JPH11156277A - Processing solution discharge nozzle of substrate treating device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide the processing soln. discharge nozzle of a substrate treating device by which the dripping of the processing soln. is prevented. SOLUTION: The processing soln. discharge nozzle 4 is formed by a casing 40 communicating with and connected to a pipe 41 for sending a processing soln. The casing 40 is provided with a reservoir 40a for accumulating the processing soln. sent from the pipe 41 and plural discharge holes 40b for discharging the processing soln. in the reservoir 40a toward a substrate, and a groove 40c is formed in the lower face of the casing 40 to demarcate the respective discharge holes 40b. The waterdrops depositing around the adjacent discharge holes 40b are not stuck together after the soln. is discharged due to the presence of the groove 40c, and the dripping of the processing soln. from the nozzle 4 is prevented.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for treating a substrate such as a semiconductor wafer, a glass substrate for a photomask, a glass substrate for a liquid crystal display, and a substrate for an optical disk by applying a processing liquid to the substrate. The present invention relates to a processing liquid discharge nozzle of a substrate processing apparatus that discharges liquid.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a processing liquid discharge nozzle of this type of substrate processing apparatus, for example, there is one as shown in FIG.

The processing liquid discharge nozzle 60 is provided with a liquid supply pipe 61 for supplying the processing liquid Q and a casing 6 connected to the liquid supply pipe 61.
And 2. The housing 62 is a processing liquid reservoir 62 a filled with a processing liquid, which is a space inside the housing 62.
And a plurality of discharge holes 62b formed in the lower surface of the housing 62 and communicating with the processing liquid reservoir 62a.

The processing liquid reservoir 62a of the housing 62 is always filled with the processing liquid Q so that air bubbles do not enter through the discharge holes 62b. The processing liquid pool 6 in the housing 62 through a liquid feeding pipe 61 from a processing liquid supply mechanism (not shown).
When the processing liquid Q is supplied to the processing liquid reservoir 2a, the processing liquid Q in the processing liquid reservoir 62a is changed by the supply pressure of the processing liquid.
Are discharged from the plurality of discharge holes 62b formed on the lower surface of the processing liquid reservoir 62a, and the supply to the processing liquid reservoir 62a is stopped.
The discharge of the processing liquid Q from 2b also stops.

The substrate processing apparatus provided with the processing liquid discharge nozzle 60 is configured such that when processing is performed on the substrate W, the processing liquid discharge nozzle 60 swings in a horizontal plane above the processing surface of the substrate W. I have. When the processing liquid discharge nozzle 60 is oscillating, the processing liquid Q is stored in the processing liquid pool 62a.
And the processing liquid Q is discharged from the discharge holes 62b of the housing 62. The discharged processing liquid Q is applied to the processing liquid discharge nozzle 6
The substrate W is processed by being supplied to the entire processing surface of the rotating substrate W by the swinging movement of 0 (see FIG. 8). When the discharge of the predetermined amount of the processing liquid Q is completed,
The processing liquid discharge nozzle 60 swings above the substrate W and returns to the standby position. At this time, the rotating substrate W rotates at a higher speed, shakes off the processing liquid on the processing surface of the substrate W, and ends the predetermined processing.

[0006]

However, the prior art having such a structure has the following problems. That is, since the processing liquid reservoir 62a is always filled with the processing liquid Q in order to prevent bubbles from entering the inside thereof, the inside of the plurality of discharge holes 62b formed on the lower surface of the housing 62 also It is filled with the processing liquid Q. Therefore, the discharge holes 62b immediately after the processing liquid Q is discharged to the substrate
As shown in FIG. 9A, a water-drop-like processing liquid 63 that cannot be completely discharged adheres to the surface of the substrate. Immediately after the treatment liquid Q is ejected or when the treatment liquid ejection nozzle 60 moves above the substrate W, the vibration of the apparatus, the inclination of the treatment liquid ejection nozzle 60 itself, or the like causes a problem.
As shown in (b), the water-drop-like treatment liquid 63 remaining on the discharge holes 62b adheres to each other, grows, and the water-drop-like treatment liquid 63 falls on the substrate or in the apparatus. "Spot drop" occurs. As a result, if the water-drop-shaped processing liquid 63 falls on the substrate, processing unevenness occurs, and the processing liquid 63 dropped into the apparatus causes particles, which causes a problem of contaminating the substrate.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and a processing liquid discharge nozzle of a substrate processing apparatus capable of preventing the processing liquid from dropping from the processing liquid discharge nozzle. The purpose is to provide.

[0008]

The present invention has the following configuration in order to achieve the above object. That is, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the processing liquid pool, which is a space in the housing, is filled with the processing liquid supplied from the liquid feed pipe,
In a processing liquid discharge nozzle of a substrate processing apparatus configured to discharge a processing liquid toward a substrate from a plurality of discharge holes formed on a lower surface of a housing and formed to communicate with the processing liquid reservoir, Between each discharge hole provided on the lower surface of the body,
A groove is provided.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the processing liquid discharge nozzle of the substrate processing apparatus according to the first aspect, the groove is a groove having an inclined surface extending in a discharge direction of the processing liquid.

[0010]

The operation of the first aspect of the invention is as follows. Since the processing liquid pool is always filled with the processing liquid supplied from the liquid supply pipe, when a new processing liquid is supplied from the supply pipe to the processing liquid pool, the processing liquid pool is formed on the lower surface of the housing. The processing liquid is discharged from the plurality of discharge holes toward the substrate. After the end of the discharge, a plurality of discharge holes
Each of the water-like treatment liquids adheres. The grooves provided between the discharge holes keep the adjacent droplets of the processing liquid separated from each other, so that the processing liquid does not drip.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the tapered groove formed between the respective discharge holes and extending in the discharge direction of the processing liquid is formed in a water-drop-like shape which adheres to the respective discharge holes. This serves to separate the liquid and reduce the amount of water-drop-like processing liquid adhering to each discharge port.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. <First Embodiment> FIG. 1 is a side view showing a schematic configuration of a substrate processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a moving operation of a processing liquid discharge nozzle. In this embodiment, a substrate developing apparatus that performs a developing process by discharging a developing solution as a processing solution onto a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter, simply referred to as a “substrate”) will be described as an example.

This substrate developing apparatus includes a spin chuck 1 which holds a substrate W in a horizontal position and rotates around a rotation center P1.
A scattering prevention cup 2 provided so as to surround the spin chuck 1, a processing liquid discharge nozzle 4 for discharging a developing solution to the substrate W held by the spin chuck 1, and the processing liquid discharge nozzle 4 Nozzle drive mechanism 1 for raising and lowering drive
5 and the like.

The spin chuck 1 is operatively connected to an electric motor 5 via a rotating shaft 3. This spin chuck 1 is connected to a vacuum line (not shown),
The substrate W is sucked and held by vacuum, and the electric motor 5
Of the rotation center P while holding the substrate W
Rotate low or high speed around one.

The scattering prevention cup 2 surrounds the periphery of the substrate W held by the spin chuck 1 in order to prevent the developer discharged on the substrate W from scattering around the substrate W as the substrate W rotates. The developer that has been disposed as described above and has jumped out of the substrate W is collected by a waste liquid collecting structure (not shown). Further, the scattering prevention cup 2 is configured to be moved up and down when the substrate W is loaded and unloaded by a lifting mechanism (not shown).

The processing liquid discharge nozzle 4 is cantilevered by a support arm 6. A nozzle driving mechanism 15 is linked to the base end of the support arm 6 to swing and move the processing liquid discharge nozzle 4 up and down. Specifically, the nozzle driving mechanism 15, as the outermost discharge hole 40b ₁ of the four discharge holes 40b formed in the lower surface of the processing liquid discharge nozzle 4 passes through the rotational center P1 of the substrate W, By swinging the support arm 6 around the swing center P2, the processing liquid discharge nozzle 4 is moved in the radial direction of the substrate W (see FIG. 2). The electric motor 5 and the nozzle driving mechanism 1 described above are used.
Numerals 5 and the like are connected to the control unit 17 so that the number of rotations of the substrate W, the oscillating speed of the processing liquid discharge nozzle 4, the discharge timing of the developer, and the like are comprehensively controlled.

The operation of the substrate developing apparatus having the above configuration will be described. When the substrate W is placed on the spin chuck 1 by a substrate transport mechanism (not shown), the scattering prevention cup 2
Rises. At this time, the spin chuck 1 sucks and holds the substrate W and starts rotating the substrate W at a low speed. The processing liquid discharge nozzle 4 is pulled up from a standby pot (not shown) at the standby position by the nozzle driving mechanism 15 and is oscillated to the discharge start position on the side of the substrate W. At this discharge start position, the processing liquid discharge nozzle 4 discharges the developer from each discharge hole 40b provided on the lower surface thereof. In a state where the developer is discharged, the processing liquid discharge nozzle 4 moves at a predetermined speed from the side of the substrate W toward the rotation center P1. Thus, the developing solution is spread over the entire processing surface of the substrate W, and the developing process is performed on the substrate W. When the processing liquid discharge nozzle 4 moves to the rotation center P1 of the substrate W, the processing liquid discharge nozzle 4 terminates discharge of the developing solution, moves above the substrate W, and returns to the standby pot. When the discharge of the developing solution is completed, the spin chuck 1 rotates at a higher speed to shake off the developing solution on the substrate W. When the high-speed rotation of the spin chuck 1 ends, the scattering prevention cup 2 moves down, the substrate W is unloaded by the substrate transport mechanism, and a series of development processing ends.

FIG. 3A is an enlarged sectional view of the processing liquid discharge nozzle 4 which is a main part of the present invention.
This will be described with reference to the bottom view shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 3A, the processing liquid discharge nozzle 4 is composed of a housing 40 connected to a liquid feed pipe 41 for feeding a developing solution. The liquid supply pipe 41 is formed integrally with the support arm 6, and supplies a developer supplied from a developer supply source (not shown) connected to the base end of the support arm 6 into the housing 40.

The housing 40 has a processing liquid reservoir 40a as an internal space, and a plurality of discharge holes 40b (4 in this embodiment) communicating with the processing liquid reservoir 40a are provided on the lower surface of the housing 40. Discharge holes 40b) are formed. Further, as shown in FIG.
A plurality of grooves 40c (five in this embodiment) are provided so as to partition each ejection hole 40b. The processing liquid reservoir 40a is always filled with the developing liquid in order to prevent the developing liquid from dropping due to the entry of bubbles.

According to the processing liquid discharge nozzle 4, when the developing liquid is supplied from the liquid supply pipe 41 to the processing liquid pool 40a of the casing 40, the processing liquid pool 40a is supplied by the supply pressure.
The developer inside is ejected from each of the discharge holes 40b. That is, the developer is discharged from each of the discharge holes 40b.

When the discharge of the predetermined amount of the developing solution is completed, the supply of the developing solution from the developing solution supply source is stopped, and the discharge holes 40b
Then, the discharge of the developer stops. At this time, FIG.
As shown in (b), each discharge hole 40b on the lower surface of the housing 40
, The developer D in the form of water drops adheres to the surface of the developer. In this state, the processing liquid discharge nozzle 4 moves above the substrate W and returns to the standby pot as described above. Each water-drop developer D is
Since the water droplets are separated by the groove 40c and the adjacent water droplets do not stick to each other, the developing solution does not drop during the movement on the substrate W. As a result, uneven development of the substrate W,
Generation of particles due to the developer can be prevented.

In the above embodiment, the substrate developing apparatus has been described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and an appropriate processing liquid is discharged onto the processing surface of the substrate to process the substrate. The present invention can be widely applied to a processing liquid discharge nozzle of a substrate processing apparatus for performing the above.

<Second Embodiment> Next, an embodiment using a processing liquid discharge nozzle as shown in FIG. 5 will be described. FIG. 5A is an enlarged sectional view, and FIG. 5B is a bottom view thereof. In addition, the same reference numerals are given to portions common to the above-described first embodiment, and description thereof will be omitted.

As shown in FIG. 5A, the processing liquid discharge nozzle 8 of the second embodiment comprises a housing 80 connected to a liquid feed pipe 41 for feeding a developing solution. The housing 80 is
A processing liquid reservoir 80a as an internal space is provided, and a plurality of discharge holes 80b (four discharge holes 8 in this embodiment) communicating with the processing liquid reservoir 80a are provided on the lower surface of the housing 80.
0b) is formed. Further, the lower surface of the housing 80
Each of the ejection holes 80 has a “V” -shaped groove 80 c (five in this embodiment) having an inclined surface extending in the developing solution discharging direction.
b.

According to the processing liquid discharge nozzle 8, similarly to the processing liquid discharge nozzle 4 of the first embodiment, when the discharge of the developing liquid is completed, the discharge of the developing liquid is stopped from each discharge hole 80b.
At this time, as shown in FIGS.
The developer E in the form of water drops adheres to each of the discharge holes 80b on the lower surface of the groove 80c. Become. As a result, the amount of the developer E adhering around the ejection holes 80b is reduced, and it is possible to more reliably prevent the developer from dripping.

The present invention can be modified as follows.

(1) In the second embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, a "V" -shaped groove 80 is formed between each discharge hole 80b.
Although “c” is provided side by side, for example, as shown in FIG. 6, a “V” -shaped groove 80c may be formed vertically and horizontally across the discharge hole 80b. By providing such a groove 80b,
The area to which water droplets adhere can be made smaller. Note that, instead of the "V" -shaped groove 80b, the groove 80b can be formed as in the first embodiment.

(2) In the first and second embodiments, the plurality of ejection holes 80b arranged in one line have been described. For example, in the case of a plurality of ejection holes 80b arranged in two lines, As shown in FIG. 7, "V" is vertically and horizontally arranged between the discharge holes 80b so that water droplets adhering to the discharge holes 80b are separated.
May be formed. Also in this case, instead of the groove 80b, the groove 40 as in the first embodiment is used.
b can also be formed.

[0030]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the processing liquid in the form of water droplets adhered to the periphery of each discharge hole by the groove provided between each discharge hole. Are separated from each other, it is possible to prevent water-drop-like processing liquids from sticking to each other. As a result, it is possible to prevent the processing liquid from dropping from the processing liquid discharge nozzle.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the grooves having the inclined surfaces extending in the discharge direction are provided between the discharge holes, the processing liquid in the form of water droplets adhering around each discharge hole can be removed. Separation can be performed, and the amount of the water-drop-like treatment liquid that adheres and remains can be reduced. Therefore,
It is possible to more effectively prevent the processing liquid from dropping from the processing liquid discharge nozzle.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing a schematic configuration of a substrate processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a movement operation of a processing liquid ejection nozzle according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3A is an enlarged sectional view of a processing liquid discharge nozzle according to the first embodiment, and FIG. 3B is a bottom view thereof.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a state in which a water-drop-shaped processing liquid adheres to the processing liquid discharge nozzle of the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a state in which a water-drop-shaped processing liquid adheres to a processing liquid discharge nozzle according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a bottom view of a processing liquid discharge nozzle according to a modified example (1).

FIG. 7 is a bottom view of a processing liquid discharge nozzle according to a modification (2).

FIG. 8 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a conventional processing liquid discharge nozzle.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a state in which a water-drop-shaped processing liquid adheres to a processing liquid discharge nozzle of a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Spin chuck 4 ... Treatment liquid discharge nozzle 6 ... Support arm 40 ... Case 40a ... Treatment liquid pool 40b ... Discharge hole 40c ... Groove 41 ... Liquid supply tube 80c ... V-shaped groove E ... Treatment liquid W …substrate

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Naoyuki Nagata 322 Hashizushi Furukawacho, Fushimi-ku, Kyoto-shi, Kyoto Japan Nippon Screen Manufacturing Co., Ltd. 322 Dai Nippon Screen Manufacturing Co., Ltd.

Claims (2)

[Claims] A processing liquid supplied from a liquid feed pipe fills a processing liquid reservoir, which is a space in the housing, and is formed to communicate with the processing liquid reservoir. In a processing liquid discharge nozzle of a substrate processing apparatus configured to discharge a processing liquid from a discharge hole toward a substrate, a groove is provided between each discharge hole provided on a lower surface of the housing. And a processing liquid discharge nozzle of the substrate processing apparatus. 2. The processing liquid discharge nozzle of a substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the groove is a groove having an inclined surface extending in a processing liquid discharge direction.