JPH08138991A - Substrate holding device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To obtain a substrate holding device by which even a substrate having a plane strain can be sucked and held surely by a method wherein a mounting face can be deformed in such a way that a suction port is moved independently in the up-and-down direction. CONSTITUTION: A vacuum pump for an intake system is turned on, and the suction of a square substrate W to a holding plate 5 is started. A suction confirmation sensor detects a vacuum pressure for the intake system. Whether a vacuum suction port in the holding plate 5 has sucked the substrate W or not is confirmed. When the suction port has not sucked the substrate, a nozzle 20 is moved back and forth on the surface of the substrate W, and a gap sensor 27 detects the gap between the lower end of the nozzle 20 and the surface of the substrate W. Then, on the basis of this data, an actuator 6 is driven in such a way that the holding plate 5 is moved along the rear surface of the substrate W. Whether the suction confirmation sensor has been turned on or not is confirmed again. When the sensor has not been turned on, the actuator 6 is driven, and the surface of the holding plate 5 is returned so as to become an initial flat plane. Thereby, even when the substrate comprises a warp, it can be sucked surely.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a substrate holding device for adsorbing and holding a substrate for carrying or predetermined processing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Semiconductor wafers, glass rectangular substrates for liquid crystals,
As an apparatus for applying a treatment liquid to the surface of a substrate such as a photomask substrate, a printed circuit board, a color filter substrate, a thermal head ceramic substrate, etc.
No. 1, JP-A-1-13556, JP-A No. 2-2
The spin coater disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 19213 is known. In the spin coater, the substrate is held on a rotatable spin chuck, and the processing liquid is dropped from the nozzle onto the center of the substrate. After that, the substrate is rotated together with the spin chuck to diffuse the processing liquid in the central portion of the substrate surface by the centrifugal force over the entire substrate surface. As a result, the treatment liquid is uniformly applied to the substrate surface.

In such an apparatus, a large number of vacuum suction ports are provided on the upper surface of the spin chuck, and the lower surface of the substrate is sucked through the suction ports to hold the substrate on the spin chuck. On the other hand, as an apparatus for applying the treatment liquid to the surface of the substrate, a slit coater using a slit nozzle having a slit-shaped discharge portion is known as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 56-159646. In the slit coater, the processing liquid is applied onto the substrate while the slit nozzle moves with respect to the substrate held horizontally on the holding surface. At this time, the lower surface of the nozzle presses the coating liquid to form a pressure portion, and the film thickness after coating is made constant.
In the case of such a slit coater as well, similar to the spin coater, the slit coater has a substrate holding portion having a plurality of vacuum suction ports on the upper surface, and the substrate is suctioned and held through the suction ports.

[0004]

In an apparatus for processing a substrate, it is preferable to eliminate in the process a planar strain, that is, a so-called warpage of the substrate. However, there are variations in the allowable value with respect to the warp depending on the manufacturing apparatus, and in view of the yield, it is preferable to treat and use a substrate having distortion as much as possible.

In the above spin coater, when a strained substrate is placed on the spin chuck, there is a possibility that the substrate cannot be sucked by all the suction ports. If the spin chuck is rotated while the substrate is not securely attracted, the substrate may be damaged or the damaged substrate may damage the device. Even in the case of the slit coater, when the substrate is not completely adsorbed, there are problems that the film thickness of the applied processing liquid varies and the substrate is damaged.

Not only the spin coater and the slit coater described above, but also other apparatuses for sucking and holding a substrate similarly have the problems of substrate damage and incomplete processing. Further, if a pressure sensor for confirming the suction of the substrate is provided in the suction system including the suction port and the vacuum generation source, the predetermined vacuum pressure cannot be obtained due to the poor suction of the substrate, and the device cannot be stopped. There are problems such as frequent occurrence and prolongation of the takt time of the device.

In order to completely adsorb a substrate having a plane strain to the substrate holding portion, it is possible to increase the amount of adsorbed air from the adsorption port with a blower and suck the substrate with wind pressure. However, in order to increase the blower capacity, it is necessary to consider the pipe diameter and the pipe distance, which complicates the design and places many restrictions on the arrangement space. Further, in the case of one suction system, if there is a suction port apart from the substrate even at one place, the suction force will be weakened, so that it is necessary to prepare a plurality of suction systems, which further complicates the apparatus. Further, the substrate holding part needs to have a hollow structure, which makes the device expensive.

In addition to the conventional structure described above, it is conceivable that a suction pad that moves up and down may be further provided so that even if the substrate has a warp, the suction pad sucks the substrate. In this case as well, it is necessary to provide a suction pad, which complicates the structure and makes cost reduction difficult. Further, in the apparatus for coating the resist as described above, when the back surface of the substrate is adsorbed by the adsorption pad having a large contact area, the film thickness of the coating may change due to heat transfer. Therefore, it is necessary to provide a large number of suction pads having a small contact area, which further complicates the device.

An object of the present invention is to provide a substrate holding device capable of reliably sucking and holding even a substrate having a plane strain.

[0010]

A substrate holding device according to a first aspect of the present invention comprises a substrate holding portion, a detecting means, a holding portion deforming means, and a suction means. The substrate holder is
The upper surface has a mounting surface on which a substrate is mounted, and a plurality of suction holes for substrate suction formed on the mounting surface. The mounting surface is such that each suction port moves independently in the vertical direction. Is deformable. The detection means detects the plane strain of the substrate placed on the placement surface. The holding portion deforming means deforms the mounting surface based on the detection result of the detecting means. The suction means sucks the substrate mounted on the mounting surface via the suction port.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the substrate holding device according to the first aspect, wherein the holding portion deforming means returns the mounting surface to a flat surface while the substrate is sucked by the suction port. . The substrate holding device according to claim 3 is the substrate holding device according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising a substrate processing part facing the substrate holding part for performing processing on the substrate surface, and the detection means is the substrate. The configuration includes a gap sensor that detects the distance between the processing unit and the substrate holding unit.

[0012]

In the substrate holding device according to the first aspect of the present invention,
The substrate is placed on the placement surface of the substrate holder. The plane strain of the substrate placed on the placement surface is detected by the detection means. The holder deforming means deforms the mounting surface of the substrate holder based on the detection result of the detecting means, and moves each suction port so as to be close to the lower surface of the substrate. In this state, the substrate is sucked onto the mounting surface by the suction means.

In the substrate holding device according to the second aspect of the present invention, the mounting surface is returned to a flat surface while the substrate is sucked by the suction port, and the substrate surface is made a flat surface without distortion. In the substrate holding device according to the third aspect of the present invention, the plane strain of the substrate is detected by the gap sensor provided in the substrate processing unit for performing processing on the surface of the substrate, and the holding unit deforming means is based on the detection result. Deform the mounting surface.

[0014]

FIG. 1 shows a resist solution coating apparatus 1 to which an embodiment of the present invention is applied. The resist liquid coating device 1 is a device for coating the surface of the rectangular substrate W with the resist liquid, and mainly includes a substrate holding portion 2, a coating portion 3, and a cleaning portion 4. The substrate holding unit 2 mainly includes a holding plate 5 on which the rectangular substrate W is placed, nine actuators 6 arranged below the holding plate 5, and a guide mechanism 7.

The holding plate 5 is a rectangle long in the X direction in FIG. 1 and is elastically deformable in the vertical direction. A large number of vacuum suction ports (not shown) are formed on the surface of the holding plate 5. This vacuum suction port is connected to an intake system 66 (described later) such as a vacuum pump (not shown). The nine actuators 6 support the holding plate 5 from below. The actuator 6 expands and contracts to locally elastically deform the holding plate 5.

As shown in detail in FIG. 2, the guide mechanism 7 is composed of a pair of dispenser guides 9 and a link mechanism 10 for driving the dispenser guides 9. As is clear from the figure, the dispenser guide 9 is an elongated plate-shaped member extending along the short side of the holding plate 5. The upper surface of the dispenser guide 9 is flush with the upper surface of the rectangular substrate W when the rectangular substrate W is held on the holding plate 5. The link mechanism 10 is disposed below the holding plate 5, and has two support rods 11 fixed to each dispenser guide 9, a pair of plate members 12 to which the support rods 11 are fixed, and each plate member 12. Adjusting rod 13
A rotating member 15 rotatably connected to both adjusting rods 13, a return spring 16 for urging the plate member 12 inward (in a direction toward each other), and a rotating member 15 for rotating the rotating member 15. And a cylinder 17. In the state shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the cylinder 17 is in the off state, and the cylinder rod projects to rotate the rotating member 15 counterclockwise. Thereby, the dispenser guide 9
It is separated from the short side end edge of the holding plate 5 by a predetermined distance against the biasing force of the return spring 16. When the cylinder 17 is turned on, the rod of the cylinder 17 separates from the rotating member 15 and the biasing force of the return spring 16 moves the dispenser guide 9 toward the holding plate 5. At this time, when the rectangular substrate W is held by the holding plate 5, the dispenser guide 9 comes into contact with the short side edge of the rectangular substrate W. The dispenser guide 9 and the support rod 11 are connected by a coil spring 18.

As shown in FIG. 1, the coating section 3 includes a nozzle 2
0 and a drive mechanism 21 for driving the nozzle 20. The nozzle 20 is movable by the drive mechanism 21 in the X direction of FIG. Nozzle 20 is X
It extends long in the Y direction orthogonal to the direction. Nozzle 20
Is an inverted house-shaped member as shown in FIG. Further, the nozzle 20 has a slit 2 extending in the longitudinal direction at the lower end.
It has 0a. Inside the nozzle 20, a liquid reservoir 20b wider than the slit 20a is formed in the middle of the slit 20a. The liquid reservoir 20b is connected to a resist liquid supply device 67 (described later). Pool 2
0b is for uniformly spreading the resist solution supplied from the resist solution supply device in the longitudinal direction of the nozzle 20.

The rear side in the moving direction of the nozzle 20 (X _{2 in} FIG. 3)
The side) inclined surface is provided with a gap adjusting mechanism 33. The gap adjusting mechanism 33 mainly includes a die member 34, a support block 35, a piezoelectric element 36, and a capacitance displacement meter 37. The die member 34 is obliquely arranged in the recess 20c formed along the rearward inclined surface of the nozzle 20. The recess 20c and the die member 34 extend in the direction orthogonal to the paper surface of FIG. 3 (Y direction in FIG. 1). Die member 34
Is a thin plate member and is elastically deformable in the thickness direction.
The lower end of the die member 34 is arranged in the vicinity of the exit of the slit 20a of the nozzle 20 and forms a gap with the rectangular substrate W. A predetermined gap is formed between the die member 34 and the recess 20c. In this gap, two pairs of cone springs 38, which are superposed in opposite directions, are arranged, and the die member 34 is placed on the rectangular substrate W diagonally below.
Biased to the side. The gap between the die member 34 and the recess 20c communicates with the suction hole 20d formed in the nozzle 20. The suction hole 20d is connected to an intake system 66 (described later) including a vacuum pump or the like (not shown). In this way, since the resist liquid discharged from the slit 20a of the nozzle 20 is sucked, the rectangular substrate W
The amount of resist solution supplied to the can be adjusted.

The support block 35 extends in the longitudinal direction of the nozzle and is fixed to the rearward inclined surface of the nozzle 20. The support block 35 has a plurality of holes 35 a formed in the side wall on the side that abuts the die member 34 and arranged in the nozzle longitudinal direction.
have. The die member 3 is provided in each hole 35a.
Each of the plurality of protrusions 34a formed on the No. 4 is inserted. Inside the support block 35, the die member 3
4, the support block 3 is provided at a position corresponding to the protrusion 34a.
5, a plurality of link portions 35b formed integrally with each other are arranged. Each link part 35b and the support block 35 are connected by a thin connecting part 35c, and the lower part of the link part 35b is in contact with the protrusion 34a of the die member 34. The link portion 35b is elastically deformable so as to rotate about the connecting portion 35c as a fulcrum. A plurality of piezoelectric elements 36 are arranged at a pitch of 20 mm, for example, in a direction orthogonal to the paper surface of FIG. 3, corresponding to the plurality of link portions 35b. When the piezoelectric element 36 extends downward from the state shown in FIG. 3, the link portion 35b is deformed so as to rotate, and a part of the die member 34 corresponding thereto is locally deformed. As a result, the distance between the lower end of the die member 34 and the rectangular substrate W is variously changed in the longitudinal direction of the nozzle 20. A capacitance displacement meter 37 is arranged near the piezoelectric element 36. The capacitance displacement meter 37 is
The piezoelectric element 36 is for correcting the displacement amount displacement caused by the relationship between the voltage and the displacement amount.

The front side (X
_The gap sensor 27 is provided on the _first side. The gap sensor 27 is an optical sensor, and has a rectangular substrate W.
Is arranged at a predetermined distance from the upper surface of the rectangular substrate W and detects the distance between the lower end of the nozzle 20 and the rectangular substrate W. Gap sensor 2
As shown in FIG. 4, 7 is movable in the longitudinal direction of the nozzle 20 by a ball screw 54 fixed to the nozzle 20 and a motor 55.

As shown in FIG. 1, the drive mechanism 21 is mainly composed of a block 22 that supports both ends of the nozzle 20 and a U-shaped support stay 23 that supports the blocks 22 at both ends from below. . The support stay 23 includes the nozzle 20.
Is connected to a ball screw 24 extending in the moving direction of.
The ball screw 24 is connected to a motor (not shown). When this motor is driven, the support stay 23 and the nozzle 20 move in the X direction of FIG. 1 with respect to the rectangular substrate W.

A motor 25 is provided in the block 22. As shown in FIG. 5, the motor 25 is connected to the ball screw 26a by a pulley 38 and a belt 26. The ball screw 26a is a nut 2 attached to the shaft 29.
It is screwed to 8. The shaft 29 is connected to the nozzle 20. With the above configuration, when the motor 25 rotates, the nozzle 20 moves in the Y direction of FIG. Further, the motor 20 (FIG. 1) provided in the block 22 allows the nozzle 20 to tilt.

In both blocks 22, as shown in FIG.
A ball screw 31 extending in the vertical direction is connected. The ball screw 31 is connected to the motor 32. As a result, the nozzle 20 can be moved up and down. As shown in FIG. 1, the cleaning units 4 are arranged on both sides of the substrate holding unit 2 in the X direction. Each cleaning unit 4 includes a cleaning device 39 and a moving mechanism 40 that moves the cleaning device 39 in the Y direction. The cleaning device 39 has a block shape and is shown in FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 1, in a state where the dispenser guide 9 is separated from the holding plate 5 by a predetermined distance (see FIG. 1), the short-side edge of the rectangular substrate W and the edge of the dispenser guide 9 are cleaned on both sides in the X direction. It has an open opening 41. As shown in FIG. 8, a plurality of needle-like rinse nozzles 43 arranged in the direction orthogonal to the paper surface are arranged above and below each opening 41. Further, a plurality of needle-shaped gas nozzles 44 arranged in a direction orthogonal to the plane of the drawing are arranged obliquely above each opening 41. The gas nozzle 44 is arranged on the edge of the rectangular substrate W and outside the dispenser guide 9, and allows the cleaning liquid and the dissolved material to be exposed through the opening 4.
It is arranged so that it may be blown away within 1. Both openings 41
Is continuous with the exhaust hole 42, and the exhaust hole 42 is continuous with the exhaust passage 45 shown in FIG. Furthermore, the cleaning device 39
Has a cleaning groove 46 on the upper surface for cleaning the lower end of the nozzle 20. In the vicinity of the cleaning groove 46, a plurality of rinse nozzles 47 arranged in the direction orthogonal to the paper surface are arranged. The cleaning groove 46 is connected to a discharge passage 48 (FIG. 6) formed in the cleaning device 39. Discharge passage 45, 48
Are connected to one exhaust system.

As shown in FIG. 7, the moving mechanism 40 includes a roller chain 50 extending in the Y direction and a roller chain 50.
The main components are a sprocket 51 arranged at both ends of the sprocket, a speed reducer 52 connected to the sprocket 51, and a motor 53 connected to the speed reducer 52. The roller chain 50 is connected to the cleaning device 39. Motor 53
When is rotated, the cleaning device 39 moves in the Y direction.

The resist liquid coating apparatus 1 further has a control unit 57 shown in FIG. The control unit 57 includes a CPU,
It includes a microcomputer consisting of RAM, ROM and other components. The control unit 57 has, as an input device,
The operation panel 58, the gap sensor 27, the nozzle position sensor 59, the substrate detection sensor 60, and the suction confirmation sensor 61 are connected. An operator can give various instructions to the apparatus 1 from the operation panel 58. For example, the number of rectangular substrates for cleaning the nozzle 20 is set. The nozzle position sensor 59 detects the position of the nozzle 20 in the X direction. The substrate detection sensor 60 detects whether or not the rectangular substrate W is placed on the holding plate 5. The suction confirmation sensor 61 is provided in the suction system 66, and detects whether or not the rectangular substrate W is suctioned on the holding plate 5 by detecting the vacuum pressure.

Further, the control section 57 includes an actuator drive section 62, a die drive section 63, a sensor drive section 64, a nozzle drive section 65, an intake system 66, a resist solution supply apparatus 67, and a cleaning solution supply apparatus 68 as output devices. The N ₂ gas supply device 69, the cleaning device drive unit 70, and the cylinder 17 are connected. The actuator drive unit 62 expands and contracts each actuator 6. The die driving unit 63 includes the piezoelectric element 36.
And is connected to a capacitance displacement gauge 37. The sensor driving unit 64 is connected to the motor 55,
The gap sensor 27 is moved in the Y direction. The nozzle drive unit 65 includes a ball screw 24, a motor 25, a motor 30,
32, which moves, lifts, rocks, or tilts the nozzle 20 with respect to the rectangular substrate W. The intake system 66 includes a holding plate 5, a nozzle 20, and a vacuum pump that performs suction in the cleaning device 39. The cleaning liquid supply device 68 supplies the cleaning liquid to the rinse nozzles 43 and 47, and the N ₂ gas supply device 6
9 supplies N ₂ gas to the gas nozzle 44. The cleaning device drive unit 70 is connected to the motor 53, and the cleaning device 39 is turned on.
Move in the direction.

Next, the control operation by the control unit 57 will be described with reference to the control flowcharts of FIGS. 10 to 14 and the graph of FIG. In the overall flowchart shown in FIG. 10, the entire resist solution coating apparatus 1 is initialized in step S1. Here, the nozzle 20 is arranged at the initial position on the front upper side in FIG. 1, and the variable n indicating the number of processed square substrates W is set to zero. Further, at this time, the operator inputs the number of rectangular substrates for cleaning the nozzle 20, and the value becomes the value of the variable p. In step S2,
It waits for the rectangular substrate W to be loaded into the resist solution coating apparatus 1 by a transport device (not shown). When the substrate W is loaded and unloaded, the dispenser guide 9 is separated from both short sides of the holding plate 5, so that the rectangular substrate W can be loaded and unloaded easily. When the rectangular substrate W is loaded, the process proceeds to step S3, and suction holding processing is performed. In step S4, a resist solution coating process is performed. In step S5, a drying process is performed. Then step S
In 6, the edge cleaning process of the rectangular substrate W is performed. Step S
At 7, the process waits until the rectangular substrate W is unloaded from the resist liquid coating apparatus 1, and the process returns to step S2.

FIG. 11 shows the suction holding process of step S3. In this process, the variable n is incremented in step S9. In step S10, the vacuum pump of the suction system 66 is turned on to start sucking the rectangular substrate W onto the holding plate 5. In step S11, it is determined whether the suction confirmation sensor 61 is turned on. The suction confirmation sensor 61 detects the vacuum pressure of the suction system 66, and when all the vacuum suction ports provided on the holding plate 5 suction the rectangular substrate W, the suction system 66 is vacuumed. The pressure increases, and the suction confirmation sensor 61 turns on. If even one square suction port of the holding plate 5 does not suck the rectangular substrate W, the suction confirmation sensor 61 does not turn on because the vacuum pressure in the suction system 66 does not reach a predetermined value. When the suction confirmation sensor 61 is turned on, the process proceeds to step S16. If the suction confirmation sensor 61 is not turned on, the process proceeds to step S12.

In step S12, the nozzle 20 is reciprocated on the surface of the rectangular substrate W, and the gap between the lower end of the nozzle 20 and the surface of the rectangular substrate W is detected by the gap sensor 27. Here, for example, the rectangular substrate W is set to X, Y
The gaps at the intersections (7 × 7) of the cells in the case of dividing the cells into 6 × 6 cells in the direction are detected. In step S13, the actuators 6 are driven so that the holding plate 5 follows the lower surface of the rectangular substrate W based on the gap detection data in step S12 for the nine points where the actuators 6 are arranged. In step S14, it is determined whether or not the suction confirmation sensor 61 is turned on. If the suction confirmation sensor is not turned on, the process proceeds to step S12 and the gap detection data by the gap sensor 27 is obtained again. When the suction confirmation sensor 61 is turned on, the process proceeds to step S15. In step S15, the actuator 6 is driven to restore the holding plate 5 so that the surface of the holding plate 5 becomes an initial flat surface.

In step S16, the cylinder 17 is turned on. As a result, the dispenser guide 9 returns to the holding plate 5 side by the urging force of the return spring 16. When the dispenser guide 9 comes into contact with the short side edge of the rectangular substrate W, the shock at the time of collision is relieved by the return spring 16, and the rectangular substrate W is less likely to be damaged. Further, since the dispenser guide 9 is connected to the support rod 11 via the coil spring 18, the shock when coming into contact with the rectangular substrate W is absorbed. Further, when the rectangular substrate W is arranged so as to be displaced with respect to the holding plate 5, the posture of the dispenser guide 9 is freely changed by the coil spring 18 and the whole of the rectangular substrate W comes into close contact with each short side edge. .

Next, in step S17, the nozzle 20 is reciprocated on the surface of the rectangular substrate W again, and the gap between the lower end of the nozzle 20 and the surface of the rectangular substrate W is detected by the gap sensor 27. Here, step S1
The same detection method as in 2 is possible. In step S18, the actuator 6 is driven so that the nine points of the rectangular substrate W are located in the same plane based on the gap detection data in step S17 with respect to the nine points where the actuator 6 is arranged. In step S19, the actuator 6
A correction calculation is performed for points other than the 9 points where the symbols are arranged. Points other than the nine points where the actuator 6 is arranged are driven by the actuator 6 in step S18.
It is considered that the gap is further displaced from the gap detection data detected in step S17. Therefore, the initial displacement amount is corrected in consideration of the influence from the nine points where the actuator 6 is arranged, and the correct displacement amount is obtained. The corrected displacement amounts are stored in the memory. From step S19, the process returns to the main routine of FIG.

The resist solution coating process of step S4 is shown in FIG.
2 and FIG. In this process, in step S20, the nozzle 20 starts moving in the X direction (FIG. 15).
Of 0). In step S21, waiting for the nozzle 20 to come on the dispenser guide 9 is started, and in step S22, the descent of the nozzle 20 is started. Subsequently, in step S23, the discharge of the resist liquid is started from the slit 20a of the nozzle 20. In step S24, until the distance between the lower end of the nozzle 20 and the surface of the dispenser guide 9 reaches 20 microns, the movement and lowering of the nozzle 20 in the X direction are stopped in step S25. In step S26, the nozzle 20 is moved to the position shown in FIG.
Reciprocate in the Y direction. Thereby, the slit 20
The resist liquid discharged from a adheres to the dispenser guide 9 uniformly over the entire longitudinal direction of the slit 20a. That is, the slit 20a and the dispenser guide 9
And the resist solution continues like a curtain. Here, since the nozzle 20 is close to the rectangular substrate W, the consumption of the resist liquid is small. As a modification, the nozzle 2
0 may be moved up and down or tilted.

In step S27, the movement of the nozzle 20 in the X direction is started. At this time, the resist liquid is discharged onto the dispenser guide 9. A large amount of resist liquid is supplied to the nozzle 20 in order to uniformly discharge the resist liquid in the longitudinal direction of the nozzle 20 when the discharge of the resist liquid is started. However, since the initial resist liquid is applied on the dispenser guide 9, a thick resist film generated at the start of resist discharge is formed on the dispenser guide 9. Therefore, the resist film formed on the surface of the rectangular substrate W becomes uniform.

Next, in step S28, waiting for the nozzle 20 to reach the coating start side edge of the rectangular substrate W is started, and in step S29, suction of the suction hole 20d of the nozzle 20 is started (suction on the left side of FIG. 15). ). Here, a part of the resist liquid discharged from the slit 20a of the nozzle 20 is discharged to the suction hole 20d side through the gap between the die member 34 and the recess 20c of the nozzle 20. That is, in the processing liquid application start side portion of the rectangular substrate W, the amount of the resist liquid supplied from the nozzle 20 is equal to the amount supplied to the other portions of the rectangular substrate W. As a result, it is possible to prevent the resist liquid from adhering to the processing liquid application start side portion of the rectangular substrate W from rising. The resist liquid that has flowed out from the slit 20a flows along the wall at the lower end of the nozzle 20 (Coanda effect), and is smoothly sucked into the gap between the die member 34 and the recess 20c. Furthermore, the gap for suction is the slit 20.
Since it is arranged behind a in the advancing direction and is sucked in front of the die member 34 in the advancing direction, the resist liquid can be sucked efficiently. Further, since the gap is inclined with respect to the surface of the rectangular substrate W, the resist liquid is unlikely to flow back.

In step S30, the rise of the nozzle 20 is started. In step S31, the distance between the lower end of the nozzle 20 and the surface of the rectangular substrate W (GAP in FIG. 15) is, for example, 3
Waiting for the particle size to reach 0 to 50 microns, the suction of the suction hole 20d is stopped in step S32, and the nozzle 2 is stopped in step S33.
Stop rising 0. After that, the nozzle 20 moves in the X direction and applies the resist solution onto the rectangular substrate W. Since the length and positioning of the slit 20a of the nozzle 20 with respect to the long side edge of the square substrate W are accurately determined, the resist liquid is not applied to the back side of the long side edge of the square substrate W. It is hard to get around.

In step S34, it is determined whether or not the nozzle has reached the position where the small displacement point is measured in the X direction. When the position where the small displacement point is measured is reached, step S
The die member 34 of the nozzle 20 is deformed at 35 to finely adjust the distance between the nozzle 20 and the rectangular substrate W. In particular,
When the nozzle 20 reaches a predetermined position on the X axis, each piezoelectric element 36 is driven according to the displacement amount at the small deformation point stored in the suction holding process. As a result, the die member 34 is locally deformed in the longitudinal direction, and the distance between the die member 34 and the rectangular substrate W is kept constant. As described above, the gap adjustment by the deformation of the nozzle 20 is performed during the resist liquid coating process by the nozzle 20. Further, since the flatness of the square substrate W is roughly adjusted in advance on the holding plate 5 side during the suction holding process, the final interval adjustment is finer and more accurate. Furthermore, since the die member 34 is deformed in the direction of less rigidity, the acting force of the piezoelectric element 36 can be small, and the deformation point is less likely to affect the surrounding points.

In step S36, the nozzle 20 moves to the rectangular substrate W.
It is determined whether or not it has reached the vicinity of the end edge on the coating end side.
If it has not arrived, the process returns to step S34. In step S37, suction from the suction hole 20d is started (suction on the right side in FIG. 15). Then, in step S38,
The descent of the nozzle 20 is started. That is, the nozzle 20 descends while suppressing the amount of resist liquid discharged. For this reason, the amount of the resist liquid in the coating end side portion of the rectangular substrate W becomes equal to the amount in the other portions, and the resist liquid is prevented from rising at the short side edges of the rectangular substrate W. Waiting until the distance between the nozzle 20 and the rectangular substrate W reaches 20 microns in step S39, the suction from the suction hole 20d is stopped in step S40 of FIG. 13, and the resist solution supply to the slit 20a is stopped in step S41. . In step S42, the rise of the nozzle 20 is started. At this time, the nozzle 2
The resist liquid remaining in the 0 slit 20a is discharged onto the dispenser guide 9. In this way, since the resist liquid is continuously applied from the rectangular substrate W to the dispenser guide 9, the film thickness of the portion of the rectangular substrate W on the side where the processing liquid supply ends is not increased, and the entire film thickness is constant. become.
In step S43, the nozzle 20 waits until it reaches a certain height, and in step S44, the rise of the nozzle 20 is stopped. In step S45, the nozzle 20 is waited for being placed in a trough (not shown), and in step S46, the movement of the nozzle 20 in the X direction is stopped. In step S47, the nozzle 20
The nozzle 2 at high speed in the Y direction and in the vertical direction.
The resist solution attached to 0 is shaken off, and the process returns to the main routine of FIG. By swinging the nozzle 20, the nozzle 2
The resist solution near the 0 slit 20a is shaken off. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the resist solution from dropping to an unnecessary portion of the rectangular substrate W.

In the edge cleaning process shown in FIG. 14, the cylinder 17 is turned off in step S50. Then, the rotating member 1
5, the dispenser guide 9 overcomes the biasing force of the return spring 16 and separates from the short side edge of the rectangular substrate W. In step S51, it is determined whether or not the variable n indicating the number of processed substrates is a multiple of a predetermined value p indicating the number of sheets for which edge cleaning should be performed. If n is a multiple of p, it is necessary to clean the nozzle 20, so the process moves to step S52 and the nozzle 20 is lowered to the cleaning position. At this time, the nozzle 20 may be arranged on either side of the cleaning unit 4. If the variable n is not a multiple of the predetermined value p, it is not necessary to wash the nozzle 20, so step S5
Skip 2 and move to step S53. Step S5
In 3, the suction of the discharge passages 45 and 48 of the cleaning device 40 is started. In step S54, N _{2 is} discharged from the gas nozzle 44.
Discharge gas. In step S55, the rinse nozzle 4
The cleaning liquid is discharged from 3, 47. In step S56, the cleaning device 39 is moved back and forth several times in the Y direction. At this time, the short side edge of the rectangular substrate W and the dispenser guide 9 are simultaneously cleaned. In particular, the dissolved substance and the cleaning liquid on the upper surfaces of the rectangular substrate W and the dispenser guide 9 are blown off by the N ₂ gas, sucked into the exhaust hole 42, and further discharged into the discharge passage 45. When the nozzle 20 is disposed at the cleaning position shown in FIG. 8, the rinse nozzle 47 cleans the vicinity of the slit 20 a of the nozzle 20.
The deposit and the cleaning liquid flow into the discharge passage 45 and are discharged. As a modified example, when the suction hole 20d is sucked at this time, the cleaning liquid is discharged from the die member 34 and the recess 20 of the nozzle 20.
It flows through the gap between the c and the suction hole 20d. As a result, the gap, the suction hole 20d and the suction mechanism are cleaned.

In step S57, the discharge of the cleaning liquid is stopped. In step S58, the discharge of N ₂ gas is stopped. In step S59, the exhaust of the cleaning device 39 is stopped. In step S60, the nozzle 20 is arranged at the initial position on the front upper side in FIG. 1, and the process returns to the main routine in FIG. In the above-described embodiment, the both ends of the rectangular substrate W are cleaned for each substrate, the pair of dispenser guides 9 are also cleaned at the same time, and only the nozzle 20 is cleaned for every p substrates. Here, both end edges of the rectangular substrate W need to be cleaned for each substrate, but for example, the pair of dispenser guides 9 may be configured to be cleaned for every p substrates, or conversely. The nozzle 20 may also be configured to be cleaned for each substrate.

As described above, in this resist solution coating apparatus 1, the edge cleaning of the rectangular substrate W and the cleaning of the dispenser guide 9 are simultaneously performed by a single drive mechanism, and the nozzle 20 is also used when necessary. Also, the cleaning can be performed simultaneously by a single drive mechanism. The nozzle 20 is also cleaned at the same time. As a result, the structure for cleaning is simple and the cost is reduced. Furthermore, the number of steps is reduced. [Other Modifications] In the above-described embodiment, the one adopted in the resist liquid coating apparatus has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the hand of the substrate transfer robot, spin coater, spin scrubber, spin A spin chuck for adsorbing and holding a substrate in an apparatus for performing spin processing such as a developer, a chuck for adsorbing and holding a substrate in an edge cleaning unit, a substrate mounting plate for a direct oven,
It can be applied to a substrate mounting plate of a cool plate or the like. Further, the type of the substrate is not limited to the rectangular type, and may be another type such as a circular semiconductor wafer or a semiconductor wafer having an orientation flat.

In the embodiment, in order to detect the plane strain of the substrate, the gap sensor 27 provided in the nozzle 20 is used, but at the position corresponding to each actuator 6, the upper and lower sides of the lower surface of the substrate placed on the holding plate 5 are placed. It is also possible to provide an optical sensor for detecting the directional position. Although the nozzle 20 is swung on the dispenser guide 9 to form the curtain-shaped film, it may be swung at the edge of the rectangular substrate W on the resist liquid supply start side.

The holding plate 5 can also be formed of a flexible container that contains an electrorheological fluid therein. In this case, vacuum suction means is provided on the surface of the flexible container. When the substrate is placed on the container, the electrorheological fluid is deformed according to the placed substrate. When the electrorheological fluid is energized in a state where the flexible container follows the shape of the substrate, the electrorheological fluid is fixed in the shape at that time, and the shape of the container is fixed accordingly. If suction is performed from the vacuum suction port in this state, the substrate can be surely suctioned. In this case, the substrate mounting surface can be made to conform to the substrate shape only by moving the electrorheological fluid due to the weight of the substrate and then energizing it, and it becomes unnecessary to detect the plane strain of the substrate by the sensor.

[0043]

In the substrate holding device according to the first aspect of the present invention, the plane strain of the substrate is detected by the detecting means, and the mounting surface is deformed and attracted based on the detection result. Even when there is a warp, it is possible to surely adsorb. In the substrate holding device according to the second aspect, since the mounting surface is returned to a flat surface in a state where the substrate is sucked by the suction port of the substrate holding portion, the substrate is damaged or the processing unevenness occurs when the substrate is processed. Etc. can be prevented.

In the substrate holding device according to the third aspect of the present invention, the plane strain of the substrate can be detected by the gap sensor that detects the distance between the substrate processing section and the substrate holding section, and the processing can be reliably performed. Become.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a resist liquid coating apparatus as one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a substrate holding unit.

FIG. 3 is a partial vertical sectional view of a nozzle.

FIG. 4 is a partial front view of a moving mechanism of the gap sensor.

FIG. 5 is a partial vertical sectional view of a swing mechanism.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of the cleaning device.

FIG. 7 is a front view of the cleaning device.

FIG. 8 is an enlarged partial view of FIG.

FIG. 9 is a control block diagram of the resist liquid coating apparatus.

FIG. 10 is a control flowchart of the resist solution coating device.

FIG. 11 is a control flowchart of the resist solution coating device.

FIG. 12 is a control flowchart of the resist solution coating device.

FIG. 13 is a control flowchart of the resist solution coating device.

FIG. 14 is a control flowchart of a resist solution coating device.

FIG. 15 is a graph showing the relationship between the movement time of the nozzle and the change in the interval.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Resist Liquid Coating Device 2 Substrate Holding Section 3 Coating Section 4 Cleaning Section 5 Holding Plate 6 Actuator 20 Nozzle 20a Slit 33 Gap Adjusting Mechanism 34 Die Member 35 Support Block 36 Piezoelectric Element

Continuation of front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification number Office reference number FI technical display location H01L 21/68 PA

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A mounting surface on which a substrate is mounted, and a plurality of suction ports for sucking a substrate formed on the mounting surface,
A substrate holding portion whose mounting surface is deformable so that each suction port independently moves in the vertical direction; and a detection unit which detects the plane strain of the substrate mounted on the mounting surface, A substrate holding device including: a holder deforming unit that deforms the mounting surface based on a detection result of the detection unit; and a suction unit that sucks a substrate placed on the mounting surface through the suction port. . 2. The substrate holding device according to claim 1, wherein the holding portion deforming means returns the mounting surface to a flat surface in a state where the substrate is sucked in the suction port. 3. A gap sensor for facing the substrate holder, further comprising a substrate processing unit for processing the surface of the substrate, wherein the detecting means detects a gap between the substrate processing unit and the substrate holding unit. The substrate holding device according to claim 1, further comprising: