JPH10135127A - Substrate developing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a substrate developing apparatus which can uniformly supply a processing solution onto a processing surface of a substrate and also can control the processing solution to have an optimum temperature. SOLUTION: A substrate W1 is converted with a processing solution supply device 10, so as to be sealed by a seal ring 12 and to define a sealed space A. A processing solution is introduced from a processing solution supply port 11b into the sealed space A, a central part of the space A is vacuumed by a suction line connected to a suction port 11d to cause the solution to forcibly move toward the central part and to form a uniform solution layer, and the temperature of the space A is controlled by a temperature-adjusted fluid flowing through a fluid passage 11e.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a substrate developing apparatus for performing a developing process after exposing a photosensitive material such as a resist applied to a substrate such as a wafer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a semiconductor manufacturing process or the like, a step of developing a photosensitive material such as a resist applied to a substrate such as a wafer after exposing it to light is required. FIG. 4 shows an apparatus conventionally used for developing a substrate. A holder 121 for sucking and holding the substrate W ₀ , a rotation driving unit 122 for rotating the same, and a substrate W on the holder 121 are provided. having a nozzle 123 for supplying a processing liquid to the center of _0. While rotating the substrate W ₀ by the rotation driving unit 122, the processing liquid is discharged from the nozzle 123 to the center of the substrate W ₀ , and the processing liquid is supplied to the entire surface of the substrate W ₀ by centrifugal force.
22 to stop the rotation of the substrate W ₀ by, but to maintain the predetermined time quiescent state until the development process is completed.

[0003]

However, according to the above prior art, after the processing liquid discharged from the nozzle is supplied to the entire surface of the substrate, the rotation of the substrate is stopped and left for a predetermined time. In the meantime, temperature unevenness occurs in the substrate and the processing liquid. Further, since the wettability to the processing liquid is different between the exposed part and the non-exposed part of the photosensitive material on the substrate, the thickness of the liquid layer becomes uneven in the process of supplying the processing liquid, or There is also a problem that the processing liquid dropped from the outer peripheral edge of the substrate in the process of supplying the processing liquid is wasted.

[0004] Temperature unevenness of the substrate and the processing solution during the developing process is as follows.
The quality of the product substrate after development is significantly impaired, and the cause is presumed as follows.

First, when the processing liquid evaporates during the developing process,
The temperature of the processing liquid changes due to the latent heat of evaporation.

[0006] A temperature difference occurs due to heat transfer between the contact portion and the non-contact portion of the holder for holding the substrate from the back side.

[0007] Even if the processing liquid is supplied at the optimum temperature, it is impossible to prevent the heat from radiating as the development processing proceeds and approaching the temperature of the surrounding atmosphere.

There is also a method of preventing the liquid layer from becoming non-uniform due to a difference in wettability between an exposed portion and a non-exposed portion of the substrate by increasing the supply amount of the processing liquid to the substrate. As a result, the consumption amount of the processing liquid is remarkably increased, resulting in an increase in the price of the semiconductor product.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned unsolved problems of the prior art, and enables uniform development of a substrate at an optimum temperature, as well as low consumption of a processing solution. It is an object of the present invention to provide a substrate developing device that can be used.

[0010]

In order to achieve the above object, a substrate developing apparatus according to the present invention comprises a cover member for covering a predetermined space facing a processing surface of a substrate, and a processing liquid filled in the predetermined space. It is characterized by comprising supply means for supplying, suction means for generating a negative pressure in the predetermined space, and temperature control means for controlling the temperature of the predetermined space.

It is preferable that a measuring means for measuring the pressure in the predetermined space is provided.

Preferably, a sealing means for sealing a predetermined space is provided.

[0013]

The surface of the substrate is covered with a cover member, and a processing liquid for development processing is supplied to a space inside the substrate, and a negative pressure is generated in the space to force the processing liquid to flow. To form a uniform liquid layer on the treated surface. Further, by controlling the temperature of the space by a temperature control means such as a temperature control fluid flow path or a Peltier element provided in the cover member, the temperature of the substrate and the processing liquid during the development processing is maintained at a uniform optimum temperature. be able to.

As described above, a uniform liquid layer is formed on the surface of the substrate, and the developing process is performed at an optimum temperature, so that a very high-quality substrate product can be mass-produced.

After the completion of the developing process, the processing liquid is collected by the suction means, and then the cover member is removed. Since there is no possibility that the processing liquid drops from the outer peripheral edge of the substrate and is wasted, the consumption of the processing liquid can be reduced, which can greatly contribute to a reduction in the cost of the substrate product.

[0016]

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

[0017] Figure 1 shows a substrate developing apparatus according to an embodiment, which has the configured processing liquid supply unit 10 so as to cover the entire processing surface of the exposed substrate W _1. The processing liquid supply device 10 includes a disc-shaped main body 11 which is a cover member having a recess 11 a on a lower surface, and a recess 11 of the main body 11.
a sealing ring 12 which is sealing means disposed outside
The seal ring 12 comes into contact with the outer periphery of the substrate W ₁ when the processing liquid supply device 10 is applied on the substrate W ₁ (indicated by a broken line), and the recess 11 a of the main body 11 and the substrate W 1 It seals the predetermined space between the _first processing surface to form a sealed space a.

At the outer peripheral edge of the recess 11a of the main body 11, there are opened processing liquid supply ports 11b as a plurality of supply means for supplying a processing liquid such as a developer to the sealed space A. Each processing liquid supply port 11b is connected to the internal pipe 11c and the supply pipe 1
It is connected to the processing liquid supply source 13 via 3a.

At the center of the main body 11, there is provided a suction port 11d which is a suction means which opens into the recess 11a.
1d communicates with a suction line 14 having a suction pump or the like via a measuring unit 14a as a measuring means, and a sealed space A
By generating a negative pressure in the center of each processing liquid supply port 11
b, the processing liquid supplied to the sealed space A is forced to flow toward the center of the sealed space A. The measuring unit 14a measures the pressure and temperature of the intake air sucked into the suction line 14, and detects the supply amount and the temperature of the processing liquid in the sealed space A.

The temperature of the main body 11 is controlled by a temperature control fluid flowing through a temperature control fluid flow path 11e as temperature control means provided in the main body 11. The temperature control fluid flow path 11e is
Disposed along the recess 11a of the main body 11, the temperature of the processing liquid supplied to the sealed space A facing the processing surface substrate W _1, is supplied from the liquid supply ports 15a, it is discharged from the liquid discharge port 15b It is configured so that it can be controlled with high accuracy by a temperature-controlled fluid.

The development processing of the substrate W ₁ is carried out as follows. Figure 2 backside of the substrate W ₁ to the holder 21 shown in adsorbed and retained, it puts the processing liquid supply unit 10 thereon, between the recess 11a and the substrate W ₁ of the treated surface of the main body 11 by a seal ring 12 (See FIG. 3). The sealed space A thus formed is first evacuated by the suction line 14 to reduce the pressure to a predetermined negative pressure.
3 is supplied. During this time, it continued suction by the suction line 14, flowing the process liquid in the sealed space A toward the center of the treated surface substrate W _1.

In this manner, a liquid layer having a uniform thickness was formed on the processing surface of the substrate W ₁ , and it was confirmed by the measuring unit 14 a of the suction line 14 that a sufficient processing liquid was supplied into the sealed space A. After that, the supply of the processing liquid is stopped, and the process waits until the development processing is completed.

The processing solution filled in the sealed space A in order to form a uniform liquid layer on the treated surface substrate W ₁ as described above, for example, processing between exposed and unexposed parts of the substrate W ₁ Even if the wettability with the liquid is different, there is no possibility that the development processing becomes uneven. In addition, since the processing liquid in the sealed space A is controlled to the optimum temperature by the temperature-controlling fluid flowing through the temperature-controlling fluid flow path 11e of the main body 11, the temperature is the same as when the processing liquid is left applied to the substrate. There is no trouble due to unevenness.

[0024] Check the completion of the development process by detecting the temperature of the treatment liquid sealing space A by the measurement unit 14a, to collect the treatment liquid sealing space A by the suction line 14, then, the substrate W ₁ The processing liquid supply device 10 is retracted.
Moreover, while rotating the substrate W ₁ by the rotary drive unit 22, performs post-processing such as washing. In addition, pressurized air may be supplied to the sealed space A from the processing liquid supply port 11b during the process of collecting the processing liquid.

As in the case where the processing liquid is supplied to the processing surface of the substrate by centrifugal force, there is no possibility that the processing liquid falls from the outer peripheral edge of the substrate and is wasted, and all the processing liquid in the sealed space A is recovered. be able to. Therefore, the consumption of the processing liquid is small.

According to the present embodiment, the supply of the processing liquid to the substrate and the temperature control can be performed extremely stably and with high precision, so that the quality of the substrate product after the development processing is high, and the variation among the products is small. Few.

Further, since the temperature of the processing solution during the developing process can be arbitrarily controlled, even if there is a large temperature difference between the optimum temperature for the developing process and the temperature of the surrounding atmosphere, stable developing process can be performed. There is a remarkable advantage that it can be done.

In addition, since the consumption of the processing solution is small as described above, the cost reduction of semiconductor products can be greatly promoted.

The shape of each processing liquid supply port of the processing liquid supply device is not limited to a circle as shown in FIG. 1, but may be an ellipse, a square, or a special irregular shape. Instead of flowing the temperature control fluid into the main body, other temperature control means such as a Peltier element may be used.Furthermore, the shape of the recess of the main body is such that the bottom surface facing the substrate is parallel to the substrate and flat. The bottom surface may be curved to form a curved space in order to prevent accumulation of bubbles of the processing liquid.

In this embodiment, a method is employed in which the sealed space is controlled to a negative pressure before the supply of the processing liquid is started. However, when the foaming property of the processing liquid must be taken into consideration due to the properties of the processing liquid. On the contrary, the sealed space may be pressurized.

[0031]

Since the present invention is configured as described above, it has the following effects.

The development processing of the substrate can be performed uniformly at the optimum temperature, and the consumption of the processing liquid can be reduced.
This can greatly contribute to quality improvement and cost reduction of the substrate product after the development processing.

[Brief description of the drawings]

1A and 1B show a main part of a substrate developing apparatus according to one embodiment, in which FIG. 1A is a cross-sectional view, and FIG. 1B is a partial plan view of a part of FIG.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a state before a main part of the substrate developing device is mounted on a substrate.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the substrate developing apparatus during a step of performing a developing process on the substrate.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Processing liquid supply apparatus 11 Main body 11a Recess 11b Processing liquid supply port 11e Temperature control fluid flow path 12 Seal ring 13 Processing liquid supply source 14 Suction line 14a Measuring part 21 Holder 22 Rotation drive part

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A cover member for covering a predetermined space facing a processing surface of a substrate, a supply unit for supplying a processing liquid to the predetermined space, and a suction unit for generating a negative pressure in the predetermined space. And a temperature control means for controlling the temperature of the predetermined space. 2. The substrate developing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a measuring unit for measuring a pressure in a predetermined space. 3. The substrate developing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising sealing means for sealing a predetermined space. 4. The substrate developing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the cover member has a recess having a bottom surface parallel to the processing surface of the substrate. 5. The substrate developing device according to claim 4, wherein the bottom surface of the concave portion of the cover member is curved. 6. The substrate developing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the temperature control means has a temperature control fluid flow path provided inside the cover member. 7. The substrate developing device according to claim 1, wherein the temperature control means has a Peltier element provided on the cover member.