JPH09155266A - Coating device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a coating device in which a specified solvent is discharged through a discharge pipe to apply the specified solvent on the surface of a body to be coated, to increase the directivity of the solvent and to prevent splashing of the solvent during discharge by forming a helical groove inside of the discharge pipe. SOLUTION: A spin coating machine 1 in which a uniform resist film is formed on a sample by dropping the resist on the sample and rotating the sample is equipped with a spin cup 2 surround the sample so as to prevent splashing of the resist. A semiconductor wafer W as a sample is sucked and fixed to the upper face of a spin chuck 3, onto which a resist is dropped through a nozzle 5 for chemicals and applied on the wafer W. The upper part of the outer peripheral of the wafer W is provided with a rinsing nozzle 10 to supply a solvent as a rinsing liquid for edges. This rinsing nozzle 10 has a helical groove RM formed inside so that the directivity of the solvent is improved to prevent splashing of the solvent.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a coating apparatus,
In particular, the present invention relates to a technique effectively applied to solvent supply control of a discharge pipe that discharges and supplies a solvent.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art According to a study made by the present inventor, a semiconductor wafer is provided with a resist or SOG (Spin On Gl).
The spin-type coating apparatus, which is a type of coating apparatus that performs coating, applies SO applied to the peripheral portion of the semiconductor wafer surface.
An edge nozzle is provided to perform edge rinse to remove the G film and the resist film with a solvent.

This edge nozzle has a diameter of several meters, for example.
It is generally composed of a cylindrical tube of about m.

As an example in which this type of coating apparatus is described in detail, the Industrial Research Institute Co., Ltd., issued November 25, 1994, Masashi Oshima (ed.) “Electronic Materials November issue, separate volume, VLSI manufacturing and testing. Device guidebook <1995 edition> ”P77 to P78, and this document describes the configuration and operation of the coater unit.

[0005]

However, the present inventor has found that the above-described shape of the edge nozzle has the following problems.

That is, the edge of the edge nozzle has a diameter of several mm.
Since it is cylindrical in shape, the spray direction of the solvent, which is the edge rinse solution, becomes unstable, and the solvent bounces around the semiconductor wafer surface, and these bounced solvent is scattered around the center of the semiconductor wafer surface. There is a problem that they adhere to each other and cause a defect such as a wiring short circuit.

Further, in controlling the supply of the solvent in order to reduce the splashing of the solvent, it is necessary to manually adjust the direction and angle of the edge nozzle, the work itself requires skill, and the work time is long. There is also a problem that it takes time and a lot of man-hours are required.

An object of the present invention is to provide a coating apparatus capable of improving the directivity of a solvent at the time of discharging and accurately and stably coating the solvent only in a predetermined region.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a coating apparatus capable of reliably preventing unnecessary dripping of the solvent after discharging.

The above and other objects and novel features of the present invention will be apparent from the description of this specification and the accompanying drawings.

[0011]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Among the inventions disclosed in the present application, the outline of a representative one will be briefly described.
It is as follows.

That is, the coating apparatus of the present invention is provided with a spiral groove inside the nozzle for discharging a predetermined solvent.

As a result, since the solvent can be discharged in a spiral shape, the directivity of the solvent can be improved and the scattering of the solvent at the time of discharging can be prevented.

Further, in the coating apparatus of the present invention, the nozzle is a rinse nozzle for discharging the edge rinse liquid.

As a result, the edge rinse liquid can be jetted accurately and stably to a predetermined area, and the edge rinse liquid can be prevented from splashing to unnecessary portions.

Further, the coating apparatus of the present invention is provided with a drip preventing means for preventing the solvent from dripping at the tip of the nozzle for discharging the predetermined solvent.

As a result, it is possible to prevent unnecessary dripping of the solvent from the tip of the nozzle after the solvent has been supplied, and to eliminate the need for a suck back mechanism for sucking the solvent after the solvent has been supplied, thus simplifying the device structure. The cost can be reduced.

In the coating apparatus of the present invention, the drip preventing means has a structure in which a plurality of partition plates are provided at the tip of the nozzle.

As a result, the surface tension can be reduced by reducing the area of the discharge port at the tip of the nozzle, so that unnecessary solvent can be reliably prevented from dripping from the tip of the nozzle with a simple mechanism. be able to.

Further, in the coating apparatus of the present invention, the partition plate has a shape in which the partition plate is radially formed from the center of the nozzle to the outer peripheral portion at equal intervals.

As a result, the surface tension can be reduced by reducing the area of the discharge port at the tip of the nozzle, so that unnecessary solvent can be reliably prevented from dripping from the tip of the nozzle with a simple mechanism. be able to.

Further, in the coating apparatus of the present invention, the drip preventing means has a structure in which a plurality of dividing holes for dividing the discharge port of the nozzle are provided at regular intervals at the tip of the nozzle.

Also by this, the surface tension can be reduced by reducing the area of the discharge port at the tip of the nozzle, so that unnecessary solvent can be reliably prevented from dripping from the tip of the nozzle with a simple mechanism. can do.

[0024]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

(Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 is a structural explanatory view of a spin coater according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a partial fracture of a rinse nozzle provided in the spin coater according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. FIG.

In the first embodiment, a spin coater (coating apparatus) 1 for dropping SOG or resist on a leveled sample and rotating the sample to form a uniform SOG film or resist film is used. Spin cup 2 that is a cylindrical container that prevents the SOG and resist from bouncing back
Are mounted to enclose the sample to be applied.

A spin chuck 3 for adsorbing a sample by vacuum adsorption and rotating the sample is provided in the center of the spin coater 1, and the spin chuck 3 is connected to a driving means (not shown) such as a motor. The fixed rotary shaft 4 is fixed.

A sample, for example, a semiconductor wafer (object to be processed) W is adsorbed and fixed on the upper surface of the spin chuck 3, and the spin chuck 3 is rotated by rotating the rotating shaft 4 by the driving means.

Further, above the spin chuck 3, there is located a chemical solution nozzle 5 for dropping SOG or resist on the center of the semiconductor wafer W which is adsorbed and fixed, for example, a chemical solution nozzle 5 made of stainless steel or Teflon resin. 5
Is connected to a chemical solution bottle 8 in which SOG and resist are stored, through an adjusting valve 6 and a pipe 7 for adjusting the amounts of SOG and resist to be dropped.

Further, the spin coater 1 is provided with a pressure-feeding gas supply tube 9 to which an inert gas such as nitrogen gas or helium gas is supplied.

The pressure-feeding gas supply tube 9 is connected to the chemical solution bottle 8, and the SOG and the resist in the chemical solution bottle 8 are pressure-fed to the pipe 7 by the pressure of the inert gas supplied from the pressure-feeding gas supply tube 9. The dropping amount is adjusted by the adjusting valve 6, and a predetermined amount of resist is dropped from the chemical liquid nozzle 5.

Further, above the vicinity of the outer peripheral portion of the upper surface of the semiconductor wafer W adsorbed and fixed to the spin chuck 3, a solvent which is an edge rinse liquid is supplied to the outer peripheral portion of the upper surface of the semiconductor wafer W, for example, stainless steel or Teflon resin. A rinse nozzle (discharge pipe) 10 including the above is provided.

Further, the rinse nozzle 10 is connected to a solvent adjusting valve 11 for adjusting the amount of solvent supplied,
The solvent adjusting valve 11 is connected by a pipe 12 to a rinse bottle 13 in which the solvent is stored.

Similarly, the spin coater 1 is provided with a pressure-feeding gas supply tube 14 for supplying an inert gas such as nitrogen gas or helium gas. The pressure-feeding gas supply tube 14 is connected to the rinse bottle 13. ing.

Then, the solvent in the rinse bottle 13 is pressure-fed to the pipe 12 by the pressure of the inert gas supplied from the pressure-feeding gas supply tube 9, and the supply amount is adjusted by the solvent adjusting valve 11 to be supplied from the rinse nozzle 10. A predetermined amount of solvent is supplied.

In the rinse nozzle 10 described above, as shown in FIG. 2, a spiral groove RM is formed inside the rinse nozzle 10.

Further, the rinse nozzle 10 is formed by forming the rinse nozzle 10 in halves in the longitudinal direction, ensuring the positional accuracy so that the groove RM does not shift, and then performing the welding, and performing chemical polishing or electrolytic polishing for finishing. The shape is adjusted by applying.

Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described.

First, an inert gas is supplied from the pressure-feeding gas supply tube 9 to discharge the SOG and the resist stored in the chemical liquid bottle 8. Then, the flow rate of the SOG and the resist is restricted by the adjusting valve 6 via the pipe 7,
A predetermined amount of SOG or resist is dropped from the chemical liquid nozzle 5 onto the central portion of the semiconductor wafer W that is adsorbed and fixed to the spin chuck 3.

Next, the driving means is driven to rotate the rotary shaft 4 to rotate the semiconductor wafer W at a predetermined rotation speed, thereby forming a uniform SOG film or resist film on the semiconductor wafer W.

After the rotating speed of the semiconductor wafer W is reduced by the driving means, the inert gas is supplied from the pressure-feeding gas supply tube 14 to discharge the solvent stored in the rinse bottle 13 from the rinse bottle 13.

The flow rate of the discharged solvent is limited by the solvent adjusting valve 11 via the pipe 12, and a predetermined amount of the solvent is located at the peripheral portion of the surface of the semiconductor wafer W where the spin chuck 3 is adsorbed and fixed. The peripheral resist supplied from the rinse nozzle 10 on the surface of the semiconductor wafer W is removed.

At this time, the spiral groove RM is formed inside the rinse nozzle 10 as described above, and when the solvent is supplied, since the solvent spirally flows out from the tip of the rinse nozzle 10, the straightness is improved. Good, and it is possible to prevent the scattering of the solvent.

Here, the groove RM in the rinse nozzle 10
The spiral shape of will be described.

First, in the spiral groove RM shown in FIG. 2, the straight line distance L between an arbitrary position a1 of the groove RM and a position a2 opposite to the arbitrary position is (2√3 / 3) r ≦ It is desirable that L ≦ (√2) r (Equation 1). However, r is the inner radius of the rinse nozzle 10.

For example, in Equation 1, the value of L is (2√
If it is smaller than 3/3) r, the distance between the spiral grooves becomes small, which not only creates resistance when the solvent flows out, but also causes the solvent to flow out without forming a spiral shape, so that the straightness of the solvent is reduced. Deterioration and more scattering.

Similarly, in the equation 1, when the value of L is larger than (√2) r, the interval between the spiral grooves becomes too wide, and the solvent flows out without forming a spiral shape. In this case as well, the straightness of the solvent is deteriorated and the scattering is increased.

Therefore, according to the first embodiment, by using the rinse nozzle 10 in which the spiral groove RM is formed, the directivity of the solvent can be improved, so that the solvent can be accurately stabilized in a narrow area. Since the solvent can be sprayed, it is possible to prevent a manufacturing defect of the semiconductor device such as a wiring short circuit due to the scattering or splashing of the solvent.

(Second Embodiment) FIG. 3A is an external view of a rinse nozzle provided in a spin coater according to a second embodiment of the present invention, in which the rinse nozzle is partially broken, and FIG. It is an arrow view seen from the direction.

In the second embodiment, the rinse nozzle 10 is provided with the dripping prevention means (dripping prevention means) 15 at the tip portion which is the discharge port of the solvent which is the edge rinse liquid.

The dripping prevention means 15 has a plurality of fins (partition plates) 15a radially extending from the center of the rinse nozzle 10 to the outer peripheral portion and made of, for example, stainless steel or Teflon resin at equal intervals.

The formation of the dripping prevention means 15 is
For example, a plurality of fins 15a radially extending from the center of the rinse nozzle 10 to the outer peripheral portion are formed in advance, and the fins 15a are mounted by being inserted into the tube of the cylindrical rinse nozzle 10.

Therefore, since the area of the solvent outlet, which is the tip of the rinse nozzle 10, can be reduced by the plurality of fins 15a, the surface tension can be reduced.

Thereby, according to the second embodiment,
Since the dripping prevention means 15 can prevent dripping from the tip of the rinse nozzle 10 when the solvent supply is stopped, the sack that sucks the solvent after supplying the solvent in order to prevent the solvent from dripping from the rinse nozzle 10. The back mechanism is unnecessary, the device configuration can be simplified, and the cost can be suppressed.

Further, since the solvent does not drip off, it is possible to prevent manufacturing defects of the semiconductor device caused by the solvent.

Further, in the second embodiment, the dripping prevention means 15 has a shape in which a plurality of fins 15a radially extending from the center of the rinse nozzle 10 to the outer peripheral portion are formed at equal intervals. As shown in FIGS. 4 (a) and 4 (b), the liquid dripping prevention means 16 (dripping prevention means) has a shape in which a plurality of holes (divided holes) 16a having a predetermined diameter are formed at predetermined intervals, and FIG. As shown in a) and (b), the liquid dripping prevention means (dripping prevention means) 17 is a fin (partition plate) 17a.
Rinse nozzle 1 such as a shape in which meshes are provided at equal intervals
If the shape is such that the area inside the tube of 0 can be made small and the surface tension can be made small, it is possible to favorably prevent the solvent from dripping after the discharge.

Further, these dripping prevention means 16 and 17
Similarly, for example, it is made of stainless steel or Teflon resin.

Further, in this case as well, a plurality of holes 16a are previously formed by, for example, laser beam machining or electric discharge machining.
The dripping prevention means 16 having the above-mentioned structure is inserted into the pipe of the rinse nozzle 10 and mounted.

Further, the fins 17 formed in a mesh shape
As for the formation of the prevention means 17 by a, as described above, for example, the fins 17a are formed in advance into a mesh suitable for the shape of the interior of the rinse nozzle 10 and then inserted into the pipe of the cylindrical rinse nozzle 10 to attach the fin 17a. To do so.

Although the invention made by the inventor has been specifically described based on the embodiments of the present invention, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various modifications may be made without departing from the gist of the invention. Needless to say, it can be changed.

[0061]

Advantageous effects obtained by typical ones of the inventions disclosed by the present application will be briefly described as follows.
It is as follows.

(1) According to the present invention, the spiral groove provided inside the nozzle for discharging the predetermined solvent discharges the solvent in a spiral shape, so that the directivity of the solvent can be improved. In addition, it is possible to prevent the solvent from scattering at the time of discharging.

(2) Further, in the present invention, the dropping prevention means for preventing the solvent from dripping on the tip of the nozzle can surely prevent unnecessary dripping of the solvent from the tip of the nozzle after the solvent is supplied. Therefore, a suck-back mechanism for sucking the solvent after supplying the solvent is not required, and the device configuration can be simplified.

(3) Further, according to the present invention, the above (1) and (2) can prevent manufacturing defects such as wiring short-circuiting due to the scattering and splashing of the solvent, thus improving the reliability of the semiconductor device. In addition, the defect rate of the semiconductor device can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a structural explanatory view of a spin coater according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an external view in which the rinse nozzle provided in the spin coater according to the first embodiment of the present invention is partially broken.

FIG. 3A is an external view in which a rinse nozzle provided in a spin coater according to a second embodiment of the present invention is partially broken, and FIG. 3B is a view of the rinse nozzle seen from the direction AA. Is.

FIG. 4 (a) is a partially broken external view of a rinse nozzle provided in a spin coater according to another embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4 (b) is an external perspective view of a dripping prevention means attached to the rinse nozzle. It is a figure.

FIG. 5A is an external view of a rinse nozzle provided in a spin coater according to another embodiment of the present invention with a part thereof broken, and FIG. 5B is a view of the rinse nozzle as seen from the direction AA. It is a figure.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Spin coater (coating device) 2 Spin cup 3 Spin chuck 4 Rotating shaft 5 Chemical liquid nozzle 6 Adjustment valve 7 Piping 8 Chemical liquid bottle 9 Pressure feed gas supply tube 10 Rinse nozzle (Discharge pipe) 11 Solvent adjustment valve 12 Piping 13 Rinsing bottle 14 Gas Supply Tube for Pressure Supply 15 Drip Prevention Means (Drip Prevention Means) 15a Fins (Partition Plate) 16 Drip Prevention Means (Drip Prevention Means) 16a Holes (Divided Holes) 17 Drip Prevention Means (Drip Prevention Means) 17a Fins (Partition plate) W Semiconductor wafer (Processing object) RM groove

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A coating device for discharging a predetermined solvent from a discharge pipe to coat the surface of an object to be processed with the predetermined solvent, wherein a spiral groove is provided inside the discharge pipe. Characteristic coating device. 2. The coating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the discharge pipe is a rinse nozzle that discharges an edge rinse liquid. 3. A coating device for discharging a predetermined solvent from a discharge pipe to coat the surface of an object to be processed with the predetermined solvent, wherein a predetermined amount of the solvent dripped at the tip of the discharge pipe. A coating device provided with a dripping prevention means for preventing the dripping. 4. The coating apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the drip preventing means has a structure in which a plurality of partition plates that divide the discharge port of the discharge pipe are provided at the tip of the discharge pipe. Coating device. 5. The coating device according to claim 4, wherein the partition plate has a shape radially formed at equal intervals from a center of the discharge pipe to an outer peripheral portion thereof. 6. The coating apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the drip preventing means has a structure in which a plurality of dividing holes for dividing a discharge port of the discharge pipe are provided at a fixed interval at a tip end portion of the discharge pipe. A coating device characterized by.