JPH09199410A - Method and apparatus for rotary development of substrate - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method for unifying the development of a substrate over the entire surface by which the composition of a developer in a developer layer so formed as to cover the entire surface of the substrate for development is the same near the center of the substrate and in the periphery. SOLUTION: A small amount of a developer D is jet out from a spray-type jetting nozzle 14 onto the surface of a substrate W with the substrate W being rotated at such a high speed that the developer supplied on the surface of the substrate W may scatter from the periphery of the substrate to roughly develop a photo resist film. After that, a large amount of the developer is jet out from a jetting nozzle 16 with the substrate being rotated at such a low speed that the developer supplied on the surface of the substrate may spread out to the entire surface of the substrate to form a developer layer and then the substrate is rotated at a low speed or is stopped to develop a photo resist film.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

[0001] The present invention relates to a semiconductor wafer,
A substrate such as a glass substrate for a liquid crystal display (LCD) is held in a horizontal posture and is rotated about a vertical axis to supply a developing solution to the surface of the substrate to develop a photoresist film deposited on the surface of the substrate. The present invention relates to a substrate rotary development processing method and a substrate rotary development processing apparatus (spin developer) used for carrying out the method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A spin developer used in a semiconductor manufacturing process, an LCD manufacturing process or the like holds a substrate having a photoresist film deposited on its surface in a horizontal posture, and a rotary spindle vertically provided at the center of the lower surface. A spin chuck rotatably supported around a vertical axis via a drive motor for rotating the spin chuck, a developing solution discharge nozzle for supplying a developing solution to the surface of the substrate held by the spin chuck, and a spin chuck. It is arranged so as to surround the held substrate and is provided with a cup or the like for collecting the droplets of the developing solution scattered from the peripheral edge of the substrate. As the developing solution discharge nozzle, conventionally, a spray type is used, and the discharging nozzle is scanned while the developing solution is discharged in a fan shape from the spray type discharge nozzle, so that it is held and rotated by the spin chuck. Supply a uniform and sufficient amount of developer to the entire surface of the substrate,
The photoresist film deposited on the surface of the substrate is developed (so-called spray development).

However, in the spray developing method, a sufficient amount of the developing solution is continuously supplied from the spray type discharge nozzle to the surface of the substrate rotating at a high speed, and the developing process is performed while the developing solution is scattered from the peripheral edge of the substrate. However, the consumption of the developer increases. Further, even if the temperature of the developing solution supplied to the discharge nozzle is adjusted, the temperature of the developing solution is lowered when the developing solution is discharged in a shower form from the spray type discharge nozzle, which affects the development result. There is a problem such as.

Therefore, as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 5-68092, the developing solution supplied to the surface of the substrate spreads over the entire surface of the substrate and does not scatter from the periphery of the substrate. While rotating, the developer is supplied onto the substrate by a discharge nozzle of a type different from the spray type discharge nozzle so as to come into contact with the surface of the substrate gently to form a developer layer on the surface of the substrate. A method of developing the photoresist film deposited on the surface of the substrate (so-called paddle development) while rotating the substrate at a low speed or stopping the substrate is used.

[0005]

In the paddle development method described above, the developing solution is discharged near the center of the substrate held by the spin chuck and rotating, and the developing solution discharged near the center of the substrate is subjected to centrifugal force. By flowing in the peripheral direction of the substrate, the developer layer is formed on the entire surface of the substrate. However, among the recently developed high resolution photoresists, there is a photoresist having a high resist dissolution rate in the first few seconds of the developing process. Therefore, while the fresh developer discharged near the center of the substrate flows in the peripheral direction of the substrate, a large amount of dissolved resist component is contained in the developer, and the developer reaching near the periphery of the substrate is developed. The liquid becomes tired. As a result, the composition of the developer in the developer layer formed so as to cover the entire surface of the substrate is different near the center and near the periphery of the substrate,
There is a problem that the development result differs between the vicinity of the center of the substrate and the vicinity of the periphery.

In view of the above circumstances, the present invention takes the above into consideration.
The present invention was made in order to solve the above problems in the conventional paddle development method, and even a substrate on which a high-resolution photoresist film was formed was formed so as to cover the entire surface of the substrate during development. To provide a substrate rotary developing treatment method in which the composition of the developer in the developer layer does not change near the center and the periphery of the substrate, and the development result can be made uniform over the entire surface of the substrate, and It is an object of the present invention to provide a rotary developing processing apparatus which can preferably carry out such a method.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a substrate rotary development processing method, wherein a substrate having a photoresist film deposited on its surface is held in a horizontal position and rotated about a vertical axis, In the substrate rotary development processing method of supplying a developing solution to the surface of the substrate to develop the photoresist film, first, as a first step, the developing solution supplied to the surface of the substrate is scattered from the periphery of the substrate. While rotating the substrate at a high speed, a small flow rate of the developing solution is discharged onto the surface of the substrate to roughly develop the photoresist film, and then, as a second step, the developing solution supplied to the surface of the substrate is removed. While rotating the substrate at a low speed such that it spreads over the entire surface and does not scatter from the peripheral edge of the substrate, a developing solution having a flow rate higher than the flow rate at the time of the rough development is discharged onto the surface of the substrate to develop the developing solution on the substrate surface. Forming and pulling layers The can board to stop or substrate while rotating at a low speed, characterized in that developing the photoresist film.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a substrate rotary developing processing apparatus in which a substrate having a photoresist film deposited on its surface is held in a horizontal position and is rotatably supported about a vertical axis. A rotary drive unit for rotating the substrate holding unit, and a developing solution supply unit for supplying a developing solution to the surface of the substrate held by the substrate holding unit. The rotation speed of the substrate holding means by the driving means is set so that the developing solution supplied to the surface of the substrate is scattered from the peripheral edge of the substrate and the developing solution supplied to the surface of the substrate spreads over the entire surface of the substrate and The developing solution supply means can be switched to a low speed so as not to scatter from the periphery, and the developing solution supply means discharges at least a small flow rate of the developing solution and a developing flow having a flow rate larger than the discharge flow rate of the small flow rate nozzle. A large flow rate nozzle that discharges the developing solution, and the rotation driving means rotates the substrate holding means at a high speed to discharge the developing solution from the small flow rate nozzle onto the surface of the substrate held and rotated by the substrate holding means. After the photoresist film is roughly developed, the substrate holding means is rotated at a low speed by the rotation driving means, and the developing solution is discharged from the large flow rate nozzle onto the surface of the substrate held and rotated by the substrate holding means so as to remove the photoresist. It is characterized in that a control means for controlling the resist film to be developed is provided.

When the development processing of the photoresist film deposited on the surface of the substrate is carried out by the rotary development processing method of the invention according to claim 1, the rotary development of the invention according to claim 2 is also carried out. When the processing device is used to develop the photoresist film deposited on the surface of the substrate, first, a small flow rate of the developing solution is discharged onto the surface of the substrate that rotates at a high speed, and the photoresist film is discharged. Is roughly developed. At this time, the dissolution of the photoresist proceeds at once, and a large amount of the dissolved resist component is contained in the developer discharged onto the surface of the substrate and flowing on the substrate by the centrifugal force.
For example, a high-resolution photoresist film contains about 70 to 80% of the resist component of the photoresist to be finally dissolved, but since the substrate rotates at a high speed, a large amount of resist component is contained. The contained developing solution is scattered from the peripheral edge of the substrate due to the centrifugal force and hardly remains on the substrate. Further, the consumption amount of the developing solution in this rough development does not increase so much.

Next, the rotation speed of the substrate is switched to a low speed, and the developing solution having a flow rate higher than the flow rate at the time of rough development is discharged onto the surface of the substrate rotating at a low speed. The developer discharged onto the surface of the substrate spreads over the entire surface of the substrate due to the centrifugal force, and a developer layer is formed on the surface of the substrate. At this time, since the substrate is rotating at a low speed, the developer is not scattered and wastefully consumed from the peripheral edge of the substrate. Also,
Due to the rough development, a considerable portion of the resist components forming the photoresist film have been dissolved and removed from the substrate. Since it is not large, the composition of the developing solution in the developing solution layer formed so as to cover the entire surface of the substrate is uniform regardless of the position within the surface of the substrate. Then, when the developer layer is formed on the surface of the substrate, the photoresist film is developed by the so-called paddle developing method while continuously rotating the substrate at a low speed or stopping the substrate.

For example, in JP-A-57-198457 and JP-A-7-230173, the photoresist is discharged by discharging a developing solution or the like onto the surface of a substrate having a photoresist film deposited on the surface. A method of developing a photoresist film by supplying a developing solution to the surface of the substrate to form a developing solution layer so as to cover the entire surface of the substrate after wetting the film is disclosed. However, in those methods, by pre-wetting the surface of the photoresist film with a pre-wetting solution such as a developing solution, the developing solution is easily spread over the entire surface of the substrate,
It is intended to form a developer layer covering the entire surface of the substrate. Therefore, in these methods, the photoresist film is hardly developed in the stage before the developer layer is formed on the surface of the substrate, and the basic idea is largely different from the method according to the present invention. To

[0012]

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an essential part showing an example of the structure of a spin developer used for carrying out the method according to the present invention. This spin developer is, like the conventional one, a spin chuck 10 for holding a substrate W having an exposed photoresist film deposited on its surface in a horizontal posture, and a spin chuck provided vertically at the center of the lower surface side of the spin chuck 10. A rotation support shaft 12 that rotatably supports the chuck 10 around a vertical axis, and the rotation support shaft 12 is rotated to rotate the spin chuck 1.
A spin motor (not shown) for rotating the substrate W held at 0 around a vertical axis, and a substrate W arranged so as to surround the side and the lower side of the substrate W held by the spin chuck 10.
In addition to a cup (not shown) for collecting the developer scattered from the top to the surroundings, two types of discharge nozzles 14 and 1 are provided.
6.

One of the two types of discharge nozzles is a spray type discharge nozzle 14 which discharges the developing solution in a shower shape so as to spread in a fan shape, for example, an opening angle of 50 °.
The other discharge nozzle 16 is connected to the developer supply pipe 2
The cylindrical body 18 connected to 2 is closed to close the cylindrical body 1.
8, the developing solution is inverted at its tip, the cylindrical body 18 is held in a vertical posture, and a plurality of discharge holes 20 are formed in the side wall near the lower end of the cylindrical body 18 in the circumferential direction. The developing solution is ejected horizontally in a rod shape at a low flow rate from each of the plurality of ejection holes 20 of the cylindrical body 18. The discharge flow rate of the spray type discharge nozzle 14 is
It is set to be smaller than the discharge flow rate of the other discharge nozzle 16, for example, the discharge flow rate of the spray type discharge nozzle 14 is 50 to 100 cc / min, and the discharge flow rate of the other discharge nozzle 16 is 600 to 660 cc / min. Is.

The spray type discharge nozzle 14 is disposed at a height position of, for example, 35 to 70 cm from the surface of the substrate W. The spray-type discharge nozzle 14 is horizontally (direction indicated by an arrow a) between a position above the substrate W held by the spin chuck 10 and a standby position separated from above the substrate W by a nozzle moving mechanism (not shown). Can be moved back and forth. Further, the spray type discharge nozzle 14 is oscillated by a distance of, for example, about 3 cm in the horizontal direction (the direction indicated by the arrow b) above the substrate W, and ejects the developing solution while oscillating. (A), the developing solution D is supplied in a shower shape over the entire surface of the rotating substrate W. The other discharge nozzle 16 is also moved to a position shown in FIG. 1 where the lower end of the cylindrical body 18 and the surface of the substrate W held by the spin chuck 10 are close to each other by a nozzle moving mechanism (not shown) and a standby position which is off the upper side of the substrate W. And are reciprocated in the horizontal direction (direction indicated by arrow c). And
As shown in FIG. 2B, in the state where the discharge nozzle 16 is stopped at a position close to the surface of the substrate W, the developing solution is fed into the cylindrical body 18 through the developing solution supply pipe 22. Then, the developing solution, which has collided with the inner wall surface of the lower end of the cylindrical body 18 and whose speed has been reduced, is horizontally discharged from the plurality of discharge holes 20 provided in the side wall, and the central direction and the peripheral direction of the rotating substrate W are discharged. And is supplied to the surface of the substrate W so that the developing solution D spreads over the entire surface of the substrate W.
Spray type discharge nozzle 14 and the other discharge nozzle 16
Is alternatively moved to the developer discharge position above the substrate W.

A spin chuck 1 using a spin motor is provided.
0 switching from high speed rotation to low speed rotation, movement of the spray type discharge nozzle 14 by a nozzle moving mechanism between a position above the substrate W and a standby position deviated from above the substrate W, at a position above the substrate W. Swing motion of the spray type discharge nozzle 14, movement of the discharge nozzle 16 between the discharge position close to the surface of the substrate W and the standby position separated from above the substrate W by the nozzle moving mechanism, and further each discharge Nozzles 14 and 16
The timing of discharging the developing solution from the printer is controlled by a CPU (not shown) serving as control means.

Next, a method of developing the photoresist film deposited on the surface of the substrate W using this spin developer will be described.

As shown in the time chart of FIG. 3, first, the substrate W is rotated at a high speed, for example, 1,000 rpm, and within the period T ₁ from the time point t _{1 to the} time point t _3, as shown in FIG. As shown in the drawing, the developer is discharged from the spray type discharge nozzle 14 to the surface of the substrate W at a small flow rate, for example, 90 cc / min, and the photoresist film is roughly developed by a so-called spray developing method. By this rough development, for example, in a high resolution photoresist film, about 70 to 80% of the photoresist component to be finally dissolved in the photoresist film deposited on the surface of the substrate W is dissolved. The developer containing a large amount of the dissolved resist component scatters from the substrate W rotating at high speed to the periphery of the substrate by the centrifugal force, and hardly remains on the substrate W.

When the rough development is completed, as shown in FIG.
The rotation speed of the substrate W is from high speed to low speed, for example, 400 rpm.
→ Stepwisely switch to 100 rpm, and finally stop the substrate W. Then, within a period T ₂ from time t ₂ just before the end of the rough development to time t ₄ immediately after the substrate W is stopped,
As shown in FIG. 2B, the other discharge nozzle 16
To the surface of the substrate W from a large flow rate, for example, 600 cc / min
The developer is discharged at a flow rate of. As a result, the developer discharged onto the surface of the substrate W spreads over the entire surface of the substrate W due to the centrifugal force, and a developer layer is formed on the surface of the substrate W. At this time, since the substrate is rotating at a low speed, the developing solution supplied on the substrate W remains on the substrate W as it is to form a developing solution layer. Further, due to the rough development, a considerable portion of the resist components forming the photoresist film is dissolved and removed from the substrate W, and the dissolution rate of the photoresist is increased after the initial stage of the development process. Since it is not so large, the composition of the developer in the developer layer formed so as to cover the entire surface of the substrate W is uniform in the plane of the substrate W. In this state, the photoresist film is developed by the so-called paddle development method. While rotating the substrate W at such a low speed that the developing solution does not flow down from above the substrate W,
The photoresist film may be developed by the paddle development method.

In the above development process, the substrate W has a diameter of 6 inches, and the amount of the developing solution used per substrate is 50 c.
If it is restricted to c, the developer layer on the surface of the substrate W, for example, to form a developer layer thickness 2mm is developer about 35 cc (area ≒ substrate W 176cm ² × liquid layer thickness 0. 2 cm), so the remaining 15 cc can be used for rough development. Therefore, when the spray type discharge nozzle 14 having a flow rate of 90 cc / min is used, the developer can be discharged from the spray type discharge nozzle 14 for 10 seconds, and the rough development of the photoresist film is performed within this period T ₁ = 10 seconds. Will be performed. Also, the flow rate is 600cc /
The developing solution is discharged from the discharge nozzle 16 of min for the period T ₂ = 3.5 seconds.

The structure of the discharge nozzle is not limited to that shown in the drawing, and may have any structure as long as it has a similar function. Further, the number of discharge nozzles may be two or more.

[0022]

When the development processing of the photoresist film deposited on the surface of the substrate is carried out by the rotary development processing method of the invention according to claim 1, a high resolution photoresist film is formed. Even in the case of a developed substrate, the composition of the developer in the developer layer formed to cover the entire surface of the substrate during development does not change between the center and the periphery of the substrate, and the development result is distributed over the entire surface of the substrate. Can be uniform. In addition, the developer can be used efficiently to reduce the consumption of the developer, and when the developer is ejected from the ejection nozzle as in the spray developing method, the temperature of the developer drops and the development result is affected. There is no need to worry.

When the rotary developing processing apparatus according to the second aspect of the present invention is used, the rotary developing processing method according to the first aspect of the present invention can be preferably carried out to achieve the above effects.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of essential parts showing an example of the configuration of a spin developer used for carrying out a method according to the present invention.

FIG. 2A is a schematic front view of essential parts showing a state where a small flow rate of the developing solution is being discharged from the spray type discharge nozzle to the surface of the substrate, and FIG. 2B is a schematic view of the other discharge nozzle. FIG. 3 is a schematic front view of a main portion showing a state where a large flow rate of developing solution is being discharged onto the surface of the substrate.

FIG. 3 is an example of a time chart when developing a photoresist film deposited on the surface of a substrate using the spin developer shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Spin Chuck 12 Rotating Spindle 14 Spray Type Discharge Nozzle (Small Flow Nozzle) 16 Discharge Nozzle (Large Flow Nozzle) 20 Discharge Hole

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. Rotation of a substrate for developing a photoresist film by holding a substrate having a photoresist film on its surface in a horizontal posture and rotating it about a vertical axis and supplying a developing solution to the surface of the substrate. In the conventional development processing method, while rotating the substrate at such a high speed that the developer supplied to the surface of the substrate is scattered from the peripheral edge of the substrate, a small flow rate of the developer is discharged onto the surface of the substrate to roughen the photoresist film. After developing, while rotating the substrate at a low speed so that the developing solution supplied to the surface of the substrate spreads over the entire surface of the substrate and does not scatter from the peripheral edge of the substrate, the flow rate at the time of the rough development is applied to the surface of the substrate. Rotating the substrate characterized by discharging a large flow rate of the developing solution to form a developing solution layer on the surface of the substrate and continuously developing the photoresist film while rotating the substrate at a low speed or stopping the substrate. Developing method. 2. A substrate holding means for holding a substrate having a photoresist film adhered on its surface in a horizontal posture and rotatably supported about a vertical axis, and a rotation driving means for rotating the substrate holding means. In a rotary developing apparatus for a substrate, which comprises a developing solution supply means for supplying a developing solution to the surface of the substrate held by the substrate holding means, the rotation speed of the substrate holding means by the rotation driving means is set to It is possible to switch to a high speed such that the developing solution supplied to the surface of the substrate scatters from the peripheral edge of the substrate and a low speed such that the developing solution supplied to the surface of the substrate spreads over the entire surface of the substrate and does not scatter from the peripheral edge of the substrate. The liquid supply means includes at least a small flow rate nozzle for discharging a small flow rate of the developing solution and a large flow rate nozzle for discharging a developing solution at a flow rate higher than the discharging flow rate of the small flow rate nozzle, The substrate holding means is rotated at a high speed by the transfer driving means, the developing solution is discharged from the small flow rate nozzle onto the surface of the substrate held and rotated by the substrate holding means to roughly develop the photoresist film, and then the rotational driving is performed. A control means for controlling the substrate holding means to rotate at a low speed by the means and to discharge the developing solution from the large flow rate nozzle onto the surface of the substrate held and rotated by the substrate holding means to develop the photoresist film. A substrate rotary development processing apparatus characterized by the above.