JPH1074688A - Method and device for applying resist - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method and a device for applying resist, wherein a fine resist pattern can be accurately formed and development defects can be effectively restrained. SOLUTION: When resist is discharged from a resist feed nozzle 5 and applied onto a wafer 3 in a resist applying chamber 1, inert gas such as N2 gas is previously introduced into the resist applying chamber 1 to make the inner pressure of the chamber 1 higher than an atmospheric pressure but lower than that irrside the resist feed nozzle 5, and then resist is discharged from the resist feed nozzle 5. After resist is applied, processes including a heating process where the wafer 3 is heated first are carried out under the above pressure. Or, after resist is applied, the inner pressure of the resist applying chamber 1 are reduced to an atmospheric pressure taking five or [more minutes, and then the wafer 3 is heated.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a resist coating method and a resist coating apparatus, and is suitably applied to, for example, resist coating in a semiconductor device manufacturing process.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art With the improvement in the degree of integration of LSIs, the design rules have been reduced, and accordingly, the performance of resists used in the lithography process in the LSI manufacturing process and the resist developing method have been required to be more sophisticated.

It is generally considered that the performance of a resist is better as the difference in the dissolution rate between the exposed and unexposed portions during development, that is, the so-called dissolution contrast, is larger. that is,
The larger the dissolution contrast is, the closer the cross-sectional shape of the resist pattern obtained by the development is to a rectangle.However, the closer the cross-sectional shape of the resist pattern obtained by the development is to a rectangle, the more the resist is formed in the next step, for example, the etching step. Pattern conversion differences and variations during etching performed using the pattern as a mask are reduced,
This is because high-precision processing becomes possible. In addition, the higher the dissolution contrast is, the higher the resolution of the resist is, and a finer pattern can be formed.

Hitherto, various improvements have been made to resists in order to increase the dissolution contrast.
One of them is to make the resist have a surface insolubilizing effect. This is an effect that when the developing solution comes into contact with the unexposed resist, the dissolution rate of the resist is extremely reduced. By imparting this surface insolubilizing effect to the resist, the resolution of the resist and the shape of the resist pattern obtained by development were greatly improved.

On the other hand, a resist developing method has also been improved in order to form a finer pattern with high precision.
In general, it is known that the resolution of the resist and the cross-sectional shape of the resist pattern are preferably such that the stirring of the developing solution is small, and the uniformity of the development is preferably such that the resist is not physically attacked as much as possible.

Therefore, a resist developing method capable of reducing the physical attack on the resist, allowing the developing solution to be spread more softly on the resist, and forming a fine resist pattern with high accuracy, and a developing solution supply nozzle ( Hereinafter, this may be referred to as a “development nozzle”) and has been put to practical use. An example will be described with reference to FIGS. 4, 5 and 6. Here, FIG. 4 is a plan view, FIG. 5 is a side view, and FIG. 6 is an enlarged bottom view of the developing nozzle shown in FIGS.

As shown in FIGS. 4, 5 and 6, in this conventional resist developing method, a wafer 3 on which an exposed resist (not shown) to be developed is formed.
A developing nozzle 32 having substantially the same length as one diameter is disposed on one diameter of the developing nozzle 1, and a plurality of developer discharging holes 33 provided in a row adjacent to each other at the bottom of the developing nozzle 32.
The wafer 31 is rotated by １ ／ while the developer is discharged onto the wafer 31 from the
Is supplied to the entire surface of the substrate to develop the resist.

FIGS. 7 and 8 show another example of the conventional resist developing method in which the physical attack on the resist is reduced. As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, in this conventional resist developing method, a developing nozzle 42 comes just above the center of a wafer 41 on which an exposed resist (not shown) to be developed is formed. While rotating the wafer 41, the developing solution is discharged onto the wafer 41 from the five developing solution discharging holes 43 provided at the tip of the developing nozzle 42 as shown by arrows in FIGS. 7 and 8. As a result, a developing solution is supplied to the entire surface of the wafer 41 to develop the resist.

[0009]

As described above, it is possible to manufacture a highly integrated LSI by using a high resolution resist having a high dissolution contrast and adopting a resist developing method with a small physical attack on the resist. However, a new problem is development of resist development defects.

Here, the development defect is a phenomenon in which several to several tens of contact holes are not opened on a wafer when an exposed resist is developed using a photomask for forming contact holes. This development defect will be described more specifically as follows. That is, as shown in FIG. 9A, when a resist 52 is applied on a wafer 51 and then exposed using a photomask (not shown), a latent image 53 is formed on the resist 52. Next, as shown in FIG. 9B, in order to develop the resist 52, when a developing solution 54 is discharged from a developing nozzle (not shown) onto the wafer 51, a portion of the resist 52 where the latent image 53 is formed is removed. Dissolve. At this time, the developing solution 54 to which pressure is applied at the time of discharge from the developing nozzle is supplied onto the wafer 51 and returns to the atmospheric pressure, so that the gas dissolved in the developing solution 54 elutes and becomes bubbles, So-called microbubbles 55 are formed. Then, the microbubbles 55 form the resist 52
Over the portion to be dissolved, that is, the portion where the latent image 53 is formed, the developer 54
Supply becomes insufficient and development does not proceed. As a result, as shown in FIG. 9C, a portion where the contact hole 56a is not opened, that is, a development defect 57 occurs in the resist pattern 56 obtained by the development.

The reason why the development defect 57 occurs when a high resolution resist having a high dissolution contrast is used is as follows. That is, in general, a high-resolution resist having a high dissolution contrast has a high hydrophobicity on the surface, and a surface insoluble layer is easily formed. For this reason, since the developing solution cannot enter into the gap between the surface of the resist and the microbubbles attached to the surface, the microbubbles remain attached for a long time, thereby causing a development defect. Also,
The reason why the development defect 57 occurs when a resist developing method with a small physical attack is used is as follows. That is, in this resist developing method, the distribution of the strength of the attack becomes non-uniform on the wafer in order to weaken the physical attack on the resist. As a result, the microbubbles attached to the resist surface cannot be removed, and a development defect occurs.

On the other hand, a surfactant may be added to the resist for the purpose of preventing so-called striation, in which unevenness in the thickness of the resist is periodically generated radially.
Similar development defects also occur when the hydrophobicity of the resist surface becomes too high under the influence of the surfactant. Further, it has been confirmed that air is caught in the developing solution due to the collision of the developing solution when the developing solution is applied on the wafer, resulting in a micro bubble.

Since the occurrence of development defects due to microbubbles as described above is a serious problem that certainly lowers the production yield of LSIs, a technique for precisely forming a fine resist pattern and suppressing the development defects has been developed. It is strongly desired.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to form a fine resist pattern with high precision, and
An object of the present invention is to provide a resist coating method and a resist coating apparatus that can effectively suppress development defects.

[0015]

Means for Solving the Problems The present inventor has made intensive studies in order to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art. The outline is described below. According to the knowledge of the present inventor, one cause of generation of microbubbles causing development defects is a change in gas solubility due to a sudden pressure difference generated when a resist is discharged from a resist supply nozzle. That is, conventionally, the resist is discharged from the resist supply nozzle under the atmospheric pressure, but the pressure in the resist supply nozzle is, for example, about 1.96 × 10 ⁵ Pa (2 kg).
/ Cm ² ), a pressure difference of about 1 × 10 ⁵ Pa (about 1 kg / cm ² ) is generated when the resist is discharged from the resist supply nozzle into the atmosphere, thereby significantly increasing the solubility of the gas in the resist. And this causes the generation of microbubbles. Therefore, the generation of microbubbles can be reduced by reducing the rapid pressure difference generated when the resist is discharged from the resist supply nozzle and reducing the change in the solubility of gas. And
For this purpose, it is effective to discharge the resist from the resist supply nozzle at a pressure higher than the atmospheric pressure within a range not exceeding the pressure in the resist supply nozzle.

In the case where the resist is discharged under a pressure higher than the atmospheric pressure, if the pressure is suddenly returned to the atmospheric pressure while the resist maintains fluidity after the discharge, the pressure at that time is reduced. Since there is a possibility that microbubbles may be generated due to a change in pressure, it is preferable to maintain the pressure at the time of discharge without returning to the atmospheric pressure until the fluidity of the resist is lost by the first heating after resist application. On the other hand, the occurrence of microbubbles can be prevented by gradually returning the pressure to atmospheric pressure over a period of 5 minutes or more after the application of the resist. The present invention has been devised based on the above study.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a resist coating method for discharging and applying a resist from a resist supply nozzle onto a substrate. The resist is discharged from the resist supply nozzle under a pressure equal to or lower than the pressure in the supply nozzle.

In one embodiment of the first invention of the present invention, the steps from the step of discharging the resist to the step of first heating the substrate are performed under a pressure higher than the atmospheric pressure and equal to or lower than the pressure in the resist supply nozzle. .

In another embodiment of the first invention of the present invention, after applying a resist on a substrate in a container for applying the resist, the pressure in the container for applying the resist is reduced to 5%.
The pressure is reduced to atmospheric pressure over a period of at least one minute, and then the substrate is heated.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in a resist coating apparatus configured to discharge and apply a resist from a resist supply nozzle onto a substrate, the resist is applied under a pressure higher than the atmospheric pressure and equal to or less than the pressure in the resist supply nozzle. The resist is discharged from a resist supply nozzle.

In the second aspect of the present invention, the resist coating apparatus typically includes a step of applying a resist on a substrate and then heating the resist-coated substrate for the first time. The atmosphere is not set to the atmospheric pressure.

In one embodiment of the second invention of the present invention, the resist coating apparatus includes a first container capable of applying pressure and depressurizing for applying a resist on a substrate, and a pressure container for heating the substrate. A second container that can be pressurized and depressurized, so that the substrate can be transported between the first container and the second container without being exposed to the air on the way.

In another embodiment of the second invention of the present invention, a resist coating apparatus includes a first pressurizable and depressurizable first and second depressurizing portion having a portion for coating a resist on a substrate and a portion for heating the substrate. And a second container that can be pressurized and depressurized for temporarily storing the substrate on which the resist is to be applied. The substrate is exposed to the air between the first container and the second container. It is configured so that it can be transported without exposure.

In still another embodiment of the second invention, the resist coating apparatus has a pressurizable and depressurizable container for coating a resist on a substrate,
After applying the resist on the substrate in the container, the substrate is heated outside the container.

According to the present invention, the resist is supplied from the resist supply nozzle under a pressure higher than the atmospheric pressure and lower than the pressure in the resist supply nozzle. The pressure difference generated when the resist is discharged from the substrate can be reduced as compared with the conventional method, and the change in the solubility of gas due to the pressure difference can be reduced. Thereby, generation of microbubbles can be reduced.

[0026]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the following embodiments, the same or corresponding portions are denoted by the same reference numerals.

First, a description will be given of a resist coating apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the resist coating apparatus. As shown in FIG. 1, the resist coating apparatus has a resist coating chamber 1 and a heating chamber 2. In the resist coating chamber 1, a wafer chuck 4 for holding a wafer 3 is provided rotatably around its central axis. A resist supply nozzle 5 for discharging a resist is provided above the resist coating chamber 1 in a portion above the wafer chuck 4. In addition, a gas inlet pipe 6 and a gas outlet pipe 7 are provided above the resist coating chamber 1. Then, an inert gas, for example, an N ₂ gas, an Ar gas, a He gas, or the like is introduced into the resist coating chamber 1 from the gas introduction pipe 6 and can be pressurized. The pressure inside the resist coating chamber 1 can be reduced by an external vacuum pump (not shown) connected to the gas discharge pipe 7. A door 8 for introducing the wafer 3 is provided on one side of the resist coating chamber 1.

On the other hand, an oven 9 for heating the wafer 3 is provided in the heating chamber 2. In addition, heating room 2
The gas introduction pipe 1 is located at the top of
0 and a gas exhaust pipe 11 are provided. Then, an inert gas, for example, N ₂ gas, Ar gas, He gas or the like is introduced into the heating chamber 2 from the gas introduction pipe 10 and can be pressurized. Further, the inside of the heating chamber 2 can be depressurized by an external vacuum pump (not shown) connected to the gas discharge pipe 11. A door 12 for unloading the wafer 3 is provided on one side of the heating chamber 2.
Is provided. Further, the above-described resist coating chamber 1 and the heating chamber 2 are separated by a partition wall 14 having a door 13.

Next, the resist coating method according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the resist coating method according to the first embodiment, the resist is coated as follows using the resist coating apparatus shown in FIG. That is, first, the carrier 15 containing the wafer 3 is set at a predetermined position of the resist coating apparatus. Next, the door 8 of the resist coating chamber 1 is opened, and the wafer 3 is transported from the carrier 15 into the resist coating chamber 1 through the door 8 and placed on the wafer chuck 4. Next, after closing the door 8, an inert gas is introduced into the resist coating chamber 1 through the gas introduction pipe 6, and the pressure in the resist coating chamber 1 is higher than the atmospheric pressure and equal to or lower than the pressure in the resist supply nozzle 5. Press. For example, when the pressure in the resist supply nozzle 5 is 1.96 × 10 ⁵ Pa (2 kg / cm ² ), the pressure in the resist coating chamber 1 is 1.01 × 10 ⁵
Pa (1.03 kg / cm ² ) to 1.96 × 10 ⁵ Pa
(2 kg / cm ² ). Next, a predetermined amount of resist (not shown) is supplied from the resist supply nozzle 5 to the wafer 3.
Discharge upward. Thereafter, the wafer chuck 4 is rotated around its central axis, and the resist is spread uniformly on the wafer 3 by the centrifugal force generated by this rotation. by this,
The resist is uniformly applied on the entire surface of the wafer 3.

Next, the door 13 of the resist coating chamber 1 is opened, and the wafer 3 coated with the resist as described above is opened.
To the door 13 using a wafer transfer mechanism (not shown).
Is transferred from the resist coating chamber 1 to the oven 9 provided in the heating chamber 2 through the opening, and the door 13 is closed. At this time, an inert gas is introduced into the heating chamber 2 in advance through the gas introduction pipe 10 and pressurized to a pressure equivalent to the pressure in the resist coating chamber 1.

Next, after the wafer 3 transferred to the heating chamber 2 is heated by the oven 9 to, for example, 50 to 150 ° C.,
The inert gas in the heating chamber 2 is discharged through the gas discharge pipe 11, and the pressure in the heating chamber 2 is returned to the atmospheric pressure. Next, the door 12 is opened, and the wafer 3 is carried out of the heating chamber 2 through the door 12. Thereafter, a resist pattern is formed on the wafer 3 through the steps of exposing and developing the resist.

As described above, according to the first embodiment, the inside of the resist coating chamber 1 is pressurized to a pressure higher than the atmospheric pressure and equal to or lower than the pressure in the resist supply nozzle 5, and under this pressure, the resist supply nozzle By discharging the resist from the resist supply nozzle 5 onto the wafer 3 and applying the resist, compared with the conventional resist coating method of discharging the resist under the atmospheric pressure, the resist is discharged when the resist is supplied from the resist supply nozzle 5. Changes in pressure can be reduced. For this reason, the generation of microbubbles in the resist can be reduced, and the generation of development defects during the resist development performed in the subsequent steps can be largely suppressed, for example, to less than half of the conventional case. As a result, the manufacturing yield of a semiconductor device manufactured using the wafer 3, for example, an LSI can be significantly improved.

Next, a resist coating apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the resist coating apparatus. As shown in FIG. 2, this resist coating apparatus has a resist coating / heating chamber 16 composed of a resist coating section and a heating section, and a preliminary chamber 17 in which the wafer 3 to be processed is temporarily stored. doing. In the resist coating / heating chamber 16, a wafer chuck 4 is provided in the resist coating section, an oven 9 is provided in the heating section, and an arm 1 for transferring the wafer 3 between the wafer chuck 4 and the oven 9 is provided.
8 are provided. The resist coating / heating chamber 16
In the upper part, a resist supply nozzle 5 is provided above the wafer chuck 4, and a gas introduction pipe 6 and a gas discharge pipe 7 are provided above the oven 9. As in the first embodiment, an inert gas can be introduced into the resist coating / heating chamber 16 from the gas introduction pipe 6 and pressurized. Further, the pressure inside the resist coating / heating chamber 16 can be reduced by an external vacuum pump (not shown) connected to the gas discharge pipe 7. A door 2 for unloading the wafer 3 is provided on one side of the resist coating / heating chamber 16.
0 is provided.

On the other hand, an arm 19 is provided in the preliminary chamber 17, and the wafer 3 can be transferred to the resist coating / heating chamber 16 by using the arm 19. A gas introduction pipe 10 is provided above the preliminary chamber 17.
And a gas exhaust pipe 11 are provided. Then, an inert gas can be introduced into the preliminary chamber 17 from the gas introduction pipe 10 and pressurized. Further, an external vacuum pump connected to the gas discharge pipe 11 causes
The inside can be decompressed. further,
A door 21 for introducing the wafer 3 is provided on one side surface of the preliminary chamber 17. Further, the above-described resist coating / heating chamber 16 and the preliminary chamber 17 are separated from each other by a partition 2 having a door 22.
It is divided by three.

Next, a resist coating method according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the resist coating method according to the second embodiment, the resist is coated as follows using the resist coating apparatus shown in FIG. That is, first, the carrier 15 containing the wafer 3 is set at a predetermined position of the resist coating apparatus. Next, the door 21 of the preparatory chamber 17 is opened, and the wafer 3 is transferred from the carrier 15 into the preparatory chamber 17 through the door 21 and placed on the arm 19. Next, after closing the door 21, an inert gas is introduced into the preliminary chamber 17 through the gas introduction pipe 10, and pressurized to the same pressure as in the first embodiment.

Next, after the door 22 is opened, the arm 3 transfers the wafer 3 from the preliminary chamber 17 through the door 13 into the resist coating / heating chamber 16, places the wafer 3 on the wafer chuck 4, and closes the door 22. At this time, an inert gas is introduced into the resist coating / heating chamber 16 through the gas introduction pipe 6 in advance, and pressurized to a pressure equivalent to the pressure in the preliminary chamber 17.

Next, in the same manner as in the first embodiment, a resist is discharged from the resist supply nozzle 5 onto the wafer 3 and applied, and then the wafer 3 is transferred onto the oven 9 using the arm 18. Next, the wafer 3 is placed in an oven 9
Then, the inert gas in the resist coating / heating chamber 16 is discharged through the gas discharge pipe 7 to return the pressure in the resist coating / heating chamber 16 to the atmospheric pressure. Next, the door 20 of the resist coating / heating chamber 16 is opened, and the wafer 3 is coated with the resist through the door 20.
It is carried out from the heating chamber 16.

Thereafter, a resist pattern is formed on the wafer 3 through the steps of exposing and developing the resist. As described above, according to the second embodiment, the resist is discharged from the resist supply nozzle 5 onto the wafer 3 under the pressure higher than the atmospheric pressure and equal to or lower than the pressure in the resist supply nozzle 5, and the resist is applied. Thus, the same advantages as in the first embodiment can be obtained.

Next, a description will be given of a resist coating apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing the resist coating apparatus. As shown in FIG. 3, this resist coating apparatus has a resist coating chamber 1 and an oven 9. In the resist coating chamber 1, a wafer chuck 4 for holding a wafer 3 is provided rotatably around its central axis. In addition, the wafer chuck 4
A resist supply nozzle 5 is provided above the resist coating chamber 1 in a portion above the gas supply pipe 1, and a gas introduction pipe 6 and a gas discharge pipe 7 are provided. Then, as in the first embodiment, an inert gas can be introduced into the resist coating chamber 1 from the gas introduction pipe 6 and pressurized. The pressure inside the resist coating chamber 1 can be reduced by an external vacuum pump (not shown) connected to the gas discharge pipe 7. A door 24 for introducing the wafer 3 is provided on one side of the resist coating chamber 1, and a door 25 for carrying out the wafer 3 is provided on the other side.

Further, an arm 26 is provided adjacent to the door 25, and the arm 26 is used to
Can be transported. The oven 9 is placed under atmospheric pressure, and the step of heating the wafer 3 is performed under atmospheric pressure.

Next, a resist coating method according to a third embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the resist coating method according to the third embodiment, the resist is coated as follows using the resist coating apparatus shown in FIG. That is, first, the carrier 15 containing the wafer 3 is set at a predetermined position of the resist coating apparatus. Next, the door 24 of the resist coating chamber 1 is opened.
The wafer 3 is transferred from the carrier 15 into the resist coating chamber 1 through the carrier 15 and placed on the wafer chuck 4. next,
After closing the door 24, an inert gas is introduced into the resist coating chamber 1 through the gas introduction pipe 6 and pressurized to the same pressure as in the first embodiment, and then the wafer is processed in the same manner as in the first embodiment. 3 is coated with a resist. Next, the inert gas in the resist coating chamber 1 is discharged through the gas discharge pipe 7, and the pressure in the resist coating chamber 1 is returned to the atmospheric pressure. At this time, the pressure reduction to the atmospheric pressure is preferably performed at a constant speed over a period of 5 minutes or more. By doing so, it is possible to suppress the generation of microbubbles in the resist due to the pressure change that occurs when the pressure is reduced to the atmospheric pressure.

Next, the door 25 is opened, and the wafer 3 is carried out of the resist coating chamber 1 by the arm 26 and placed on the oven 9. After that, the wafer 3 is heated to, for example, 50 to 150 ° C. under the atmospheric pressure. Thereafter, a resist pattern is formed on the wafer 3 through the steps of exposing and developing the resist.

As described above, according to the third embodiment, the resist is discharged from the resist supply nozzle 5 onto the wafer 3 under the pressure higher than the atmospheric pressure and equal to or lower than the pressure in the resist supply nozzle 5, and the coating is performed. By doing so, advantages similar to those of the first embodiment can be obtained.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been specifically described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications based on the technical idea of the present invention are possible.

For example, the configuration of the resist coating apparatus according to the above-described first to third embodiments is merely an example, and a resist coating apparatus having a different configuration may be used as necessary. For example, in the resist coating apparatus according to the third embodiment, a heating chamber may be provided separately from the resist coating chamber 1, and an oven 9 may be provided in the heating chamber.

[0046]

As described above, according to the present invention, the resist is discharged from the resist supply nozzle onto the substrate under a pressure higher than the atmospheric pressure and lower than the pressure in the resist supply nozzle. Further, the pressure difference generated when the resist is discharged from the resist supply nozzle can be reduced, and the change in the solubility of gas due to the pressure difference can be reduced. As a result, generation of microbubbles can be suppressed, so that a fine resist pattern can be formed with high accuracy, and development defects can be suppressed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a resist coating apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a resist coating apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a plan view for explaining an example of a conventional resist developing method.

FIG. 5 is a side view for explaining an example of a conventional resist developing method.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged bottom view for explaining an example of a conventional resist developing method.

FIG. 7 is a plan view for explaining another example of the conventional resist developing method.

FIG. 8 is a side view for explaining another example of the conventional resist developing method.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view for explaining development defects that occur when a resist is developed by a conventional resist developing method.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Resist coating room, 2 ... Heating room, 3 ... Wafer, 5 ... Resist supply nozzle, 6, 10 ...
Gas inlet pipe, 7, 11 ... Gas discharge pipe, 9 ... Oven

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A resist coating method for discharging and applying a resist from a resist supply nozzle onto a substrate, wherein the resist is supplied from the resist supply nozzle under a pressure higher than atmospheric pressure and equal to or lower than a pressure in the resist supply nozzle. A resist coating method characterized by discharging a resist. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the steps from the step of discharging the resist to the step of first heating the substrate are performed under a pressure higher than the atmospheric pressure and equal to or lower than the pressure in the resist supply nozzle. Resist coating method. 3. After applying the resist on the substrate in the container for applying the resist, the pressure in the container for applying the resist is reduced to atmospheric pressure over 5 minutes or more, and then the pressure is reduced. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the substrate is heated. 4. A resist coating apparatus configured to discharge and apply a resist from a resist supply nozzle onto a substrate, wherein the resist supply nozzle receives the resist from the resist supply nozzle under a pressure higher than atmospheric pressure and equal to or lower than a pressure in the resist supply nozzle. A resist coating apparatus characterized in that a resist is discharged. 5. The method according to claim 1, wherein after the resist is applied on the substrate, an atmosphere around the substrate does not reach atmospheric pressure until a step of first heating the substrate coated with the resist. 5. The method according to claim 4, wherein
The resist coating apparatus according to the above. 6. A pressurized and decompressible first container for applying the resist on the substrate, and a pressurized and depressurizable second container for heating the substrate, 5. The resist coating apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the substrate is transported between the first container and the second container without being exposed to the atmosphere on the way. 7. A first container capable of being pressurized and decompressed, comprising a portion for applying the resist on the substrate and a portion for heating the substrate, and once containing the substrate on which the resist is to be applied. And a second container that can be pressurized and depressurized so that the substrate can be transported between the first container and the second container without being exposed to the air on the way. 5. The method according to claim 4, wherein
The resist coating apparatus according to the above. 8. A pressure- and pressure-reducing container for applying the resist on the substrate, wherein the resist is applied on the substrate in the container, and then the substrate is placed outside the container. 5. The resist coating apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the resist coating apparatus is configured to heat.