JPH0745514A - Processing equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent permeation of treating liquid to the rear side of an object to be processed and provide a processing equipment wherein an object to be processed is not damaged when the equipment turns at a high speed. CONSTITUTION:Mechanism which rotates an object to be processed, mechanism which supplies treating liquid to the surface of the object to be processed, a pipe member 25 which is almost concentric with the rotary axis of the object to be processed and has an inner diameter smaller than that of the object to be processed which is arranged on the rear side, and an elevating mechanism 24 which relatively moves up and down between an approaching position and a separating position of the pipe member 25 and the object to be processed are installed. Thereby permeation of the treating liquid to the rear side of the object to be processed is prevented, and the processing wherein the object to be processed is not damaged when the equipment turns at a high speed is enabled.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a processing apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In order to prevent the processing liquid from being attached to the back surface of the object to be processed, that is, the so-called backing, when a processing liquid such as a developing solution is supplied to the surface of a rotating object to be processed,
Means for spraying the cleaning liquid onto the back surface of the object to be processed is described in, for example, JP-A-55-11311 and JP-A-57-14.
It is described in Japanese Patent No. 7478.

Further, the end portion of the cylindrical body, which is substantially concentric with the rotation center of the object to be processed, is opposed to the peripheral portion of the back surface of the object with a minute gap, and the developing solution wraps around from the peripheral edge of the object to the rear surface side. Japanese Patent Publication No. 34207/1990 discloses a technique for holding the developer in the above-mentioned gap by capillarity so as to limit the inward penetration of the developer.

[0004]

However, in the technique of the former document, it is necessary to continuously spray the cleaning liquid or the like on the back surface of the entire wafer at the same time in order to prevent the backing of the processing liquid. Therefore, when the pattern is exposed to the photoresist applied to the surface of the object to be processed and the developing process is performed, the developing solution is continuously supplied to the object to be processed while maintaining the developing temperature at a required value. However, there is an improvement in that the temperature of the object to be processed changes due to the temperature of the cleaning liquid that is continuously sprayed onto the lower surface of the object to be processed, and the temperature of the developer changes, resulting in uneven development processing. Was.

Further, in the technique of the latter document, the backing can be prevented as the back surface of the object to be processed and the end portion of the cylinder are brought closer to each other, but the object to be processed is rotated at a high speed to shake off the processing liquid. There is an improvement in that the cylindrical body may be rubbed, particles may be generated and adhere to the object to be processed, the yield of the object to be processed may be reduced, or the object may be damaged. Was.

The object of the present invention is to solve the above problems and to prevent the processing liquid from entering the back side of the object to be processed and to damage the object to be processed even at high speed rotation. It is intended to provide a non-processing device.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a processing device which rotates a substrate to be processed and supplies a processing liquid to the surface thereof, which is provided on the back surface side of the substrate to be processed in the previous period. The present invention is characterized by including a tubular body having a diameter smaller than that of the processing body, and an elevating mechanism capable of relatively moving the tubular body and the processing target body.

The processing apparatus of the second invention is characterized in that an inclined surface is provided at least on the outer peripheral side of the tip portion of the cylindrical body.

Further, the processing apparatus of the third invention is characterized in that the distal end portion of the cylindrical body is formed in a knife edge shape.

Further, in the processing method of the fourth aspect of the present invention, during the period in which the object to be processed is stopped or rotated at a low speed, the back surface of the object to be processed and the object to be processed provided on the back surface side of the object to be processed are It is characterized in that the step of bringing the tip end of the small-diameter cylindrical body close to each other and the step of rotating the object to be processed at a high speed include the step of separating the back surface of the object to be processed from the tip end of the tube. It is a thing.

[0011]

According to the present invention, while rotating at low speed,
While the developer is stopped in the state of being filled with liquid, if the object to be processed and the cylinder are brought close to each other, the backing can be reduced by the upper edge of the cylinder, and the upper edge of the cylinder can be reduced. Since it is moved to the separated position, the object to be processed does not come into contact with the cylindrical body even if it is rotated at a high speed, and is not damaged.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment in which the device of the present invention is applied to a developing device will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIG. 2, the processing apparatus 1 in which the processing apparatus according to the present invention is arranged.
Will be described.

This processing apparatus 1 has a carrier station 3 on one end side thereof, on which, for example, a plurality of cassettes 2 for accommodating, for example, a large number of semiconductor wafers W, can be placed, for example, four cassettes. At the center of the carrier station 3, an auxiliary arm 4 for loading / unloading the semiconductor wafer W and positioning the semiconductor wafer W is provided. Further, a main arm 5 is provided in the central portion of the processing apparatus 1 so as to be movable in the longitudinal direction thereof, and a main arm 5 for receiving the semiconductor wafer W from the auxiliary arm 4 is provided. Various processing mechanisms are arranged on both sides of the transfer path of the chamber 5. Specifically, as a processing mechanism, a cleaning process is performed on the side of the carrier station 3 by a brush scrubber 6 for brush cleaning the semiconductor wafer W and high-pressure jet water as a process station. High-pressure jet washer 7 and the like are provided in parallel, two developing devices 8 are provided in parallel on the opposite side of the main arm transfer path, and two heating devices 9 are provided next to them.
Are provided in a stack.

Further, on the side of the processing mechanism, there is provided an adhesion processing device 11 for hydrophobizing the photoresist before applying it to the semiconductor wafer W via the connection unit 10. A cooling device 12 is arranged below. On the sides of these devices 11 and 12, heating devices 9 are arranged so that two heating devices 9 are stacked in two rows. Two resist coating devices 13 for coating the photoresist liquid on the semiconductor wafer W are provided in parallel on the opposite side of the heating device 9 and the adhesion processing device 11 with the transfer path of the main arm 5 interposed therebetween. ing. Although not shown, an exposure device and the like for exposing a predetermined fine pattern on the resist film are provided on the side of the resist coating device 13.

As shown in FIG. 1, the developing device 8 of the present invention incorporated in the processing device 1 constructed as described above is rotatable in its central portion by a drive motor 16 and is vertically moved by an elevating mechanism 17. A spin chuck 18 as a movable semiconductor wafer W holding means is provided, and the semiconductor wafer W can be sucked and held on the upper surface by vacuum suction or the like.

A peripheral or peripheral portion of the spin chuck 18 is provided with a cup mechanism 20 made of resin or metal for surrounding the spin chuck 18 to prevent the rinse liquid such as a developing liquid or cleaning water from scattering. This cup mechanism 20 has a bottomed cylindrical outer cup 21 with its bottom portion inclined and its peripheral portion standing upright.
A doughnut-shaped inner cup 22 that is inclined downward from the lower peripheral edge of the semiconductor wafer W supported by the bottom of the outer cup 21 and held by the spin chuck 18, and the inner cup. A cylindrical body 25 which is substantially concentric with the rotation axis of the spin chuck 18 is provided between the semiconductor wafer W and the semiconductor wafer W. The cylindrical body 25 moves vertically, for example, the rear surface of the semiconductor wafer W and the upper part of the cylindrical body 25. The elevation mechanism 24 is configured to be vertically movable (approximated or separated) between a proximity position having a distance of 1 mm from the tip portion and a separation position having a sufficient distance from the semiconductor wafer W, for example, 20 mm. Further, as shown in FIG. 3, a tip end portion 26 of the cylindrical body 25 facing the back surface peripheral edge portion of the semiconductor wafer W is provided with an inclined surface 27 at least on the outer side, and an upper end edge 28 of the tip end portion 26 has a knife. It is formed like an edge. Also,
The size of the cylindrical body 25 in the diametrical direction is such that the diameter of the tip portion 26 is about 10 mm inside the diameter of the semiconductor wafer W, that is, inside the orientation flat of the semiconductor wafer, for example. The cylindrical body 25 has a thickness of about 1 to 2 mm and is made of a material having water resistance, corrosion resistance and water absorption, such as a material such as nylon or ceramics.

An exhaust port 31 connected to an exhaust pump (not shown) is provided at the bottom of the outer cup 21, and a drain port 32 connected to a suction pump (not shown).
Is provided. A plurality of rinse liquid jet nozzles 33 for jetting the rinse liquid for cleaning toward the peripheral portion of the back surface of the semiconductor wafer W are provided inside the cylindrical body 25. The spray direction of the rinse liquid spray nozzle 33 is configured such that the rinse liquid is supplied to the outer peripheral side of the back surface of the semiconductor wafer W.

A processing liquid supply nozzle 37 for supplying the processing liquid L to the surface of the semiconductor wafer W from the processing liquid supply mechanism 35 via a processing liquid supply pipe 36 is provided above the spin chuck 18. There is. Further, a rinse liquid supply nozzle (not shown) is provided above the spin chuck 18, and the semiconductor wafer W on which the developing process has been completed is completed.
The rinse liquid can be supplied to the surface of the.

Further, the drive motor 16, the elevating mechanism 17, the elevating mechanism 24, the processing liquid supply mechanism 35 and the rinse liquid supply nozzle respectively have respective rotational speeds, vertical positions, processing liquid supply amounts and rinse liquids. It is connected to a control unit 38 for controlling the supply amount and has a configuration capable of relative control.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described.
First, the cylindrical body 25 and the semiconductor wafer W are arranged at a separated position of, for example, 20 mm. After the semiconductor wafer W is automatically transferred, positioned and held by the main arm 5 to the spin chuck 18, the semiconductor wafer W is, for example, 2000 rp.
While rotating at a high speed at m, the developing solution is supplied to the upper surface (front surface) of the semiconductor wafer W from the processing solution supply nozzle in a spray form for, for example, 0.5 seconds to perform the pre-wet processing of the semiconductor wafer W. After that, the number of rotations is gradually reduced, and at the same time, the elevating mechanism 24 moves the cylindrical body 25 upward, that is, toward the back surface of the semiconductor wafer W so that the interval is 1 mm.
In the state of being rotated at a low speed of, for example, 30 rpm, a spray-like developing solution is supplied for 2 seconds from the processing solution supply nozzle, and liquid is piled up by surface tension to form a developing solution film on the semiconductor wafer W. After the formation, the rotation is stopped and the development processing is performed for 50 seconds, for example. Further, the temperature and humidity of this processing atmosphere are automatically controlled to predetermined set values.

At this time, as shown in FIG. 3, the developing solution L wraps around the back surface of the semiconductor wafer W between the semiconductor wafer W and the cylindrical body 25 due to the backing from the peripheral edge of the semiconductor wafer W. , The lower surface (back surface) of the semiconductor wafer W and the cylindrical body 25
Since the gap between the upper edge 28 and the upper edge 28 is as narrow as about 1 mm, the developer L can be prevented from entering the inside of the cylindrical body 25, and the tip end portion 26 of the cylindrical body 25 has an inclined surface 27 on the outer peripheral side.
Is provided in the shape of a knife edge, the developing solution L that has spilled over the semiconductor wafer W and the upper edge 2 of the cylindrical body 25
The amount of the developer L that remains in the gap with 8 is small, and most of the developer L flows down the inclined surface on the outer peripheral side. That is, the backside of the developing solution L can be limited up to the position facing the upper edge 28 of the cylindrical body 25.

After that, the rotation speed of the semiconductor wafer W is increased little by little and the developing solution is shaken off (at the same time (or at almost the same time or slightly later)), the elevating mechanism 24 causes the cylindrical body 25 to move.
Is moved downward and is placed at the separated position. Semiconductor wafer W
Up to the position where the upper end edge 28 of the cylindrical body 25 faces the developer L
However, after this, the semiconductor wafer W is
In the state of 0 rpm rotation, the rinse liquid is supplied to the surface of the semiconductor wafer W from a rinse liquid supply nozzle (not shown), and at the same time, the rinse liquid jet nozzle 33 supplies the semiconductor wafer W.
The developing solution is washed away by spraying the cleaning solution, for example, for 10 seconds on the back surface of the developing solution. After this, the number of revolutions is gradually increased, and at a revolution of 4000 rpm, for example, 1
Shake off for 0 seconds to dry.

While the semiconductor wafer W is rotating at a low speed,
Since the cylindrical body 25 is brought close to the semiconductor wafer W while the developing solution is stopped in a state of being filled with the developing solution, it is possible to prevent backing and to prevent centrifugal force generated by high-speed rotation during high-speed rotation. Since the backing does not occur due to the action and the upper edge 28 of the cylindrical body 25 is moved to the separated position about 20 mm apart, even if the semiconductor wafer W shakes vertically due to the high speed rotation, the semiconductor wafer W does not move. The back surface of the cylinder 25 and the upper edge 28 of the cylindrical body 25 do not come into contact with each other, so that safety can be ensured. Further, when the rinse liquid is supplied to the back surface of the semiconductor wafer W, the developing process has already been completed, so that even if the temperature of the cleaning liquid changes, uneven development does not occur.

Further, in a state where the tip portion 26 of the tubular body 25 and the back surface of the semiconductor wafer W are close to each other, the developing solution that has come around circulates at the moment when the tip portion 26 of the tubular body 25 is touched. Since the fluid resistance of this flow path is smaller than that of the other path (the wraparound path in the chuck direction) along the wall surface of 25, the flow path is stable. Therefore, the cylindrical body 2
It does not flow into the inside of 5. When the cylindrical body 25 has a knife-edge shape, the residual amount of the developing solution attached to the back surface of the semiconductor wafer W is small, and the amount of the cleaning solution is small when the back surface is newly cleaned after the processing is completed. At the same time, there is an effect that the cleaning time is short.

As the tubular body, the tubular body 2 of the above-mentioned embodiment is used.
The number is not limited to 5, and may be, for example, a conical tubular body. In short, a cylindrical body having an end portion that is substantially concentric with the center of rotation of the semiconductor wafer W and that can form a minute gap with the peripheral portion of the back surface of the semiconductor wafer W may be used.

Next, other embodiments will be described.
The same parts as those in the first embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted. In the second embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, the tip end portion 26 of the tubular body 25 has inclined surfaces formed on both the inside and the outside. In the first embodiment, the one having the inclined surface on the outer peripheral side is used, but it goes without saying that the invention is not limited to this.

Further, in the third embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, the tip end portion 26 of the cylindrical body 25 is provided with a step portion 40 so that at least the outside thereof is lowered, and the step portion 40 is provided. It is also possible to form a liquid reservoir for the developing solution that wraps around the peripheral portion of the back surface of the object. By providing the step portion 40, it is possible to prevent the liquid film from spreading easily in the lateral direction along the step portion 40 and preventing the liquid film from being interrupted.

Further, in the fourth embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6, for example, a groove-shaped liquid reservoir 42 is provided at the distal end portion 26 of the cylindrical body 25 so as to circulate, and communicates with the liquid reservoir 42. A cleaning liquid or pure water is supplied from a liquid supply source (not shown) through the liquid supply pipe 41, while the semiconductor wafer W is rotating at a low speed, or during a period in which the developing liquid is stopped in a liquid-filled state, The tip portion 26 of the cylindrical body 25 is automatically set so as to be at a predetermined position on the back surface of the semiconductor wafer W, and the developing solution and the cleaning solution, which wrap around to the back surface side of the semiconductor wafer W, are held by a capillary phenomenon and are circumferentially moved. It is configured so that a continuous liquid film can be formed. In the fourth embodiment, since a continuous liquid film can be formed by the cleaning liquid or pure water in the circumferential direction of the liquid reservoir formed on the surface of the cylindrical body facing the object to be processed, There is an effect that the liquid film of the cleaning liquid forcibly holds and attracts the developing liquid that wraps around to the back surface side of the object to be processed and prevents the liquid from further intruding.

Further, since the drive motor 16, the elevating mechanism 17, the elevating mechanism 24, the processing liquid supply mechanism 35 and the rinse supply nozzle are connected to the control unit 38, their respective rotational speeds and elevating and lowering are performed. Since the position and the supply amount of the processing liquid can be controlled simultaneously or separately according to the process as appropriate, it is possible to automatically perform highly accurate processing.

In the above-mentioned embodiment, the step of supplying the developing solution has been described, but it can be applied to any application of the resist solution or any other processing solution. Furthermore,
The application of the resist solution and the developing solution to the semiconductor wafer has been described.
It may be applied to the spin coating process of the treatment liquid on the D substrate or the like. In this case, the tubular body is provided with a tubular (cylindrical) member in which the shape of the processing object and the proximity portion are substantially the same as the shape of the processing object according to the shape of the processing object, and the processing object is in a rotation stopped state. At this time, when a tubular member having substantially the same shape as the object to be processed is brought close to the lower surface of the object to be processed to prevent backing and the object is rotated at high speed, the tubular member may be separated from the object to be processed. .

[0031]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, it is possible to maintain the safety at the time of high speed rotation and prevent the treatment liquid from sneaking around the back surface of the object to be treated. Also,
According to the second invention and the third invention, it is possible to reduce the amount of the cleaning liquid and the cleaning time in the back surface cleaning after the treatment. Further, according to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the safety at the time of high speed rotation can be maintained and the backing of the processing liquid can be prevented.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view of a processing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a usage state of the processing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the main parts of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of essential parts of a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of essential parts of a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of essential parts of a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 W Semiconductor Wafer 16 Driving Motor 37 Processing Liquid Supply Nozzle 25 Cylindrical Body 24 Lifting Mechanism 27 Sloping Surface 28 Tip Part

Front Page Continuation (72) Inventor Norimitsu Morioka 2655 Tsukyu, Kikuyo-cho, Kikuchi-gun, Kumamoto Prefecture Tokyo Electron Kyushu Kumamoto Plant

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A processing apparatus comprising a mechanism for rotating an object to be processed and a mechanism for supplying a processing liquid to the surface of the object to be processed, the diameter being smaller than the object to be processed provided on the back side of the object to be processed. And a lifting mechanism that allows the cylinder and the object to be processed to move relative to each other. 2. The processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an inclined surface is provided at least on the outer peripheral side of the tip of the cylindrical body. 3. The processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a tip end portion of the cylindrical body is formed into a knife edge shape. 4. During the period in which the object to be processed is stopped or rotated at a low speed, the back surface of the object to be processed and the tip end portion of a tubular body having a diameter smaller than that of the object to be processed provided on the back surface side of the object to be processed are close to each other. And a step of rotating the object to be processed at a high speed, comprising a step of separating the back surface of the object to be processed from the tip of the cylindrical body.