is indispensable for the above-mentioned lithographic technique, conventionally, a spin coating method in which the wafer is rotated after dropping the photoresist material on the semiconductor wafer. Is used. In this resist coating method using the spin coating method, the resist component remaining on the wafer is only a few percent, and the rest (about 95%) is almost discarded, resulting in a large loss of the resist material.

Therefore, in order to efficiently use the resist material, 90% or more of the resist component is left on the wafer,
As a resist coating method capable of suppressing the loss of the resist material to 10% or less, a method using a blade dispense nozzle that does not rotate the wafer has been considered.

FIG. 4 schematically shows the structure of the principal part of a conventionally known blade dispense type photoresist coating apparatus. That is, toward the upper surface of the semiconductor wafer 1 which is being conveyed in the direction indicated by arrow A by a wafer conveying device (not shown), the photoresist material is fed from the tip 2'of the blade dispense nozzle 2 in the direction indicated by arrow. It is sprayed onto B and applied. At this time, the film thickness of the photoresist film 3 formed on the semiconductor wafer is controlled by controlling the transportation speed of the semiconductor wafer 1 and the ejection speed of the photoresist material.

The arrow direction C shown in the figure is the moving direction of the blade dispense nozzle 2, and the arrow direction D shown in the figure.
Is the photoresist material feed direction within the blade dispense nozzle 2.

However, in the actual wafer process, when the photoresist film 3 is applied to the semiconductor wafer 1 by the photoresist applying apparatus shown in FIG. 4, the photoresist film 3 is attached to the peripheral portion of the wafer, so that patterning and etching are not performed. This causes inconveniences such as generation of particles during wafer transfer in the subsequent post-process.

Therefore, when the photoresist film 3 is applied to the semiconductor wafer 1 by the blade dispense method, it is convenient to remove the unnecessary photoresist film in the peripheral portion of the wafer.

However, the conventionally known blade dispense type photoresist coating device does not have a device for removing the peripheral portion of the photoresist film on the wafer, and is practical for an actual wafer process. Difficult to deal with.

[0010]

As described above, in the conventionally known blade dispense type photoresist coating apparatus, when the photoresist film is coated, the photoresist film (or other film) is formed around the wafer. Therefore, there is a problem in that it causes inconvenience such as generation of particles during wafer transfer in a post-process in which patterning / etching is advanced.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and after a photoresist film is applied to a semiconductor wafer by a blade dispense method, the photoresist film is removed or removed from at least a part of the peripheral portion of the wafer. Pre-treatment for removal can be performed, the cause of generation of particles during wafer transfer in the process after coating the photoresist film can be eliminated, and photoresist that can actually correspond to the actual wafer process An object is to provide a coating device.

[0012]

According to the present invention, a photoresist material is sprayed onto a top surface of a semiconductor wafer in a state of being conveyed from a dispense nozzle so as to be applied, and the conveying speed of the semiconductor wafer and the photoresist material are applied. A blade-dispensing type photoresist coating apparatus for controlling the photoresist film thickness on a semiconductor wafer by controlling the ejection speed of the wafer, the wafer rotating the semiconductor wafer after the photoresist film is formed on the semiconductor wafer. A rotating mechanism; and a peripheral processing unit for performing a removal process or a pre-process for removal on at least a part of the wafer peripheral part of the photoresist film formed on the semiconductor wafer being conveyed. It is characterized by doing.

[0013]

According to the photoresist coating apparatus of the present invention, after the photoresist film is coated on the semiconductor wafer by the blade dispense method, the photoresist film is removed or preliminarily removed from at least a part of the peripheral portion of the wafer. It becomes possible to perform processing.
Therefore, the cause of generation of particles during wafer transfer in the step of applying patterning / etching after applying the photoresist film is eliminated, and it is possible to actually cope with the actual wafer process.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of the essential parts of a blade dispense type photoresist coating apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

In this photoresist coating apparatus, the tip portion 2'of the blade dispense nozzle 2 is directed toward the upper surface of the semiconductor wafer 1 being conveyed in the direction of arrow A by a wafer conveying apparatus (not shown). The photoresist material is sprayed in the direction of arrow B in the drawing to be applied. At this time, the film thickness of the photoresist film 3 formed on the semiconductor wafer 1 is controlled by controlling the transportation speed of the semiconductor wafer 1 and the ejection speed of the photoresist material. The direction of the arrow C is
This is the moving direction of the dispensing nozzle tip 2 ′, and the arrow D direction in the drawing is the photoresist material supply direction in the blade dispensing nozzle 2.

Further, in the present invention, after the photoresist film 3 is formed on the semiconductor wafer 1, it is transferred to a wafer rotating mechanism (not shown) for rotating the semiconductor wafer 1 in the direction E shown in the figure. A peripheral part processing device for performing a removal process or a pre-process for the removal on at least a part of the wafer peripheral part of the photoresist film 3 formed on the semiconductor wafer 1 in the state.

In this embodiment, as an example of the peripheral portion processing apparatus, immediately after the photoresist film 3 is formed on the semiconductor wafer 1, the wafer peripheral portion of the photoresist film 3 is treated with a resist film removing chemical. A chemical liquid treatment device is used for performing treatment and removal.

This chemical liquid processing apparatus includes a liquid tank (not shown) for the resist film removing chemical liquid, a pump (not shown) for ejecting the chemical liquid from the liquid tank at a predetermined timing, and the chemical liquid is supplied by this pump. The chemical liquid ejection nozzle 11 for ejecting the chemical liquid onto a part of the peripheral portion of the wafer of the semiconductor wafer 1 being conveyed, and the chemical liquid ejection nozzle 1
Nozzle drive mechanism (not shown) for reciprocating the tip position of No. 1 in a direction F orthogonal to the wafer transfer direction A over a predetermined width.

According to the photoresist coating apparatus of the first embodiment, since the blade dispense method is used in the process of forming the photoresist film 3 on the semiconductor wafer 1, the resist material is used efficiently and the resist material is used. Can be suppressed.

Immediately after the photoresist film 3 is formed on the semiconductor wafer 1, while rotating the structural semiconductor wafer 1 by the wafer rotating machine, the chemical solution processing device removes unnecessary photoresist film around the wafer. It is possible to carry out the chemical treatment and remove the chemical treatment portion 3 ′.
In this case, by controlling the chemical liquid ejection timing of the chemical liquid processing device, it is possible to perform the chemical liquid processing on all or a desired part of the wafer peripheral portion of the photoresist film 3.

Therefore, the cause of generation of particles during wafer transfer in the step of advancing the patterning / etching after applying the photoresist film 3 can be eliminated, and an actual wafer process can be practically dealt with.
FIG. 2 schematically shows a main configuration of a blade dispense type photoresist coating apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

This photoresist coating apparatus is provided with the first
Compared with the photoresist coating apparatus of the embodiment, the photoresist film 3 is formed on the semiconductor wafer 1 as a peripheral processing apparatus.
1 is the same as that in FIG. 1 except that an exposure processing apparatus is used to perform exposure processing on the wafer peripheral portion of the photoresist film 3 immediately after the formation of the film.

The exposure processing apparatus described above includes an exposure unit 21 for exposing a part of the peripheral portion of the wafer of the semiconductor wafer 1 being conveyed, and a position F of the exposure unit 21 which is orthogonal to the wafer conveyance direction A. Exposure unit drive mechanism (not shown) that reciprocates over a predetermined width
And.

The photoresist coating apparatus of the second embodiment is different from the operation of the photoresist coating apparatus of the first embodiment in the following points, but is otherwise the same and is basically the same as that of the first embodiment. The same effect can be obtained. That is, immediately after the photoresist film 3 is formed on the semiconductor wafer 1, the semiconductor wafer 1 is rotated by the wafer rotator and the unnecessary photoresist film on the peripheral portion of the wafer is exposed by the exposure processing device. Thereby forming an exposed portion 3 ″ on the peripheral portion of the wafer. This exposed portion can be developed and removed in a later step. In this case, the photoresist film is controlled by controlling the exposure timing of the exposure processing apparatus. The exposure processing can be performed on all or a desired part of the peripheral portion of wafer No. 3.

Incidentally, it is necessary to develop and remove the photoresist film on the peripheral portion of the wafer exposed by the exposure processing device of the photoresist coating apparatus of the second embodiment. It is convenient to combine it with the photoresist coating apparatus of the second embodiment.

FIG. 3 shows an example of a flowchart of steps from wafer loading to wafer unloading including a photoresist coating step using the photoresist coating apparatus according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

In the system using the photoresist coating apparatus of the third embodiment, in addition to the photoresist coating apparatus of the first embodiment or the second embodiment, a semiconductor wafer of a semiconductor wafer is formed before the photoresist film is formed. A surface reforming device (not shown) for performing a surface reforming treatment to improve the adhesion between the upper surface and the photoresist material, and a baking process for heating the semiconductor wafer after removing the wafer peripheral portion of the photoresist film. A device (not shown) is provided.

As an example of the surface modification treatment method by the surface modification apparatus, there is a method in which the upper surface of the semiconductor wafer is exposed to a chemical solution such as HMDS (hexamethyldisilazane). Further, in each of the above-mentioned examples, it goes without saying that a mechanism provided by a normal resist coating apparatus, such as a back surface rinsing mechanism for preventing the resist from wrapping around the back surface of the wafer during resist coating, can be added. Absent.

[0029]

As described above, according to the present invention, after the photoresist film is applied to the semiconductor wafer by the blade dispense method, the photoresist film is removed or removed from at least a part of the peripheral portion of the wafer. Pretreatment is possible, the cause of generation of particles during wafer transfer in the process after photoresist film coating can be eliminated, and a photoresist coating device that can actually correspond to the actual wafer process is realized. can do.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a structural explanatory view schematically showing a main part of a photoresist coating apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a structural explanatory view schematically showing a main part of a photoresist coating apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an example from wafer loading to wafer unloading including a photoresist coating process using the photoresist coating apparatus according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a configuration explanatory view schematically showing a main part of a conventionally known blade dispense type photoresist coating apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Semiconductor wafer, 2 ... Blade dispense nozzle, 2 '... Tip of blade dispense nozzle, 3 ... Photoresist film, 3' ... Chemical treatment part, 3 "
... Exposure part, 11 ... Chemical solution ejection nozzle, 21 ... Exposure unit, A ... Semiconductor wafer transport direction, B ... Resist material blowing direction, C ... Blade dispensing nozzle tip 2'movement direction, D ... Photoresist material Supply direction, E ... Rotation direction of semiconductor wafer, F ... Reciprocating movement direction of chemical solution ejection nozzle or exposure unit.

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Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A semiconductor wafer by spraying and applying a photoresist material from a dispensing nozzle onto the upper surface of a semiconductor wafer being transported, and controlling the transportation speed of the semiconductor wafer and the spraying speed of the photoresist material. A blade dispense type photoresist coating apparatus for controlling the thickness of a photoresist film formed on the semiconductor wafer, comprising: a wafer rotating mechanism for rotating the semiconductor wafer after the photoresist film is formed on the semiconductor wafer; And a peripheral portion processing device that performs a removal treatment or a pretreatment for the removal on at least a part of the wafer peripheral portion of the photoresist film formed on the semiconductor wafer in the state of being processed. A photoresist coating apparatus characterized by the above. 2. The photoresist coating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the peripheral portion processing device is a chemical liquid processing device that performs chemical liquid processing on at least a part of a peripheral portion of the photoresist film on the wafer and removes the chemical liquid. A photoresist coating device characterized by: 3. The photoresist coating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the peripheral portion processing apparatus is an exposure processing apparatus that performs an exposure processing on a wafer peripheral portion of a photoresist film. apparatus. 4. The photoresist coating apparatus according to claim 3 is integrally combined with a developing apparatus for developing and removing the photoresist film on the peripheral portion of the wafer that has been exposed by the exposure processing apparatus. A photoresist coating apparatus characterized by the above. 5. The photoresist coating apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: improving adhesion between the upper surface of the semiconductor wafer and the photoresist material before forming the photoresist film. 2. A photoresist coating apparatus, comprising: a surface reforming apparatus for performing the surface reforming treatment of 1 .; and a baking apparatus for heating the semiconductor wafer after removing the wafer peripheral portion of the photoresist film.