JPH10314653A - Resist coating applicator - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve the uniformity of a resist to be applied by eliminating the unequalness of resist application with a resist coating applicator. SOLUTION: This resist coating applicator 1 includes a rotary cup 5 consisting of a bottom 2, side walls 3 erecting from this bottom 2 and an aperture 4 formed by these side walls 3 and a cup hood 10 closing this aperture 4 and applies the resist on a blank 6 which is a substrate for coating installed at the bottom 2. The side walls 3 consist of side wall body parts 8 which constitute the lower side parts of the side walls 3 in contact with the bottom 2 and have discharge ports 7 to enable the discharge from the inside of the rotary cup 5 and air permeable side wall parts 9 which constitute the upper side parts of the side walls 3 by extending from the top ends of these side wall bodies 8 to form the aperture 4 and have air permeability to enable the air permeation into the rotary cup 5. The cup hood 10 is so constituted as to be adjustable in the installation height in the side walls 3. The control of the air permeation into the rotary cup 5 is made possible by the adjustment of the installation height of the cup hood 10 and the discharge at the discharge ports 7.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a resist coating apparatus for coating a resist solution on a substrate, and more particularly to a resist coating apparatus which can be used for a rectangular substrate used for a photomask or a reticle and has no coating unevenness. 2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, as semiconductor devices have become larger chips, more highly integrated, and finer, there has been a demand for extremely high pattern dimensional accuracy of a photomask / reticle serving as a master of the pattern.

For this reason, in forming a mask blank resist film used for manufacturing a photomask and a reticle,
Since the uniformity such as the thickness of the film affects the pattern dimensional accuracy, it is necessary to improve the uniformity.

[0003]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 3 is a view for explaining an example of a conventional resist coating apparatus. In particular, FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing the structure of a main part of an apparatus used in a manufacturing process of a reticle mask blank which is a rectangular substrate. This conventional resist coating apparatus uses a so-called substantially closed-type rotating cup, and is one of coating unevenness that occurs on a resist applied when a resist is applied on a square substrate, and the localization of the four corners is This apparatus mainly has a purpose of preventing a so-called fringe that appears as an abnormality in a film thickness (hereinafter, referred to as fringe-free).

[0004] This fringe coating unevenness is one of the major causes of resist uniformity impairment. In the case of fringe, its occurrence is correlated with the air flow near the upper surface of the substrate when the resist is coated on the substrate. It has been. Therefore, the use of this substantially closed type rotation cup in the conventional apparatus aims at suppressing the formation of airflow on the application substrate.

As shown in FIG. 3, a conventional resist coating apparatus 101 has a rotating cup 102 provided with a discharge port 107 on a side wall thereof, a closed-type rotating cup hood 103, and a drain port.
Exhaust port 104, drain cup 105 and spin motor 1
06. The functions and actions of each of the parts 102 to 107 constituting the conventional resist coating apparatus 101 will be described below by describing a method of resist coating performed using the apparatus 101.

FIG. 4 is a view for explaining a conventional resist coating method performed using a conventional resist coating apparatus. Conventionally, the resist coating method is roughly divided into three stages,
It consists of setting the substrate blank and supplying the resist onto the blank, controlling the thickness of the applied resist by rotating the supplied blank at high speed, and removing the supplied resist blank. And drying the applied resist by further rotating at a low speed.

Each step will be described with reference to FIG.
As shown in FIG. 4A, a blank 108, which is a substrate to be coated with a resist, is set at a predetermined position on the bottom of the rotating cup 102 and fixed. At this time, the blank 108 is fixed to the rotating cup 102 by a so-called mechanical chuck that mechanically presses the blank 108. Then, an appropriate amount of the resist solution 109 is supplied to the central portion of the blank 108 by dropping.

Next, as shown in FIG. 4 (B), a closed-type rotating cup hood 103 is attached to an upper opening of the rotating cup 102, and a blank 108 in the rotating cup 102 is provided.
Completely seal the upper part of. Then, the rotating cup 102 keeps the blank 108 fixed for about 10 seconds for about 150 seconds.
The rotation is performed at a high speed by a spin motor 106 provided at a lower portion of the outside of the rotating cup 102 at a rotation speed of 0 rpm, and the coating is performed on the blank 108 so that the resist is uniform.

At this time, the unnecessary resist solution is discharged from the discharge port 107 toward the drain cup 105, and
The liquid is discharged from the liquid discharge port 104 to the outside of the apparatus 101. Next, as shown in FIG.
2, the rotation of the closed cup hood 103 is stopped.
Remove. Then, as it is, the spin motor 10
6 starts low-speed rotation. This low-speed rotation is performed at a rotation speed of about 50 rpm for about 60 seconds, and the blank 108
The upper resist is dried.

According to the above-described method, a resist film is formed on a blank. In the above example, the blank and the air in the cup are rotated together with the rotary cup by using the above-described substantially closed type rotating cup. The formation of airflow near the resist film surface on the blank is suppressed, and the corner of the blank is prevented from becoming a so-called "cut off the wind" during rotation for adjusting the film thickness after coating. It prevents that from happening.

[0011]

However, even if a resist is applied by such a conventional method, a photomask is required due to the uniformity of the film and the recent increase in size, integration, and miniaturization of semiconductor devices.・ Sufficient sources cannot be said to meet the demand for higher precision of reticle pattern dimensions.

Specifically, the above-described fringe-free resist coating apparatus is applied to a blank by using a novolak-based resist, which is one of resists generally used in the field of semiconductor manufacturing, with a resist coating apparatus having such a structure. It has recently become clear that the so-called wind ripple unevenness whose shape is similar to the wind ripple on sand may occur on the entire surface of the blank.

[0013] The unevenness of the wind pattern eventually indicates an uneven film thickness. The difference between the maximum film thickness and the minimum film thickness at the uneven portion of the wind pattern is determined by the fact that the target film thickness of the resist film is 2000 to 300 mm.
At 0 ° it can reach 100 °. Therefore, it is necessary to eliminate the fringe of the resist film on the blank formed by applying the resist and to improve the uniformity.

At the same time, another problem is the suppression of so-called wind-print unevenness which may occur when a resist is applied to a blank to form a resist film. Incidentally, a method / apparatus for improving the resist film thickness distribution generated when a resist is applied to a coating substrate is disclosed in Toshiba Corporation, JP-A-57-166033.
JP, JP-A-59-208831 by Hitachi, Ltd.
And JP-A-63-229169, JP-A-63-133526 and JP-A-4-96316 by Tokyo Electron, and JP-A-3-178122 by Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. I have.

However, these methods / apparatuses are intended for a round substrate such as a wafer, and cannot be directly applied to a rectangular substrate for a mask or a reticle. If the method is applied as it is, the above-mentioned fringes are generated at the corners of the four corners peculiar to the rectangular substrate, and the effective area of the application surface which can be used for patterning is very narrow, so that it cannot be used for a highly accurate reticle.

As described above, the present invention provides a novel resist coating apparatus which solves the above-mentioned problems. Another object of the present invention is to eliminate fringes in a resist film on a blank formed by applying a resist solution, particularly in a resist film on a square substrate, to improve the uniformity of the fringe, and to further suppress the unevenness of wind ripples. It is intended to provide a resist coating apparatus which enables the above.

[0017]

According to the first aspect of the present invention,
A bottom cup, a side wall erected from the bottom section, and an opening formed by the side wall, comprising a rotating cup having a flat cup shape, and a cup hood for closing the opening of the rotating cup, In a resist coating apparatus for rotating a rotating cup to apply a resist to a coating substrate installed on the bottom, a side wall of the rotating cup forms a lower portion of the side wall that contacts the bottom and has an exhaust port. A side wall body that allows exhaust from the rotary cup, and extends from an upper end of the side wall body to form an upper portion of the side wall and form the opening. The cup hood has an air-permeable side wall portion that allows ventilation to the cup hood, and the installation height of the cup hood can be adjusted within the side wall. By adjusting the installation height of the cup hood and exhausting the air at the exhaust port, , Ventilation into the rotating cup Characterized in that it can control.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the resist coating apparatus of the first aspect, an arm for supporting the cup hood is provided, and the installation height of the cup hood can be adjusted in the side wall by the support of the arm. It is characterized by the following. According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the resist coating apparatus according to the second aspect, a hood supporting portion for fixing and supporting the cup hood is provided on the side wall main body, and the hood supporting portion or the arm supports the inside of the side wall. The height of the cup hood can be adjusted.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the resist coating apparatus according to any one of the first to third aspects, the exhaust port is higher than a height of an upper surface of a coating substrate provided at a bottom of the rotating cup. A lower position is formed at a corresponding position in the side wall main body, and the permeable side wall portion is formed at a corresponding position in the side wall so as to be higher than a height of the upper surface of the application substrate. It is characterized by the following.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the resist coating apparatus of the first or fourth aspect, the permeable side wall portion is made of a permeable material. According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the resist coating apparatus according to the fifth aspect, the permeable material is a sintered porous material obtained by sintering a metal net.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the resist coating apparatus according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, the permeable side wall portion has a size capable of penetrating through a non-permeable material. It is characterized by being formed by providing at least one hole having a thickness. According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the resist coating apparatus according to any one of the first to seventh aspects, the resist coating apparatus is formed so as to cover a periphery of the rotating cup, and corresponds to an opening of the rotating cup. And a drain cup opening having a diameter that allows the cup hood to enter and exit is formed at an upper portion, and further, a drain cup having an exhaust pipe with a controllable exhaust amount is provided on the bottom surface.

According to the first, fourth, and eighth aspects of the present invention, when a resist is applied onto a coating substrate, the rotation of the rotation cup located above the coating substrate installed in the rotation cup is prevented. The opening is closed by the cup hood,
Ventilation and inflow of air near the upper surface of the application substrate through the opening are suppressed. As a result, the ventilation around the coating substrate inside the rotating cup and the outside of the rotating cup during the resist coating,
According to the exhaust made from the exhaust pipe provided in the drain cup through the exhaust port of the side wall main body, from the air permeable side wall part having air permeability and the side wall main body between the air permeable side wall part and the bottom part This is done through the side wall of the rotating cup.

At this time, the amount and the degree of air flow through the side wall are determined by the area of the air permeable side wall portion of the side wall which can contribute to the air flow into the rotating cup. Determined by installation height. That is, the amount of ventilation between the vicinity of the upper surface of the application substrate in the space partitioned by the rotating cup and the cup hood and the outside of the space is determined by the area of the permeable side wall portion of the rotating cup sidewall partitioning the space. It depends on the position of the cup hood with respect to the rotating cup, specifically the height of its installation.

Therefore, by adjusting the installation height of the cup hood, it is possible to control the air flow into the rotating cup during the application of the resist according to the exhaust from the exhaust port, in particular, the flow of air near the application surface of the application substrate. . Specifically, when the installation position of the cup hood is at the height of the side wall main body portion of the side wall, there is no ventilation into the rotating cup passing through the side wall,
As a result, there is no air flow over the coated substrate.

When the installation position of the cup hood is at the height of the permeable side wall portion extending from the upper end of the side wall main body, ventilation is generated into the rotating cup passing through the side wall, and the installation position is further increased. By adjusting up and down, the amount and degree of ventilation can be adjusted. Therefore, even when resist is applied to a coated substrate where it is necessary to suppress air flow near the coated surface of the coated substrate, an appropriate air flow suitable for the characteristics of the resist liquid used near the coated surface of the coated substrate is appropriate. It is possible to control the air flow rate by adjusting the height of the cup hood even under low-speed rotation for resist drying, where it is desirable to use the resist.

Therefore, it is possible to provide a resist coating apparatus capable of forming a highly uniform resist coating film. According to the second aspect of the invention, it is possible to adjust the installation height of the cup hood in the rotating cup by supporting an arm separately provided in the same apparatus. Therefore, it is possible to precisely adjust the installation height of the cup hood with a fine width, and it is possible to select the ventilation conditions near the top surface of the coating substrate, which is sufficiently matched to the characteristics of the resist solution used for coating, and more uniform It is possible to form a highly resist film.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, when it is not necessary to adjust the air flow near the application surface of the application substrate, such as in the step of applying the resist after supplying the resist solution, and it is desired to suppress the air flow, By using the hood support provided in the side wall, it is possible to fix and install the substrate at the height of the side wall main body in the side wall. Therefore, fine adjustment of the height of the cup hood by supporting the arm is not required, and the cup hood can be set at a desired height.

Therefore, it is possible to provide a resist coating apparatus capable of performing a resist coating operation by a simpler operation without deteriorating the uniformity of the resist coating film. According to the fifth and sixth aspects of the present invention, the air-permeable side wall portion can be made of a gas-permeable material having a high uniformity of gas-permeable in-plane distribution. In particular, the sintered porous body obtained by sintering a metal net has a high in-plane uniformity of porosity affecting its air permeability, and when used for the air permeable side wall, the cup hood is It is easy to adjust the air permeability and the amount of inflow air obtained by adjusting the installation height, and it is possible to perform the adjustment very accurately and with good reproducibility.

Further, the porosity can be selected in a wide range, and it is possible to perform more uniform resist coating in accordance with the characteristics of the resist to be used.
Further, by using metal, the strength can be increased. Therefore, it is possible to provide a highly uniform resist coating apparatus, and to provide a highly reliable resist coating apparatus even for high-speed rotation.

According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, it is possible to configure the air-permeable side wall so as to have a high uniformity of the air permeability in the plane. In addition, the size and number of the holes and the arrangement thereof can be arbitrarily selected and accurately formed. When the holes are used for the air-permeable side wall, the ventilation provided by adjusting the installation height of the cup hood can be obtained. It is easy to adjust the characteristics and the amount of inflow air, and the adjustment can be performed very accurately and with good reproducibility.

Therefore, it is possible to select the ventilation conditions near the upper surface of the coating substrate, which sufficiently match the characteristics of the resist solution used for coating, and to form a more uniform resist coating film.

[0032]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In a resist film on a blank formed by applying a resist solution, particularly in a resist film on a square substrate, it is possible to eliminate fringes, improve the uniformity, and further suppress the occurrence of wind ripple unevenness. is important.
Various studies by the inventors have revealed that the wind ripple unevenness has a correlation with the resist drying speed at the time of resist drying after resist application.

That is, when the drying speed is too high, the wind ripple unevenness occurs. Therefore, the adjustment of the drying speed is effective for suppressing the unevenness of the wind ripples. Such adjustment of the drying speed can be achieved by making it possible to adjust the characteristics according to the characteristics of the resist solution using the air permeability of the environment where the substrate is placed at the time of drying and the volatile characteristics of the solvent contained in the resist solution. .

Also, in the rotation of the resist-coated substrate for adjusting the film thickness after the supply of the resist solution to the substrate prior to the drying of the resist, as described above, there is a possibility that the rectangular substrate is used. In order to prevent a fringe having a defect, it is necessary to suppress the inflow of air flowing into the vicinity of the substrate by placing the environment in which the substrate is placed in a substantially degassing environment, and to suppress the airflow in the vicinity of the substrate. is there.

Accordingly, there is provided a resist coating method for supplying a resist solution onto a substrate, adjusting the thickness of the applied resist by rotating the substrate, and subsequently drying the applied resist also by rotating the substrate. The resist coating apparatus that is responsible must be an apparatus that can simultaneously suppress airflow near the substrate when adjusting the film thickness and secure a certain amount of airflow when drying the resist.

Based on these findings, the present invention provides a resist coating apparatus and a resist coating method which eliminate fringes of a resist applied on a substrate, improve the uniformity of the fringes, and further suppress unevenness in wind ripples. Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of a resist coating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1A is a cross-sectional view of the configuration of the resist coating apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIGS. 1B and 1C are views for explaining the structure of a gas permeable side wall constituting a rotating cup side wall of a resist coating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

A resist coating apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention comprises a bottom 2, a side wall 3 erected from the bottom 2, and an opening 4 formed by the side wall 3, and has a flat cup-shaped rotation. The apparatus includes a cup 5 and a cup hood 10 for closing the opening 4 of the rotating cup 5. The rotating cup 5 is rotated by a spin motor 11 provided below the rotating cup 5, and serves as a coating substrate installed on the bottom 2. This is a device for applying a resist to the blank 6.

The installation of the blank 6 on the bottom 2 is performed by an eight-point mechanical chuck that effectively holds and fixes the rectangular substrate. The spin motor 11 is capable of rotating the rotary cup 5 at a desired speed from a low speed to a high speed. Specifically, the rotation speed is from 20 rpm to 4000 rpm.
In this range, it is possible to control the rotational speed sufficiently accurately.

A drain cup opening 14 is formed so as to cover the periphery of the rotating cup 5 and has a diameter corresponding to the opening 4 of the rotating cup 5 and having a diameter through which the cup hood 10 and the blank 6 can enter and exit. And a drain cup 16 provided on the bottom surface with an exhaust pipe 15 having a controllable exhaust amount. Further, the side wall 3 forms a lower portion of the side wall 3 which is in contact with the bottom 2 and has an exhaust port 7 which is a small hole capable of exhausting eight places around the side wall, thereby enabling exhaust in the rotary cup 5. 8 and an air-permeable side wall portion 9 extending from the upper end of the side wall main body 8 to form an upper portion of the side wall 3 and form an opening 4, and further having air permeability and allowing air to flow into the rotating cup 5. Consists of

The exhaust port 7 exhausts the solvent evaporated from the resist solution used for coating, and discards unnecessary resist solution which is repelled from the coating surface of the blank 6 by rotation of the blank 6 to the outside of the rotating cup 5. It also plays a role as a drainage port. The discarded resist liquid is once accumulated in the drain cup 16 and is discharged to the outside of the resist coating apparatus 1 together with the exhaust gas through the exhaust pipe 15. At this time, the displacement of the exhaust pipe 15 is determined by a manual damper (not shown).
Can be adjusted.

The cup hood 10 covers the opening 4 as described above, and the height of the cup hood 10 can be adjusted in the side wall 3.
By this, the ventilation into the rotating cup 5 derived from the permeable side wall portion 9 in the side wall 3 can be controlled. At this time, the exhaust port 7 is formed at a corresponding position in the side wall main body 8 so as to be at a position lower than the height of the upper surface of the blank 6 installed on the bottom 2 of the rotating cup 5. The permeable side wall 9 is formed at a corresponding position in the side wall 3 so as to be higher than the height of the upper surface of the blank 6.

Further, one end rotatably supports the cup hood 10, and the other end is supported by the resist coating apparatus 1 (a supporting portion is not shown). Arm 12 which can be fixed at the desired height as well as
With the support of 2, the installation height of the cup hood 10 can be adjusted within the side wall 3.

Further, the side wall main body 8 is provided with a hood support portion 13 provided at a boundary between the upper end of the side wall main body 8 and the air permeable side wall portion 9 and fixing and supporting the cup hood 10. Therefore, by removing the arm 12 from the cup hood 10 and installing the cup hood 10 on the upper end portion of the side wall body 8 in the side wall 3 using the hood support portion 13, the height of the cup hood 10 is adjusted to the side wall body 8 portion. It is possible to

Next, the permeable side wall 9 in the resist coating apparatus 1 will be described. The permeable side wall 9 is shown in FIG.
It is made of a breathable material having a mesh structure shown in (B). The gas permeable material is a sintered porous material obtained by sintering a metal net made of stainless steel. Therefore, it has a large number of pores, and the porosity is substantially uniform in the plane.

As another member, a glass sintered body having uniform air permeability can be used. However, since the rotating cup rotates at a high speed, it is necessary that the rotating cup has sufficient strength to withstand the rotating motion. From the viewpoint of strength, it is desirable to use a metal sintered body. Furthermore, this air-permeable material does not constitute the entire air-permeable side wall portion 9, and a part of the side wall 3 corresponding to the air-permeable side wall portion 9 has a sufficient air permeability required for applying the resist to be used. It may be used with an area that can provide the property.

FIG. 1C shows another embodiment having the same structure as that of the resist coating apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, which will be described later, and shows the structure of the permeable side wall constituting the side wall.
Next, a method of applying a novolak-based resist to a reticle blank, which is a square-coated substrate, using the resist coating apparatus 1 will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG.
FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a method of applying a resist to an application substrate using the resist application apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 2A, the rotating cup 5
The blank 6 is conveyed into the inside, and is fixed to the bottom 2 by a mechanical chuck. While the rotating cup 5 is stopped, 3 to 5 cc of the resist solution 21 is dropped and supplied. Next, FIG.
As shown in (B), the upper end portion of the side wall main body 8 in the side wall 3 is formed by using the hood support portion 13 provided at the upper end of the side wall main body 8 and at the boundary with the breathable side wall portion 9. Attach it and fix it.

Intake is performed through the exhaust pipe 15 of the drain cup 16, and the blank 6 is removed together with the rotating cup 5 and the cup hood 10 while exhausting the inside of the resist coating apparatus 1.
Rotate at a high speed of 00 rpm for 10 seconds. next,
As shown in FIG. 2C, the rotation of the rotating cup 5 is stopped, and the cup hood 10 is pulled up to the height of the permeable side wall portion 9 in the side wall 3 using the arm 12.

In consideration of the properties of the resist solution such as the volatility of the solvent contained in the resist solution to be used, the area of the permeable side wall portion 9 used for the ventilation is determined so that the ventilation in the rotating cup 5 becomes appropriate. . As a result, the height of the cup hood 10 in the side wall 3 is selected and determined from a range from a certain height of the hood support 13 to a height of the upper end of the permeable side wall 9 having the opening 4 and the height is determined. The cup hood 10 is adjusted to the position shown in FIG.

The air is exhausted from the exhaust port 7 at the lower part of the rotary cup 5 by the suction of the exhaust pipe 15 of the drain cup 16, and the blank 6 is rotated at a low rotation speed of 50 rpm.
After rotating for 0 second, the resist solution on the blank 6 is dried.
After applying the resist according to the above method, the cup hood 10
Is removed, the mechanical chuck is opened, the blank 6 is taken out of the resist coating apparatus 1, and the coating process is completed. The resulting resist on the blank, which is the coated substrate, does not have the fringe and wind pattern unevenness described above.

Next, a resist coating apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention will be described. The resist coating apparatus according to the other embodiment has the same structure as that of the above embodiment except that the structure of a gas permeable side wall constituting the side wall of the rotating cup, which is a part of the apparatus, is different from that of the above embodiment. Is also the same as that described above, and a detailed description is omitted.

The air-permeable side wall of the resist coating apparatus is formed by providing at least one hole having a size that allows air to penetrate through a material having no air permeability. As shown in (C), the metal plate has a structure in which small holes having a size that allows air to pass through the plate are provided at equal intervals. As for the type of metal, it is desirable to use a metal that is stable against a chemical used such as a resist solution. In that respect, stainless steel is more desirable because it is inexpensive.

In place of metal, it is also possible to use wood or resin. However, since the rotating cup rotates at a high speed, it is necessary that the rotating cup has enough strength to withstand the rotational movement. It is desirable to be made of metal. When a novolak-based resist was applied to a reticle blank, which was a square-coated substrate, using the apparatus, the resulting resist on the blank did not have the fringes and unevenness described above.

Thus, when the above-described method is used by using the above-described resist coating apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention and the resist coating apparatus according to another embodiment, the above-described object of the present invention can be applied to a square substrate. Although it is possible to suppress fringes and unevenness in the resist film in the resist film, the mechanism of suppressing the fringes and unevenness in the wind pattern by the above-described apparatus and method will be briefly described below.

In order to eliminate fringes and improve the uniformity of the resist film on the blank formed by applying the resist solution, particularly on the resist film on the square substrate, as described above, the resist solution is applied on the blank. It is effective to suppress airflow near the blank at the time of high-speed rotation after the supply. Therefore, in the conventional apparatus, the suppression of the inflow of air into the vicinity of the blank in the rotating cup was achieved by closing the opening of the rotating cup. However, the resist coating according to the above-described embodiment according to the present invention and another embodiment were performed. In the device, this is achieved in the same manner as in the conventional device by closing the opening of the rotating cup with a cup hood with a side wall main body having no air permeability.

Therefore, similarly to the conventional apparatus, the air existing near the substrate and the fringe generated in accordance with the flow of the air, particularly the fringe generated when the corner portion of the rectangular substrate is placed in a so-called "cut off the wind" state, Is prevented. Next, the occurrence of wind ripple unevenness is related to the drying step in the above-described resist coating method, and in particular, as described above, the drying speed of the resist during low-speed rotation in the drying step (corresponding to FIG. 2C) There is a correlation.

In the conventional resist coating apparatus, even if the substrate is rotated at a low speed while the conventional closed-type rotating cup hood 103 is mounted, the resist is difficult to dry and requires a very long drying time. , 4,
Remove the sealed rotating cup hood 103 and rotate the rotating cup 10
2 was opened, the substrate was rotated at a low speed, and the resist was dried.

In this case, the volatilization speed of the solvent or the like is too high, and the resist dries quickly. This phenomenon has caused the generation of wind ripple unevenness. Therefore, it is effective to appropriately adjust the drying speed of the resist, in particular, to reduce the drying speed of the resist as compared with a conventional resist coating apparatus. In other words, with the cup hood that closes the opening in the rotating cup, air can be ventilated in the vicinity of the blank from the position of the side wall body that suppresses air from flowing into the vicinity of the blank in the rotating cup while the opening is closed. Up to the position where the air-permeable side wall is located.

Then, the installation height of the cup hood is adjusted to adjust the air permeability inside and outside the rotating cup, and the resist drying speed on the coating substrate inside the rotating cup is adjusted in a state where the opening of the rotating cup is opened. Adjust so that it is lower than that in. In this way, by drying the resist under an atmosphere of a certain amount of resist solvent, it is possible to suppress wind ripple unevenness.

Therefore, by using the resist coating apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention and another embodiment, it is possible to suppress the fringe and the wind ripple unevenness in the resist film on the substrate, in particular, on the rectangular substrate according to the above mechanism. It is possible to do.

[0061]

According to the first, fourth, and eighth aspects of the present invention, even when resist is applied to a coating substrate which needs to suppress airflow near the coating surface of the coating substrate, It is desirable to have an appropriate air flow in accordance with the characteristics of the resist solution used in the vicinity of the coating surface of the coating substrate. Even for low-speed rotation for resist drying, the airflow can be controlled by adjusting the height of the cup hood. Therefore, it is possible to cope with each under optimal conditions.

Accordingly, it is possible to provide a resist coating apparatus capable of forming a highly uniform resist coating film. According to the second aspect of the present invention, it is possible to accurately adjust the installation height of the cup hood with a fine width, and the ventilation conditions in the vicinity of the upper surface of the coating substrate, which sufficiently match the characteristics of the resist solution used for coating. Can be selected, and a more uniform resist coating film can be formed.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, it is possible to provide a resist coating apparatus capable of performing a resist coating operation by a simpler operation without impairing the uniformity of the resist coating film. According to the invention described in claims 5 and 6,
It is possible to perform a highly uniform resist coating, and to provide a highly reliable resist coating apparatus even for high-speed rotation.

According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, it is possible to select the ventilation conditions near the upper surface of the coating substrate, which sufficiently match the characteristics of the resist solution used for coating, and to form a more uniform resist coating film. Formation is possible.

[Brief description of the drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a view for explaining a method of applying a resist to an application substrate using a resist application apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a conventional resist coating apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a conventional resist coating method performed using a conventional resist coating apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Resist coating apparatus 2 Bottom part 3 Side wall 4 Opening part 5 Rotating cup 6 Blank 7 Exhaust port 8 Side wall body 9 Breathable side wall part 10 Cup hood 11 Spin motor 12 Arm 13 Food support part 14 Drain cup opening part 15 Exhaust pipe 16 Drain cup 21 Resist solution

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A rotating cup having a flat cup shape, comprising a bottom, a side wall erected from the bottom, and an opening formed by the side wall, and a cup hood for closing the opening of the rotating cup. A resist coating apparatus for rotating the rotating cup to apply a resist to a coating substrate installed on the bottom, wherein a side wall of the rotating cup forms a lower portion of the side wall in contact with the bottom. A sidewall body having an exhaust port to allow exhaust in the rotating cup, and extending from an upper end of the sidewall body to form an upper portion of the sidewall and form the opening;
In addition, the cup hood has an air-permeable side wall that has air permeability and allows air to flow into the rotating cup, and the installation height of the cup hood is adjustable in the side wall, and the installation height of the cup hood A resist coating apparatus, wherein ventilation of the inside of the rotating cup can be controlled by adjusting the pressure and exhausting the exhaust port. 2. The resist coating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an arm for supporting the cup hood is provided, and an installation height of the cup hood can be adjusted within the side wall by the support of the arm. Resist coating equipment. 3. The resist coating apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising: a hood support for fixing and supporting the cup hood on the side wall body, wherein the hood support or the arm supports the cup in the side wall. A resist coating apparatus characterized in that an installation height of a hood can be adjusted. 4. The resist coating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the exhaust port is located at a position lower than a height of an upper surface of a coating substrate provided at a bottom of the rotating cup. A resist formed at a corresponding position in the side wall main body, wherein the permeable side wall portion is formed at a corresponding position in the side wall so as to be higher than a height of the upper surface of the application substrate. Coating device. 5. The resist coating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the permeable side wall is made of a permeable material. 6. The resist coating apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the air-permeable material is a sintered porous material obtained by sintering a metal net. 7. The resist coating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the air-permeable side wall has at least one hole having a size that allows air to pass through a non-air-permeable material. A resist coating apparatus characterized by being formed by providing one. 8. The resist coating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the resist coating apparatus is formed so as to cover a periphery of the rotating cup.
A drain cup opening having a diameter that allows access to the cup hood is formed at an upper portion corresponding to the opening of the rotating cup, and a drain cup having a controllable exhaust pipe on a bottom surface is further provided. A resist coating apparatus characterized by the above-mentioned.