JPH07169668A - Substrate treatment device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make ununiform treatment hard to generate even by treatment by less treatment liquid by applying treatment liquid to an upper surface of a substrate after cutting water of a substrate which got wet by a water supply means. CONSTITUTION:A substrate P is attracted by vacuum by a substrate holding part 4 and a tip of a pure water nozzle 22 is arranged at a center of the substrate P. Then, the substrate holding part 4 is rotated at a slow speed by motor mechanism 26, and pure water is dripped to the substrate P and diffused all over the substrate P. Then, the substrate holding part 4 is rotated at a fast speed for a specified time and dewatering treatment is carried out for removing pure water adhering to the substrate P. The substrate P is wetted with water before applying developer for making an upper surface of the substrate P hydrophilic. Then, developer is discharged from a nozzle slit 20 of a nozzle part 7 to the substrate P and developer is applied to the substrate P. Treatment liquid is thereby spreaded readily all over a substrate even if treatment liquid is little and ununiform treatment is made hard to generate in a substrate surface.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus, and more particularly to
The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus that supplies a predetermined processing liquid to a substrate to perform a surface treatment on the substrate.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, a substrate developing apparatus (an example of a substrate processing apparatus) disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-158055.
Includes a spin chuck that holds the substrate horizontally, and a developing solution supply nozzle that supplies a developing solution to the substrate placed on the spin chuck. The developing solution supply nozzle discharges the developing solution onto the surface of the substrate while relatively moving in parallel along the surface of the substrate with the discharging portion being close to the surface of the substrate. When the development is completed, the spin chuck rotates at high speed to shake off the developing solution on the substrate surface.

[0003]

From the viewpoint of environmental problems, it is desired to reduce the consumption of the developing solution. But,
In the substrate developing apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 158055/1993, if the amount of the developing solution supplied per substrate is reduced in order to reduce the consumption of the developing solution, the amount of the developing solution present on the surface of the substrate becomes small. As a result, a portion where the developing solution is insufficient is generated in the outer peripheral portion of the substrate surface. And in striking cases,
The area where the developer is insufficient causes poor development.

An object of the present invention is to prevent uneven processing even with a small amount of processing liquid.

[0005]

A substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention is an apparatus for performing a surface treatment of a substrate by supplying a predetermined processing liquid to the substrate, and a substrate holding section, a water supply means, a draining means and a treatment. And a liquid supply means. The substrate holder holds the substrate horizontally. The water supply means supplies water to the upper surface of the substrate held by the substrate holder. The draining means drains the substrate wet by the water supply means. The processing liquid supply means fills the processing liquid on the upper surface of the substrate after the water is drained by the water draining means.

[0006]

In the present invention, when the substrate is held horizontally, water is supplied to the upper surface of the held substrate. Subsequently, the wet substrate is drained. Then, when the draining is completed, the processing liquid is poured on the upper surface of the substrate. Here, since the upper surface of the substrate is wetted with water to be hydrophilic before the processing liquid is piled up, the processing liquid easily spreads on the upper surface of the substrate. As a result, even if the amount of the processing liquid is small, the processing liquid easily spreads over the entire surface of the substrate and uneven processing on the surface of the substrate hardly occurs.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to FIG. 1, a substrate developing apparatus as an embodiment of the present invention mainly comprises a developing processing section 1, a developing solution pressure feeding section 2 and a water supply section 20. The rectangular glass substrate P used in this substrate developing apparatus has a short side A (FIG. 9) extending in the depth direction of the paper of FIG. 1 of 320 mm, for example.
The long side B (FIG. 9) extending in the left-right direction of the paper surface of FIG. 1 is 400 mm, for example.

The development processing section 1 supplies a developing solution to the substrate holding section 4 capable of adsorbing the substrate P by a vacuum suction port and holding it horizontally and the substrate P held by the substrate holding section 4. And part 5. The substrate holding part 4 is adapted to be rotated around a vertical axis by a motor mechanism 26. A cup 6 is disposed around the substrate holder 4 to prevent the developer or rinse liquid (pure water) from scattering during rotation.

As shown in FIG. 2, the developing solution supply section 5 has a nozzle section 7 extending along the upper surface of the substrate P in the short side direction of the substrate P (depth direction in FIG. 1). The nozzle part 7 is
It is fixed to the lower end of the nozzle support arm 8. The upper end of the nozzle support arm 8 is supported by the moving frame 9 so as to be vertically movable. The moving frame 9 is a moving guide 10
It is movably supported by. The movement guide 10 extends along the longitudinal direction of the substrate P (left-right direction in FIG. 1).
As a result, the nozzle portion 7 can move in the longitudinal direction of the substrate P along the upper surface of the substrate P and apply the developing solution to the entire surface of the substrate P.

As shown in FIG. 3, the nozzle portion 7 is a member having an inverted cross section. The bottom surface of the nozzle portion 7 is inclined so as to decrease from both ends in the longitudinal direction of the substrate P toward the center. An angle θ formed by the bottom surface of the nozzle portion 7 and the substrate P is, for example, about 5 °. It should be noted that this angle may be an angle at which the developer is pulled by the surface tension and does not drip when the liquid is piled up, and it is in the range of 1 to 30 °, preferably 3 to 10 °.
It may be in the range of °.

A slit nozzle 30 having a downward opening is formed in the nozzle portion 7. In the middle of the slit nozzle 30, a pair of upper and lower liquid reservoirs 31, 32 are formed. The liquid reservoirs 31, 32 are for uniformly diffusing the developer supplied from the developer supply pipe 16 in the longitudinal direction of the nozzle portion 7 (the depth direction in FIG. 3).

As shown in FIG. 1, the developing solution pressure-feeding section 2 has a pressure tank 11 for accommodating a poly tank 12 storing a developing solution and hermetically sealing the inside. A pressure pipe 13 to which pressurized nitrogen gas is supplied from a nitrogen gas source (not shown) is opened at the upper part of the pressure tank 11.
A supply / discharge three-way valve 14 and a regulator 15 are arranged in this order from the pressurizing tank 11 side in the middle of the pressurizing pipe 13. The three-way valve 14 is used to pressurize the nitrogen gas in the pressure tank 11.
Can be supplied to or exhausted to another. Developer supply pipe 1 whose one end reaches near the bottom of the plastic tank 12
The other end of 6 is connected to the nozzle part 7. A flow meter 17 and a developer supply valve 18 are provided in the middle of the developer supply pipe 16.
Are arranged in this order from the plastic tank 12 side.

The water supply unit 20 has a pure water nozzle arm 21 vertically arranged on the outer peripheral side of the cup 6, and a pure water nozzle 22 extending horizontally from the upper end of the pure water nozzle arm 21. The tip of the pure water nozzle 22 is bent downward. The pure water nozzle arm 21 can be horizontally rotated, for example, by 90 ° by a driving unit (not shown). By this rotation, the pure water nozzle 22 rotates between the supply position shown by the chain double-dashed line and the standby position shown by the solid line. Pure water nozzle 22
When is rotated to the supply position, the tip is arranged at the center of the substrate P. A pure water supply source (not shown) is connected to the pure water nozzle 22 via a pure water supply valve 27.

Further, as shown in FIG. 4, this substrate developing apparatus is provided with a control section 23 composed of a microcomputer. The control unit 23 includes a substrate holding unit 4 (vacuum chuck), a drive unit for the nozzle support arm 8 and the moving frame 9, a supply / discharge three-way valve 14, a pure water supply valve 27, and a developer supply valve 18. , Motor mechanism 26 and pure water nozzle arm 2
1 drive unit is connected. Further, the control unit 23 is connected to various sensors (not shown) such as a sensor for detecting the positions of the nozzle support arm 8, the moving frame 9, and the pure water nozzle arm 21, and other input / output units. .

Next, the operation of the substrate developing device will be described with reference to FIGS.
A description will be given according to the control flowchart shown in FIG. First, in step S1, initial setting of the entire substrate developing apparatus is performed. Next, the process proceeds to step S2, and waits for the transport mechanism (not shown) to load the substrate P into the substrate developing apparatus. This substrate P is a substrate to which a photosensitive resin has been applied and which has been exposed in a predetermined pattern. When the substrate P is loaded, the process proceeds to step S3, and the substrate holding unit 4 suctions the substrate P by vacuum.

Then, in step S4, preprocessing is performed. In the pretreatment shown in FIG. 6, first, in step S11, the pure water nozzle arm 21 is rotated from the standby position to the supply position, and the tip of the pure water nozzle 22 is placed at the center of the substrate P. Step S
At 12, the pure water supply valve 27 is opened for a predetermined time (for example, 3 seconds), and the motor mechanism 26 rotates the substrate holding unit 4 at a low speed of, for example, 100 rpm. As a result, pure water is dropped on the substrate P and diffused over the entire substrate P. In step S13, the pure water nozzle arm 21 is returned from the supply position to the standby position. In step S14, the substrate holding unit 4 is held for a predetermined time (for example, 17 seconds), for example, 2
Rotate at high speed at 000 rpm. As a result, a draining process is performed to shake off the pure water attached to the substrate P. Step S
When the process in 14 is completed, the process returns to the main routine of FIG. Here, the substrate P is once wetted with water to make the upper surface of the substrate P hydrophilic before the developing solution is poured.

Subsequently, a puddle process is performed in step S5 of FIG. In the puddle processing shown in FIG. 7, first, step S
At 20, the nozzle unit 7 is moved to the start position. Here, the nozzle portion 7 is arranged at the dotted line position in FIG. 9 and FIG. 10 (that is, the left end of the substrate P). At this time, the bottom surface of the nozzle portion 7 is arranged with a gap of 0.5 to 1.5 mm from the substrate P.

In step S21, the developing solution is discharged onto the substrate P from the nozzle slit 20 of the nozzle portion 7. This discharge start operation is performed by switching the three-way valve 14 to the supply side, opening the developing solution supply valve 18, and supplying the developing solution from the plastic tank 12 to the nozzle portion 7. In step S22, the moving frame 9 is horizontally moved on the substrate P, and the developing solution D is placed on the substrate P as shown in FIGS. In step S23, it waits for the nozzle part 7 to move as shown by an arrow in FIGS. 9 and 10 and reach the right end of the substrate P.

When the nozzle portion 7 reaches the right end of the substrate P, the process proceeds to step S24. In step S24, the three-way valve 14 is switched to the exhaust side, the developer supply valve 18 is closed, and the supply of the developer is stopped. In step S25, the movement of the nozzle unit 7 is stopped. And step S2
At 6, the nozzle portion 7 is retracted to the retracted position diagonally above the right end of the substrate P. When the processing in step S26 is completed, FIG.
Return to the main routine of.

At the time of the above-mentioned liquid piling treatment, since the surface of the substrate P is hydrophilic in advance in the pretreatment (step S4), the amount of the developing solution used can be small. It is also possible to increase the coating speed of the developing solution. For example, the moving speed of the nozzle unit 7 is 100 to 150 mm / sec,
At this time, the flow rate of the developing solution discharged from the nozzle portion 7 is 3.
0-7.0 liters / minute, preferably 3.5 liters / minute
Minutes.

Next, in step S6, a developing process is performed. In the developing process shown in FIG. 8, in step S28, the motor mechanism 26 is driven to rotate the substrate holding unit 4. The rotation speed of the substrate holding unit 4 at this time is a low speed of about 1 to 10 rpm. In step S29, it waits for a certain period of time to elapse. Due to the energy of the low speed rotation, the distribution of the developer on the upper surface of the substrate P which has been made hydrophilic by the pretreatment becomes more uniform. That is, even with a small amount of developing solution, the developing solution is supplied to the surface of the substrate P on average. At this time, since the substrate P is rotating at a low speed, a strong centrifugal force is not generated, and the developer does not run short in the central portion.

When the process proceeds from step S29 to step S30, the rotation of the motor mechanism 26 is stopped. In step S31, development is performed by keeping the substrate P stationary. When the development is completed after a certain period of time, the process returns to the main routine of FIG. In step S7 of FIG.
The substrate P is rinsed (cleaned) by the pure water nozzle 22. At the time of this rinse, the motor mechanism 26 rotates the substrate holder 4 at a medium speed. In step S8, the substrate holding unit 4 is rotated at a high speed, and the substrate P is drained and dried. When the liquid-drying is completed, the process proceeds to step S9, and the suction of the substrate P by the substrate holding unit 4 is released. In step S10, the transfer mechanism (not shown) waits for the substrate P to be discharged for the next process. If the substrate P is unloaded, step S2
Then, the process waits until the next substrate P is loaded.

[Other Embodiments] (a) The present invention can be applied not only to the developing device but also to an etching device and a peeling device for treating the surface of the substrate with a liquid puddle. (B) The water handled in the water supply unit 20 is not limited to pure water, and may be water containing a surfactant, for example.

[0024]

In the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention, since water is supplied to the upper surface of the substrate prior to the processing with the processing liquid,
Even if the amount of the treatment liquid is small, the treatment liquid easily spreads over the entire surface of the substrate, and uneven treatment on the substrate surface hardly occurs.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a substrate developing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective partial view of a nozzle portion during a liquid piling operation.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line III-III of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a block schematic diagram showing a configuration of a control unit of the substrate developing device.

FIG. 5 is a control flowchart of the substrate developing device.

FIG. 6 is a control flowchart of the substrate developing device.

FIG. 7 is a control flowchart of the substrate developing device.

FIG. 8 is a control flowchart of the substrate developing device.

FIG. 9 is a schematic plan view showing one state of the liquid piling process.

FIG. 10 is a view on arrow X in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Development Processing Section 4 Substrate Holding Section 5 Developer Solution Supply Section 20 Water Supply Section 26 Motor Mechanism P Substrate

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code Internal reference number FI technical display location G03F 7/16 501 501 7/30 502

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A substrate processing apparatus for performing a surface treatment of a substrate by supplying a predetermined processing liquid to the substrate, the substrate holding unit holding the substrate horizontally, and the substrate held by the substrate holding unit. Water supply means for supplying water to the upper surface, a drainer means for draining the substrate wet by the water supply means, and a treatment liquid supply means for piling a treatment liquid on the upper surface of the substrate after draining by the water draining means, Substrate processing equipment provided.