JPH10284397A - Coater and coating method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To eliminate the need for removing unnecessary resist from the end part of a substrate while reducing the quantity of photosensitive resin to be used in a coater. SOLUTION: When a substrate 1 is coated with a photosensitive resin 7 being used in the production of a semiconductor element, the photosensitive resin 7 is oozed out through a slit-like delivery port which is then moved relatively in a predetermined direction thus coating the substrate 1 with the photosensitive resin 7. The width of the delivery port is set equal to the dimension including the cut part (scribe line) of a product, i.e., an element, or integer time thereof so that only an actually required part is coated with the photosensitive resin 7 and the unexposed part (not used as a product) is not coated with the photosensitive resin.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a coating apparatus used in a processing step of obtaining a desired resin pattern by applying a photosensitive resin onto a substrate, exposing and developing the substrate in a semiconductor manufacturing or the like. is there.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In the manufacture of semiconductor elements, a photosensitive resin is applied to the surface of a semiconductor single crystal substrate (hereinafter, referred to as a substrate) such as silicon by using a coating apparatus. Mask (reticle) prepared beforehand
The pattern is exposed and transferred, and development processing is performed in a developing device to obtain a target photosensitive resin transfer pattern. Elements are formed on the substrate in a later step using this transfer pattern as a mask. The precision with which the elements are formed depends on the transfer pattern, and the coating / exposure / development steps are extremely important steps in the manufacture of semiconductor elements.

In the coating / exposure / development step, as shown in FIG. 5, a coating step and a development step are performed before and after the exposure step. The coating process includes a surface modification process (processing sequence 1) for enhancing the adhesion of the photosensitive resin to the substrate, a temperature control of the substrate immediately before coating (processing sequence 2), a drop of the photosensitive resin onto the substrate surface, and a high speed. Thinning of resin on substrate by rotation,
Removal of unnecessary photosensitive resin from the substrate surface after coating (processing sequence 3), heat treatment for volatilizing the solvent in the photosensitive resin to improve the strength of the coating film (processing sequence 4), temperature of the substrate immediately before exposure Control and the like are performed. In the exposure step, selection of a mask (reticle), precise positioning of the substrate, projection of the mask on the substrate surface, and the like are performed (processing sequence 5).

The developing process includes a heat treatment for stabilizing the photosensitive resin immediately after the exposure (processing sequence 6), a temperature control of the substrate immediately before the development (processing sequence 7), a drop of the developing liquid on the substrate surface, and a developing solution of the developing solution. Removal / cleaning, drying of the substrate surface by high-speed rotation (processing sequence 8), heat treatment for pattern strengthening after development (processing sequence 9), cooling before collecting the storage container of the substrate, and the like are performed.

[0005] Since photosensitive resin accounts for a large proportion of the cost of materials used for processing except for the substrate, means for reducing the amount used is required. As shown in FIG. 6, it has been proposed to reduce the amount of use by applying a thin film on a substrate using a resist nozzle 2 extending in the longitudinal direction (for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 58-170565). No.). Further, as a structure related to a nozzle extending in a longitudinal direction, a structure described in JP-A-7-326564 is known.

[0006]

The above-described conventional resist reduction technique is to spread the resist film formed on the substrate thinly over the entire surface of the substrate, but this technique is mainly used in the current semiconductor manufacturing. In a successively moving reduction projection exposure apparatus (hereinafter, referred to as a stepper), a photosensitive resin is applied to a portion that is not an exposure area. In addition, a step of washing the photosensitive resin with a solvent is required to prevent dust generation due to peeling of the photosensitive resin applied to the outer peripheral edge of the substrate.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems in the prior art, and is capable of reducing the amount of photosensitive resin used and eliminating the need to remove unnecessary resist at the ends. An object of the present invention is to provide a coating treatment apparatus.

[0008]

According to the present invention, a photosensitive resin is applied only to a portion necessary for actual exposure, and a photosensitive resin is applied to a portion not exposed (not used as a product). The application of the conductive resin is not performed.

That is, when the coating resin of the present invention is applied on a substrate with a photosensitive resin used for manufacturing a semiconductor device, the photosensitive resin oozes out from a slit-shaped discharge port to keep the discharge port constant. In which the radiation of the discharge port is set to the same size as the dimension taking into account the cut portion (scribe line) of the element that is a product or an integral multiple thereof, .

[0010]

In one embodiment of the present invention, a photosensitive resin coating section including a photosensitive resin supply pipe is configured to be movable on the substrate and to be capable of exchanging a discharge port (nozzle). The photosensitive resin can be applied to an arbitrary position at an arbitrary area (ejection opening width × relative moving distance) with an arbitrary slit-shaped ejection opening which can be replaced.
In the process of applying the photosensitive resin on the substrate, a distance detector for detecting the distance between the end of the photosensitive resin discharge port and the surface of the substrate is attached to the photosensitive resin application section. The substrate is moved in a direction perpendicular to the substrate surface, and the distance between the photosensitive resin discharge port end and the substrate surface is controlled to a predetermined interval. More preferably, in the processing step of applying a photosensitive resin on the substrate, in order to control the distance between the photosensitive resin discharge port end and the substrate surface to a predetermined interval, the substrate is provided with a plurality of distance detectors, If it is assumed that at least one of the position detectors at the end is out of the substrate and the function of the distance detector is not functioning properly, the discharge is started from a position where all the distance detectors can detect. If one or more of the plurality of distance detectors are outside the substrate during the movement of the photosensitive resin discharge port, the distance control is stopped and the application is continued with the immediately preceding distance data. Further, the substrate to be subjected to the coating process is mounted on a temperature control plate controlled to a predetermined temperature. A positioning mechanism (alignment mechanism) and a substrate transport mechanism are provided so that the orientation flat or notch indicating the crystal direction of the substrate is positioned and mounted so as to be in a predetermined direction and position. Alternatively, the positioning mechanism (alignment mechanism) provided on the temperature control plate can match a predetermined target coating area with the actual position of the substrate.

In another embodiment of the present invention, a plurality of photosensitive resin supply units including a photosensitive resin supply pipe are provided, and a specific supply unit among the plurality is provided by a predetermined processing procedure. Is selectively used. In addition, using a plurality of photosensitive resin supply units, when coating on a substrate, the photosensitive resin supply unit is replaced during the substrate coating process, and the type and thickness of the photosensitive resin are applied on a single substrate. It has a configuration and a processing method that can be applied differently.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 to 3 show the configuration of a coating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is an overall view, FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a coating processing section, and FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a coating nozzle section.
1 is a substrate, 2 is a coating nozzle, 3 is a nozzle holder, 4 is X
A moving axis, 5 is a Y moving axis, 6 is a temperature control plate, 7 is a photosensitive resin, 8 is a substrate position detector, 9 is a substrate position adjusting (alignment) stage, 10 is a substrate transfer mechanism, and 11 is a distance sensor. . The application nozzle 2 is provided with a photosensitive resin supply pipe 21 to which a photosensitive resin supply pipe (not shown) is connected to supply the photosensitive resin. The coating nozzle 2 can be moved in the X direction by the X movement axis 4 and in the Y direction by the Y movement axis 5. The photosensitive resin is applied to an arbitrary position on the substrate 1 with a coating width corresponding to the slit (ejection) width. Can be applied. As the application nozzle 2, other preliminary application nozzles 2a, 2b, and 2c are prepared. These application nozzles 2, 2a, 2b, and 2c have discharge ports having slit widths different from each other, and if a dimension considering a cut portion (scribe line) of an element to be manufactured is determined, the dimension is equal to the dimension or an integer. An application nozzle 2 having a double slit width (application width) is selected and attached to the nozzle holding section 3, and the photosensitive resin supply pipe is connected. The remaining three nozzles are housed as spare nozzles 2a, 2b, and 2c at housing positions provided on the application unit base 22.

FIG. 4 shows the processing steps of the apparatus shown in FIGS. The processing is performed in the following order. 1. The substrate 1 is placed on the temperature control plate 6 in a state where the positional accuracy is secured in advance. The position setting of the substrate 1
According to the information of the substrate position detector 8, the substrate position adjustment stage 9 sets the substrate position by performing a rotation / movement operation. After the position setting, the substrate transport mechanism 10 transports / places the substrate 1 from the substrate position adjusting stage 9 on the temperature control plate 6 while maintaining the positional accuracy. 2. The nozzle holding unit 3 follows the predetermined processing content,
The application nozzle 2 is selectively held. 3. The application nozzle 2 moves to a position predetermined by the X movement axis 4 / Y movement axis 5. 4. The photosensitive resin 7 is discharged from the application nozzle 2. At the time of ejection, the nozzle holding unit 3 adjusts the holding height based on information from the distance sensor 11 so that the photosensitive resin ejection port and the surface of the substrate 1 have a predetermined height. When the distance sensor 11 is outside the substrate at the end of the substrate and the height cannot be adjusted, control is performed to fix the height of the application nozzle 2 using the immediately preceding distance information. In the case of processing in which both the discharge start position and the end position are outside the substrate, the coating is performed bidirectionally from the midpoint of the coating portion length or the scrub line position.

5. At the same time as the start of the discharge of the photosensitive resin 7 or at a predetermined timing, the Y movement axis starts moving at a predetermined speed. 6. After moving for a predetermined time or distance, the discharge of the photosensitive resin is stopped. 7. If the next application operation instruction on the same substrate using the same application nozzle 2 is predetermined, the above processing 3
It becomes more repetition. 8. If a next coating operation instruction on the same substrate 1 by another kind of photosensitive resin 7 is predetermined, the above-mentioned processing 2
It becomes more repetition. 9. The application nozzle 2 moves to the standby position, and the nozzle holding unit 3
Opens the application nozzle 2. 10. The substrate 1 is removed because it is transported from the temperature control plate 6 to the next processing.

[0015]

Modification of the Embodiment In the above description, one example of the photosensitive resin supply section including the photosensitive resin supply pipe has been described. However, a plurality of such photosensitive resin supply sections are provided and predetermined. In a given processing procedure, a configuration may be employed in which a specific supply unit among the plurality is selectively used. In this case, in applying the photosensitive resin supply unit provided on a plurality of substrates, the photosensitive resin supply unit is replaced during the substrate coating process, and the type and thickness of the photosensitive resin are applied on a single substrate. Can be applied differently.

[0016]

[Embodiment of Device Production Method] Next, an embodiment of a device production method using the above-described coating apparatus will be described. FIG. 7 shows a flow of manufacturing micro devices (semiconductor chips such as ICs and LSIs, liquid crystal panels, CCDs, thin-film magnetic heads, micromachines, etc.). In step 1 (circuit design), a device pattern is designed. Step 2
In (mask production), a mask on which a designed pattern is formed is produced. On the other hand, in step 3 (wafer manufacture), a wafer is manufactured using a material such as silicon or glass. Step 4 (wafer process) is called a pre-process, and an actual circuit is formed on the wafer by lithography using the prepared mask and wafer. Next Step 5
The (assembly) is called a post-process, and is a process of forming a semiconductor chip using the wafer produced in step 4, and includes an assembly process (dicing, bonding).
It includes steps such as a packaging step (chip encapsulation). In step 6 (inspection), inspections such as an operation confirmation test and a durability test of the semiconductor device manufactured in step 5 are performed. Through these steps, a semiconductor device is completed and shipped (step 7).

FIG. 8 shows a detailed flow of the wafer process. Step 11 (oxidation) oxidizes the wafer's surface. Step 12 (CVD) forms an insulating film on the wafer surface. Step 13 (electrode formation) forms electrodes on the wafer by vapor deposition. In step 14 (ion implantation), ions are implanted into the wafer. Step 15
In (resist processing), a photosensitive agent is applied to the wafer. Step 16 (exposure) uses the exposure apparatus to print and expose the circuit pattern of the mask onto the wafer. Step 17 (development)
Then, the exposed wafer is developed. In step 18 (etching), portions other than the developed resist image are removed.
In step 19 (resist stripping), unnecessary resist after etching is removed. By repeating these steps, multiple circuit patterns are formed on the wafer. By using the production method of this embodiment,
A highly integrated device, which was conventionally difficult to manufacture, can be manufactured at low cost.

[0018]

As described above, according to the present invention, a photosensitive resin is applied only to a portion necessary for actual exposure, and a photosensitive resin is applied to a portion not exposed (not used as a product). Absent. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the amount of the photosensitive resin used, and it is not necessary to remove unnecessary resist at the edges. Can be avoided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a coating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a coating unit in the apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a coating nozzle unit in the apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a processing flow in the apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a chart showing general coating / developing processing steps.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a conventional coating processing apparatus.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a flow of manufacturing a micro device.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a detailed flow of a wafer process in FIG. 7;

[Explanation of symbols]

1: substrate, 2, 2a, 2b, 2c: coating nozzle, 3: nozzle holding part, 4: X movement axis, 5: Y movement axis, 6: temperature control plate, 7: photosensitive resin, 8: substrate position detection 9: substrate position adjustment stage, 10: substrate transfer mechanism, 11: distance sensor, 21, 21a, 21b, 21c: photosensitive resin supply pipe, 22: coating unit base.

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A method according to claim 1, wherein the photosensitive resin is leached from a slit-shaped discharge port, and the discharge port is relatively moved in a predetermined direction with respect to the substrate to be coated. In the coating method for coating, the radiation of the discharge port is set to be the same as or a whole number multiple of a dimension in consideration of a cut portion of an element which is a product to be formed on the substrate to be coated. Processing method. 2. A coating nozzle having a slit-shaped discharge port and a supply pipe for supplying a photosensitive resin, and a stage for relatively moving the nozzle and a substrate to be coated, wherein the photosensitive resin is supplied from the discharge port. In a coating processing apparatus for coating on the substrate to be coated by moving the nozzle relatively to the substrate to be coated while exuding, the radiation of the discharge port should be formed on the substrate to be coated. A coating treatment apparatus characterized in that it can be set to the same dimension as the dimension taking into account the cut portion of the element as a product or an integral multiple thereof. 3. A photosensitive resin coating unit having a nozzle supporting portion capable of detachably mounting the coating nozzle and movably supporting the coating nozzle on the substrate, and being replaceable with respect to the nozzle supporting unit. 3. The coating processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the coating resin is configured to be capable of coating the photosensitive resin in an arbitrary area with an arbitrary slit width at an arbitrary position by an appropriate application nozzle. 4. A distance detector for detecting a distance between a discharge port end of the coating nozzle and a substrate surface is attached to the photosensitive resin coating section, and the photosensitive resin coating section is moved in a direction perpendicular to the substrate surface. The coating apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the coating apparatus is moved to control a distance between an end of the photosensitive resin discharge port and the surface of the substrate to a predetermined distance. 5. A plurality of distance detectors are attached to the photosensitive resin application section, and when applying the photosensitive resin on the substrate, the distance between the end of the photosensitive resin discharge port and the surface of the substrate is set in advance. When controlling at a predetermined interval, if it is assumed that at least one of the plurality of position detectors is outside the substrate at the end of the substrate and the function of the distance detector is not functioning properly, the entire distance detection is performed. If one or more of the plurality of distance detectors are out of the substrate during the movement of the photosensitive resin discharge port, the distance control is stopped and immediately before the discharge is started from the position where the detector can detect. 5. The apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising control means for continuing the application with the distance data.
The coating processing apparatus according to the above. 6. A temperature control plate which is controlled at a predetermined temperature and mounts the substrate to be coated thereon, and an orientation flat or notch indicating a crystal direction of the substrate is provided in a predetermined direction of the temperature control plate. The coating processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising a positioning mechanism for positioning the substrate so as to be at a position, and a substrate transport mechanism. 7. A temperature control plate which is controlled at a predetermined temperature and mounts the substrate to be coated thereon, and matches the actual position of the substrate with a predetermined application target range provided on the temperature control plate. The coating processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising a positioning mechanism capable of performing the following. 8. A plurality of photosensitive resin supply units including the photosensitive resin supply pipe are provided, and a specific supply unit among the plurality is selectively used in a predetermined processing procedure. The coating processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the coating processing apparatus has a configuration. 9. When applying a plurality of photosensitive resin supply units onto a substrate, the photosensitive resin supply unit is replaced during the substrate coating process, and the type of the photosensitive resin is applied to a single substrate. The coating processing apparatus according to claim 8, further comprising a configuration and a control unit capable of performing coating with different coating thicknesses. 10. A semiconductor device manufactured by using the coating apparatus according to claim 1. Description: