JPH06349725A - Developing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To apply a developing solution to the surface of a substrate in a uniform thickness with a simple constitution. CONSTITUTION:After supplying a developing solution L to the surface of a substrate 1 from a nozzle 2, the solution L is spread to a uniform thickness by leveling the solution L by moving a sweep bar 4 in parallel with the surface of the substrate 1 by means of a uniaxial roller 5. Therefore, uneven supply of developing solution does not occur on the surface of the substrate 1 and accurate development can be performed.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention is a resist coated on a surface of a thin substrate (hereinafter simply referred to as "substrate") such as a semiconductor substrate or a glass substrate for liquid crystal or photomask and exposed in a predetermined pattern. The present invention relates to a developing device for developing a film.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, in the manufacture of a liquid crystal substrate, a resist film coated on the surface of a glass substrate is exposed in a predetermined pattern and then developed with a developing solution. As a method of bringing the resist film into contact with the developing solution in such a developing step, the developing solution is sprayed from the nozzle on the surface of the substrate, and the surface tension of the developing solution L is used on the surface of the substrate 1 as shown in FIG. There is a method of forming a liquid puddle (paddle) (hereinafter referred to as "paddle method"). In the development by the paddle method, a shower method is used in which a large amount of developing solution is supplied to the surface of the substrate in a shower shape for development, or the developing solution is stored in a liquid tank and the substrate is stored in the liquid tank. Compared to the dipping method of dipping, the amount of developer required for one development can be greatly saved.
There is an advantage that the maintenance cost can be kept low.

[0003]

However, in the paddle type developing method, since the developing solution is held on the substrate surface only by its surface tension, the developing solution is applied to the substrate surface by an ordinary nozzle. There is a problem that it is difficult to supply and form a uniform thickness. As a solution to such a problem, a treatment liquid coating method disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-13320 is known. In this coating method, a rectangular container-shaped liquid storage portion is provided inside a horizontally long liquid supply nozzle having a length substantially the same as the width of the substrate, and a large number of thin tubes communicating with the liquid storage portion are arranged below the liquid storage portion. The processing liquid is formed so as to uniformly exude from the large number of thin tubes onto the surface of the substrate. However, in such a special nozzle, high processing accuracy is required in forming a large number of thin tubes, and when foreign substances such as dust are mixed in the processing liquid, the thin tubes are blocked and no longer exist. Uniform spraying on the substrate surface becomes difficult.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to solve the above problems and to provide a paddle type developing device capable of depositing a developing solution on the surface of a substrate with a uniform thickness without unevenness. .

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, the developing device according to claim 1 is a developing device for developing a resist film coated on a substrate and exposed in a predetermined pattern, wherein the surface of the substrate is A developing solution supplying means for supplying a developing solution to the substrate, and a developing solution diffusing means for diffusing the supplied developing solution so that the developing solution is evenly distributed over the entire surface of the substrate.

Further, in a developing device according to a second aspect, the developing solution diffusing means in the first aspect is a rod-shaped leveling member which moves in a direction parallel to the surface of the substrate with a predetermined distance from the surface of the substrate. Consists of.

Further, in a developing device according to a third aspect, the developing solution supply means according to the first aspect includes a developing solution discharge nozzle which moves along the surface of the substrate while discharging the developing solution, and the developing solution diffusion means. The means is arranged to move behind the developing solution discharge nozzle in the same direction as its moving direction so as to immediately diffuse the developing solution supplied to the substrate surface by the developing solution discharge nozzle.

[0008]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the developing solution supplied to the surface of the substrate by the developing solution supply means is diffused by the developing solution diffusing means so as to be evenly distributed over the entire surface of the substrate.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, by moving the rod-shaped leveling members in parallel with the surface of the substrate at a predetermined interval, the developer supplied to the surface of the substrate is leveled to a uniform thickness. The unevenness disappears.

According to the third aspect of the invention, the developing solution diffusing means moves behind the developing solution discharge nozzle of the developing solution supply means in the same direction as the nozzle, and immediately diffuses the supplied developing solution. The uneven contact between the resist film and the developing solution is immediately eliminated.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings, but the technical scope of the present invention is not limited thereby.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the outline of the first embodiment of the developing device according to the present invention. Three nozzles 2 for supplying the developing solution L are arranged above the horizontally mounted rectangular substrate 1, and an appropriate amount of the developing solution L supplied from the developing solution supply device 3 is applied to the nozzle 2. To the surface of the substrate 1. 4 is a sweep bar (leveling member),
The width w of the substrate 1 is substantially equal to or longer than the width w of the substrate 1.
The uniaxial loader 5 formed by a ball screw feeding mechanism is moved in parallel with the surface of the substrate 1 in the direction of arrow A at intervals of about mm. FIG. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the substrate 1 portion in FIG. 1, in which the sweep bar 4 sequentially spreads the developing solution L deposited on the surface of the substrate 1 to diffuse it over the entire surface of the substrate 1. It shows how the developing solution L is spread over a uniform thickness.

By the action of the sweep bar 4 as described above,
Even if the developing solution L is appropriately supplied from the nozzle 2 to the surface of the substrate 1, it is possible to surely form a puddle having a uniform thickness,
It is possible to develop the resist film evenly.

FIG. 3 shows a second embodiment of the developing device according to the present invention. In the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the sweep bar 4 is moved in the linear direction, but in the second embodiment, the sweep bar 4 is held by the rotary shaft 6, and the rotary shaft 6 is held by a drive motor (not shown). The developer L on the surface of the substrate 1 is smoothed by rotating the developing solution L. In this embodiment, the length of the sweep bar 4 needs to be formed longer than the diagonal line of the substrate 1, but there is an advantage that the drive mechanism can be configured more simply than in the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the structure of a third embodiment of the developing device according to the present invention, and FIG. 5 is a side view thereof. In the third embodiment, the nozzle for supplying the developing solution is a flat nozzle 7 having a discharge portion which is long in the horizontal direction, and is devised so as to be spread as uniformly as possible in the step of supplying the developing solution L to the substrate 1. There is. For example, as shown in the vertical cross-sectional view of FIG. 8, the flat nozzle 7 includes a reservoir 71 for the developer L therein and a slit-shaped discharge portion 72 in the longitudinal direction thereof, and the reservoir 71 is shown in the drawing. By supplying the developing solution L from the developing solution supply device 3 (FIG. 1) via the developing solution supply tube, the developing solution L is uniformly supplied from the slit-shaped ejection portion 72 over the surface of the substrate 1 over a wide width. . The flat nozzle 7 is held horizontally by a rotary shaft 8 at its end and is rotated by a drive motor (not shown). The substrate 1 is also held horizontally by the spin chuck 9 (FIG. 5), and when the developing solution L is supplied, the flat nozzle 7 is rotated while rotating the substrate 1.
Is rotated to eject the developing solution L from the slit-shaped ejecting portion 72 onto the surface of the substrate 1 to supply the developing solution L over the entire surface of the substrate 1 in a short time. While continuing the rotation of the substrate 1, the developer diffusion operation is performed by rotating the sweep bar 4 before and after the developer supply operation by the flat nozzle 7.

In this embodiment, since the developing solution supplying operation and the developing solution diffusing operation are carried out while the substrate 1 is rotated, the horizontal lengths of the sweep bar 4 and the flat nozzle 7 are the rotating shafts 6 and 8, respectively. It may be set to be slightly longer than the distance from the center of rotation of the substrate 1. The spin chuck 9 may be a known one that holds and rotates the substrate 1 by vacuum suction.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing the construction of the fourth embodiment of the developing device according to the present invention, and FIG. 7 is a vertical sectional view of the substrate 1 portion thereof. In this fourth embodiment,
Immediately after the developing solution L is supplied to the surface of the substrate 1, a diffusing operation is performed by the sweep bar 4, so that the developing solution L is devised so that there is almost no uneven distribution time. That is, the flat nozzle 7 having a length substantially equal to the width w of the substrate 1 is attached to the substrate 1 by a uniaxial loader (not shown).
The developing solution L is supplied to the surface of the substrate 1 while being moved in parallel with, and a sweep bar 4 is attached via a holding member 10 at a position behind the flat nozzle 7 in the traveling direction. As shown in the longitudinal sectional view of FIG. 7, the developer L supplied onto the substrate 1 by the flat nozzle 7 is immediately smoothed and diffused by the sweep bar 4 which follows the flat nozzle 7 and moves behind the flat nozzle 7. It has become so. As a result, the state where the distribution of the developing solution L is non-uniform is immediately resolved, and highly uniform development becomes possible.

In the fourth embodiment, the flat nozzle 7 is formed so as to move linearly. However, as shown in FIG. 3, it may be attached to a rotary shaft to perform a rotary operation. . Further, the sweep bar 4 may not be attached to the rear of the flat nozzle 7, but the rear of the flat nozzle 7 may be independently moved by another driving means.

In the above embodiment, the sweep bar 4
Although the roll has a circular cross section, it may have a plate shape or any other shape as long as it has a linear portion parallel to the substrate 1.

The substrate to be processed is not limited to the rectangular type,
For example, a circular wafer can be similarly applied.

The developing solution diffusing means is not limited to the one in which the sweep bar 4 is brought into direct contact with the developing solution L as described above, but in some cases, an inert gas such as nitrogen gas is applied to the surface of the developing solution L from a slit nozzle. By the method of spraying or the method of applying fine vibration to the substrate 1 in the horizontal direction,
It is also possible to diffuse the developing solution L in a non-contact state.

[0022]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the developing solution supplied to the surface of the substrate by the developing solution supplying means is uniformly spread over the entire surface of the substrate by the developing solution diffusing means. As a result, the uniform developing solution puddle is surely formed, and the uniform developing process is possible while reducing the consumption of the developing solution.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the rod-shaped leveling members are moved in parallel with the surface of the substrate at predetermined intervals so that the developing solution supplied to the surface of the substrate has a uniform thickness. Therefore, the puddle of the developing solution having a uniform thickness can be surely realized with a simple structure.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the developing solution diffusing means moves behind the developing solution discharge nozzle in the same direction as the external nozzle, and immediately diffuses the supplied developing solution. The uneven contact with the developing solution is immediately eliminated, which enables highly accurate development processing.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of a developing device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the substrate unit shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a developing device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a developing device according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a side view of the embodiment shown in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a developing device according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the substrate portion shown in FIG.

FIG. 8 is a partial cross-sectional view showing the internal structure of a flat nozzle.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a state where a substrate is filled with a developing solution.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Substrate 2 Nozzle 3 Developer Supplying Device 4 Sweep Bar 5 Uniaxial Loader 6, 8 Rotating Axis 7 Flat Nozzle 9 Spin Chuck L Developer

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A developing device for developing a resist film coated on a substrate and exposed in a predetermined pattern, comprising: a developing solution supplying means for supplying a developing solution to the surface of the substrate; A developing solution diffusing means for diffusing the supplied developing solution so that the developing solution is evenly distributed over the entire developing device. 2. The developing solution diffusing means comprises a rod-shaped leveling member that moves in a direction parallel to the surface of the substrate at a predetermined distance from the surface of the substrate. Development device. 3. The developing solution supply means includes a developing solution discharge nozzle that moves along the substrate surface while discharging the developing solution, and the developing solution diffusing means applies the developing solution discharge nozzle to the substrate surface by the developing solution discharge nozzle. 2. The rear side of the developing solution discharge nozzle is moved in the same direction as the moving direction so as to immediately diffuse the supplied developing solution.
The developing device described.