JPH11162905A - Substrate treatment apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a small substrate treatment apparatus with uniformity in treatment, regardless of the positions in a batch-treatment container, and no damage due to the rotation or in-face uniformity in treatment of a large-size wafer in a single wafer treatment container, while strains such as watermarks or damages in rotation are prevented. SOLUTION: A substrate treatment apparatus includes a substrate treatment container 2, made up of an upper cover 5 for opening and closing tightly and a container member 23, and a substrate holding member 4 for holding a wafer 3 in the container member 23. In a controlling means 7, valve members 71 to 77, and 79, driving members 22 and 42, and a reducing pressure pump 78 are controlled by a control unit 80 to feed and/or drain a treatment solution and/or gas in the container member 23. In this way a chemical treatment, a washing treatment, and a drying treatment are sequentially carried out. A wafer 3 is immersed in the small sealed substrate treatment container 2, and the face of the wafer 3 is processed in various kinds of treatments.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for supplying a processing liquid or a processing gas to a thin substrate to be processed (hereinafter, simply referred to as a substrate) such as a semiconductor wafer or a glass substrate for a liquid crystal display panel to provide a predetermined surface to the substrate. The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus that performs processing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as one of apparatuses for manufacturing a semiconductor device or a liquid crystal display device, a thin film is formed on a substrate such as a semiconductor wafer or a glass substrate for a liquid crystal display device, or the substrate is cleaned and etched. There is provided a substrate processing apparatus. In this substrate processing apparatus, a processing unit for forming a thin film and a processing unit for cleaning the substrate are provided.
While the substrate to be processed is transferred between these processing units by the substrate transfer device, the processing liquid is supplied to the substrate in each processing unit to perform the surface treatment of the substrate.

[0003] For example, in the case of a multi-tank type substrate processing apparatus for batch processing, a plurality of substrates are simultaneously transferred by a substrate transfer apparatus and sequentially immersed in a processing solution in a plurality of processing tanks to thereby perform chemical solution processing. Further, a pure water cleaning process is performed, and finally, a drying process is performed using a spin dryer, an IPA vapor dryer, or the like.

In the case of a single-tank type substrate processing apparatus for batch processing, a plurality of substrates are simultaneously transferred by a substrate transfer apparatus and immersed in a processing liquid, so that a chemical solution processing and a pure water cleaning processing are performed in one. We go sequentially in tank.

On the other hand, in the case of a substrate processing apparatus for single-wafer processing,
Substrates are transported one by one by a substrate transport apparatus, and etching and cleaning are performed by, for example, spraying and rotation processing, and thereafter, rotation processing is performed and drying processing is performed with an air knife.

[0006]

However, in the conventional multi-tank and single-tank substrate processing apparatuses for batch processing, a plurality of substrates arranged such that the substrate surfaces face each other overflow. When immersing in a processing liquid, for example, performing etching or cleaning processing, the flow of the processing liquid is different between the substrate located at the middle and the substrates located at both ends such as the front side or the back side, for example, There has been a problem that variations occur in etching, cleaning processing, and the like, and the processing uniformity depends on the position in the tank. The dependence of the uniformity on the position in the tank is, for example, 300 mm in diameter.
The larger the diameter of the wafer as a substrate, such as mm, the more noticeable the appearance. In addition, since a plurality of substrates are simultaneously processed, in a substrate processing apparatus for batch processing, the size of the apparatus itself increases along with the size of the tank, and a large amount of a processing liquid such as a chemical solution or pure water is required. Had. Furthermore, in this case, a separate large tank is required for drying under reduced pressure.

In the above-mentioned conventional substrate processing apparatus for single-wafer processing, the substrates are transported one by one and subjected to, for example, a spray rotation cleaning process. When exposed, the formation of water marks (stains) due to the growth of the surface native oxide film, etc.
Further, there has been a problem that the uniformity of the substrate surface is impaired, such as generation of particles due to this. This natural oxide film has an unstable resistance value, which causes a reduction in the yield in the manufacture of, for example, semiconductor devices. Further, in a substrate processing apparatus for single-wafer processing, since various processes are performed by rotating the substrate one by one, as the substrate size such as the diameter of the wafer increases, the load on the substrate itself and the mechanical unit due to the rotation increases. From the viewpoint of preventing such damage, there is a problem that the substrate size cannot be increased.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention solves the above-mentioned conventional problems, and eliminates the dependence of etching uniformity on the position in a tank, which has conventionally occurred in a batch processing apparatus, and reduces the size of the apparatus itself. A substrate capable of suppressing the occurrence of water marks (stains) conventionally generated in a substrate processing apparatus for single-wafer processing, maintaining the uniformity of the substrate surface, and easily coping with an increase in substrate size without damage due to rotation. It is an object to provide a processing device.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention is a substrate processing apparatus capable of processing a substrate surface while holding a substrate therein. A substrate holding portion capable of holding a substrate therein, and control means for controlling supply and / or discharge of a processing liquid or / and a processing gas to / from the outer member.

With this configuration, since various types of processing are performed on the substrate surface in a state where one substrate is immersed in the processing liquid in the sealed outer member, the uniformity of the processing that has conventionally occurred in a batch processing apparatus is achieved. And the water mark (stain) which has conventionally occurred in the substrate processing apparatus for single-wafer processing is suppressed, and the uniformity of the substrate surface is maintained. It is possible to cope with an increase in the size of the substrate without damage due to excessive rotation. In addition, since the outer member is small enough to accommodate only one substrate, it is possible to reduce the size and space, to reduce the amount of processing liquid, and to shorten the processing time. Cost reduction is achieved.

Further, the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention is a substrate processing apparatus capable of processing a substrate surface while holding the substrate inside, wherein an outer member which can be opened or closed and an inner member is provided in the outer member. A storage tank that can store the processing liquid
A substrate holding portion capable of holding the substrate in the horizontal direction in the storage tank, a drainage tank for receiving the processing liquid overflowing from the storage tank, a supply of the processing liquid into the storage tank, and a processing gas into the outer member. Control means for controlling drainage or exhaustion from the supply, storage tank or / and drainage tank.

According to this structure, in addition to the above-described functions, a storage tank for storing the processing liquid and storing the substrate and a drainage tank for receiving the processing liquid overflowing from the storage tank are provided in the outer casing member. Therefore, for example, in the case of a pure water cleaning process, the chemical solution attached to the substrate at the time of the chemical solution process and the substance (particles) generated by the chemical solution process are smoothly discharged to the outside of the outer member through the drainage tank together with the pure water. It becomes possible to flow out, further suppressing the adverse effect on the substrate surface, further suppressing the contact of the substrate surface with the atmosphere, further suppressing the growth of a natural oxide film, and further improving the uniformity of the substrate surface. Maintenance becomes possible.

Still preferably, in a substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention, the substrate holding unit supports a substrate in a horizontal or inclined posture, and moves the support member to a vertical position inside and outside the processing liquid. A driving member.

With this configuration, the substrate holding portion is movable by the driving member between a lower position in the processing liquid and an upper position outside the processing liquid while the substrate is held in the lateral direction by the support member. The substrate is immersed in the processing liquid to perform a predetermined process, and the substrate is easily delivered at the upper position.

Still preferably, in a substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention, the support member is configured to be capable of supporting the substrate by inclining the substrate so that the processing liquid supply side is lowered.

According to this configuration, the substrate is supported inclined in the horizontal direction so that the processing liquid supply side is lowered, so that the horizontal substrate can be immersed in the processing liquid or taken out of the processing liquid. At this time, by suppressing the deflection of the substrate and the liquid remaining on the substrate surface to improve the liquid drainage, and by facilitating the flow of the supplied processing liquid over the entire surface of the substrate, the apparatus can be used in a batch processing apparatus. The dependence of the processing uniformity on the position in the tank, which has conventionally occurred, can be more reliably eliminated.

[0017]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments of the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings, but the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described below.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a schematic configuration of a substrate processing apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, a substrate processing apparatus 1 includes a substrate processing tank 2 as an outer member that can be freely opened or closed.
And a substrate holding member 4 that holds the wafer 3 as a substrate in the substrate processing tank 2 and that can move the wafer 3 up and down while holding the wafer 3. A transfer robot 6 that supplies and discharges the wafer 3 to and from the substrate processing tank 2, and controls the substrate holding member 4 and the transfer robot 6 to transfer the wafer 3. And a control means 7 for supplying and / or discharging a processing gas and controlling the surface of the wafer 3 to sequentially perform various chemical processing, water washing processing and drying processing in a sealed state in which the wafer 3 is housed therein. ing.

This substrate processing tank 2 is made of nitrogen gas or IPA.
A processing gas supply port 21 capable of supplying (isopropyl alcohol) vapor, an upper cover 5 having the processing gas supply port 21 disposed at a central portion, and a tip portion attached to an outer wall of the upper cover 5 at an appropriate position. A drive member 22 such as an open / close solenoid or a cylinder for moving up and down, and the upper cover 5 is moved up and down by the drive member 22, so that the inside thereof can be freely opened and a sealing material (not shown) is sandwiched between the upper cover 5. A sealable tank member 23, a processing liquid supply port 24 disposed below the side wall of the tank member 23 for supplying a processing liquid such as a chemical solution or pure water into the tank, and a processing liquid supply port 24. Disposed on the upper part of the side wall opposite to the side wall of the tank member 23,
An overflow drain 25 for overflowing and draining the processing liquid supplied into the tank from the processing liquid supply port 24;
The tank member 23 is disposed in the center of the bottom wall of the tank member 23.
And a discharge port 26 for rapidly draining the processing liquid in the tank or exhausting the gas in the tank member 23 to reduce the pressure. As described above, the substrate processing tank 2 is a small dipped closed chamber capable of accommodating one wafer 3 as a substrate in the horizontal direction. It is possible to improve the throughput.

The substrate holding member 4 is provided with the processing liquid supply port 2.
In a state where the wafer 3 is tilted in the lateral direction so that the side of the wafer 3 becomes lower and the side of the overflow drain port 25 becomes higher, the edge portion of the back surface of the wafer 3 is received from below by a plurality of supports (supported at two places in this embodiment). And support members 41a and 41b for supporting the end of the wafer 2, and these support members 41a and 41b.
Each tip is attached to each of the support members 41b, and each drive member 42 such as a cylinder for moving these support members 41a and 41b up and down between a lower position in the processing liquid and an upper position on the processing liquid, respectively. And The support member 41a supports the lower edge portion of the wafer 3 by line contact along the lower edge portion, and the support member 41b supports the upper edge portion by point contact, and cleans the front side of the wafer 3 by cleaning. These supporting members 41a and 41b are formed only by the back surface edge contact of the wafer 3 so as not to generate a portion that cannot be cut off.

The reason why one wafer 3 is held while being inclined in the lateral direction is that the surface of the wafer 3 is held along the flow of the processing liquid, and the processing liquid is held. The processing liquid supplied from the supply port 24 is received on the entire front surface side of the wafer 2, and is smoothly overflowed and discharged from the overflow drain port 25. In addition to preventing the dependence on the position in the tank, when the wafer 3 is moved to an upper position on the processing liquid, a load is not applied to the wafer 3 as much as possible so that the processing liquid does not accumulate as the wafer 3 is bent. It has a good drainage structure. In this case, the inclination angle of the wafer 2 can be adjusted without bending the substrate such as the wafer 2.
It is necessary to select a good angle at which the processing liquid on the surface of the wafer 3 easily flows down from the surface of the wafer 3. However, the tank member 23 is preferably shallower in relation to the amount of processing liquid to be stored.

Further, a bellows-like member made of an elastic material such as a fluororesin is provided at a position on the bottom wall portion of the tank member 23 where the substrate holding member 4 is provided so that the inside of the tank member 23 is sealed. The central portion of the processing liquid is vertically movable, and the wafer 3 is moved up and down between the lower position in the processing liquid and the upper position on the processing liquid in an inclined posture by the two driving members 42 together with the supporting members 41a and 41b. It is freely configured. In the present embodiment, when the wafer 3 is supplied and discharged, the wafer 3 is further set to a horizontal posture from the upper position on the processing liquid, and the transfer robot 6
However, it is needless to say that the transfer can be performed by the transfer robot 6 while the inclined position of the wafer 3 at the upper position on the processing liquid is maintained.

Further, the transfer robot 6 includes a hand member 61 for supporting the wafer 3 from below,
The hand member 61 is extended to the lower side of the wafer 3 held at the upper position by the substrate holding member 4 and is connected to the one end opposite to the distal end of the wafer 3 or the wafer held at the upper position by the substrate holding member 4. 3 from the lower side to the predetermined position in FIG. 1. By moving both the hand member 61 and the arm member 62 upward, the arm member 62 is held by the substrate holding member 4. Wafer 3
The wafer 3 can be received from the substrate holding member 4 by placing and lifting the wafer 3 on the hand member 61, and the hand member 61 and the arm member 62 can be moved in a state where the wafer 3 is placed on the hand member 61. In addition, by moving the wafer 3 downward, the wafer 3 can be placed on the substrate holding member 4 and the wafer 3 can be supplied onto the substrate holding member 4. Although not shown, the hand member 61 has two forks along a partial edge of the circular wafer 3, and the fork-shaped hand member 61 has a suction groove (not shown). The suction groove is used to suck a part of the edge on the back surface side of the wafer 3 to fix the wafer 3 during transfer.

The transfer robot 6 is provided with the substrate holding member 4.
After the wafer 3 is received by the hand member 61 from the support members 41a and 41b, the hand member 61 and the arm member 6
The wafer 3 is rotated and moved together with the wafer 2, the cleaned wafer 3 is transferred to the next process, and the cleaned wafer is placed in a carrier (not shown) capable of accommodating a plurality of wafers 3. 3 can be temporarily accommodated. The transfer robot 6 rotates the wafer 3 together with the hand member 61 and the arm member 62 after transferring the wafer 3 from the previous process or receiving the wafer 3 in a carrier (not shown) by the hand member 61. The wafer 3 can be moved or moved, and the wafer 3 can be supplied onto the substrate holding member 4.

Further, the control means 7 controls the processing liquid supply port 24
Valve member 7 for adjusting the flow rate of pure water, which is disposed in the middle of the pipe connected via a mixing member 27 connected to the
1, a first chemical liquid flow rate adjusting valve member 72 disposed in the middle of the chemical liquid pipe connected through the mixing member 27, and another chemical liquid flow adjusting valve member connected through the mixing member 27. A valve member 73 for adjusting the flow rate of the second chemical liquid, which is provided in the middle of the pipe, and an overflow drain 25
And a drain flow rate adjusting valve member 75, 7 disposed in the middle of the pipe connected to the discharge port 26.
6, a valve member 77 for adjusting an exhaust flow rate and a decompression pump 78 provided in the middle of a pipe branched from a connection portion of these valve members 75 and 76, and a processing gas supply port 2
A valve member 79 for adjusting the supply flow rate of the processing gas, which is disposed in the middle of the pipe connected to
1 to 77, 79 and a decompression pump 78, each driving member 2
2, 42 are connected to the control terminals of the transfer robot 6, respectively, and by sequentially controlling the control terminals, the wafer 3 is accommodated in the substrate processing tank 2 and sealed with the wafer 3 in a variety of processing liquids or processes. A control unit 80 is provided to control so as to sequentially perform a chemical solution treatment, a water washing process, and a drying process by supplying, discharging, or exhausting gas. In addition, as a chemical solution treatment in the series of various substrate treatments,
It goes without saying that, in addition to the light etching process shown in the present embodiment, various chemical solutions such as a nitride film removing process, a resist stripping process, an oxide film etching process, and a cleaning process before diffusion may be used.

The control section 80 is composed of a sequencer, a microcomputer, and the like, and controls each member sequentially to automatically perform a series of substrate transport processing and various substrate processing. I have.

The operation of the above configuration will be described below. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a main part configuration of the substrate processing apparatus of FIG. 1 in a wafer supply / discharge state, and FIG. 3 is a schematic view showing a main part configuration of a substrate processing apparatus of FIG. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of a main part of the substrate processing apparatus of FIG. 1 in a state of drying under reduced pressure.

First, as shown in FIG. 2, the wafer 3 after the cleaning process and the wafer 3 to be cleaned are transferred.

That is, the control unit 80 controls the movement of the driving member 22 in the upward direction, opens the upper lid 5 with respect to the tank member 23, and controls the movement of each of the driving members 42 in the upward direction.
Is controlled so that the wafer 3 is in a horizontal posture in a state where it comes out of the tank member 23 upward. After that, the control unit 80 controls the extension of the hand member 61 and the arm member 62 to position the hand member 61 below the wafer 3, move the hand member 61 upward, and suck it.
The wafer 3 supported by each of the support members 41a and 41b is transferred onto the hand member 61, and the hand member 61 and the arm member 62 are subjected to shortening control, rotation control, and the like, for example, to provide a temporary storage carrier (not shown). The wafer 3 that has been subjected to the cleaning process is transported and stored in the inside of the device.

The controller 80 controls the transfer robot 6 to receive the wafer 3 on the hand member 61 from another carrier (not shown) in which a plurality of cleaning wafers 3 are accommodated. In a state where the wafer 3 to be cleaned is placed on the hand member 61, the hand member 61 and the arm member 62 are controlled to extend, and the wafer 3 is positioned together with the hand member 61 above the support members 41a and 41b. By moving the wafer 3 downward together with the member 61 and stopping the suction, the wafer 3 is transferred from the hand member 61 onto the support members 41a and 41b.

At this time, the controller 80 controls the valve member 7
The inside of the tank member 23 is filled with pure water by controlling the openings of the tanks 1 and 74 and supplying the pure water into the tank member 23 so as to be able to overflow. In addition, other valve members 72, 73,
75 and 79 are closed by the control unit 80.

Next, as shown in FIG. 1, the wafer 3 is housed in an immersed state, the substrate processing tank 2 is closed, and a chemical solution treatment and a pure water cleaning treatment are performed.

That is, the control unit 80 controls each driving member 4 in a state where the wafer 3 is mounted on each of the supporting members 41a and 41b.
2 is controlled to move downward so as to be positioned in pure water in the tank member 23 at a predetermined inclined posture in the horizontal direction.
2 is controlled to move downward, so that the inside is closed by being sandwiched between the tank member 23 and the upper lid 5 via a seal member (not shown). At this time, the pure water in the tank member 23 is supplied from the processing liquid supply port 24, overflows from the overflow drain port 25 on the opposite side, and is discharged.

In this state, the control unit 80 controls the opening of the valve member 72 for adjusting the flow rate of the first chemical liquid, and supplies the first chemical liquid (for example, HF in the case of light etching) to the processing liquid via the mixing member 27. The mixture is supplied from the port 24 into the tank member 23 in a state of being mixed with pure water at a predetermined concentration and overflows, so that the inside of the tank member 23 is replaced with a first chemical having a predetermined concentration and the wafer 3 is subjected to chemical treatment. You. After a predetermined period of time, the controller 80 sets the valve member 72 for adjusting the first chemical liquid flow rate.
Is controlled so that only pure water is supplied from the processing liquid supply port 24 into the tank member 23 and overflows, so that the inside of the tank member 23 is replaced with pure water and the pure water cleaning process of the wafer 3 is performed. Is performed. At this time, by causing the pure water to overflow from the tank member 23, the chemical liquid attached to the wafer 3 during the chemical liquid processing and the substance (particles) generated by the chemical liquid processing together with the pure water are overflowed out of the tank member 23 to the overflow drain 25. Pour out through. After a predetermined time, each step of the chemical solution treatment and the pure water washing process is repeated a predetermined number of times in the same manner as described above, and the chemical solution treatment and the pure water washing process are completed.

Thereafter, the wafer 3 subjected to the cleaning process is taken out by performing a reduced pressure drying process through a wafer bumping operation before rapid drainage.

That is, the control unit 80 controls the movement of each drive member 42 together to suppress the load on the wafer 3 at the time of rapid drainage, and moves the wafer 3 to each of the support members 41a, 41a.
In a state of being placed on the 41b in an inclined posture, it is positioned on the pure water level in the tank member 23.
The opening is controlled, and a processing gas for drying such as high-temperature nitrogen gas or IPA (isopropyl alcohol) vapor is supplied from the processing gas supply port 21 into the closed substrate processing tank 2 so that the surface of the wafer 3 is exposed to the atmosphere. There is no exposure inside. Then, the control unit 80 controls the valve members 75, 7
6 is controlled to open so that pure water and contaminants in the tank member 23 are quickly discharged from the discharge port 26. At this time, the other valve members 71 to 74, 77 are controlled by the control unit 80.
Is a hermetically closed state controlled to be closed, and the inside of the substrate processing tank 2 has a high temperature of nitrogen gas or IPA (isopropyl alcohol).
The wafer 3 is filled with a processing gas, and the moisture on the surface of the wafer 3 is exposed to the IPA gas to be replaced. further,
The control unit 80 controls the closing of the valve member 76 to control the opening of the valve member 77, and drives the decompression pump 78 to rapidly exhaust the gas atmosphere in the tank member 23 from the discharge port 26, and Is subjected to an IPA drying process under reduced pressure. At this time, the control unit 80 controls the valve member 7.
Reference numeral 9 denotes a closing control.

Further, after a predetermined time, the control section 80 controls the opening of the valve member 79 to purge the interior with high-temperature nitrogen to return the inside to the atmospheric pressure, and controls the closing of all the valve members 71 to 77 to perform the substrate processing. The inside of the tank 2 is closed.
In order to prevent the surface of the wafer 3 from being exposed to the atmosphere as much as possible, the wafer 3 having been subjected to the cleaning process in this state may be kept on standby until the time when the wafer 3 is transferred to the next step.

Thereafter, the wafer 3 having been subjected to the cleaning process is taken out of the substrate processing bath 2 as described above, and a new wafer 3 to be cleaned is set in the substrate processing bath 2.

As described above, the substrate processing tank 2 composed of the upper lid 5 and the tank member 23 whose interior can be freely opened or sealed, and the substrate holder 4 capable of holding the wafer 3 in the tank member 23.
, Valve members 71 to 77, 79, drive members 22, 42
The control unit 80 controls the vacuum pump 78 and supplies the processing liquid or / and the processing gas into the tank member 23 or /
And a control means 7 for controlling the chemical liquid treatment, the water washing treatment and the drying treatment in order by discharging, and immersing one wafer 3 in the treatment liquid in the sealed small substrate processing tank 2. The surface is then subjected to various treatments.

For this reason, the dependence of the etching uniformity on the position in the tank, which has conventionally occurred in a batch processing apparatus for simultaneously processing a plurality of substrates, can be eliminated, and the etching uniformity has conventionally occurred in a substrate processing apparatus for single wafer processing. Water mark (stain)
Can be suppressed, the uniformity of the substrate surface can be maintained, and an increase in substrate size can be accommodated without damage due to rotation. In addition, since the chamber is a small chamber in which only one wafer 3 can enter the substrate processing tank 2, it is possible to reduce the size and space and to reduce the processing liquid.
The replacement of the chemical solution and the achievement of reduced pressure are quick, the processing time can be reduced, the throughput can be improved, and the cost can be reduced. As described above, since the tank (chamber) is small, the size of the apparatus can be reduced. If a plurality of such small tanks (chambers) are provided, the throughput can be further improved.

Further, the substrate holding section 4 is movable to a lower position in the processing liquid and an upper position outside the processing liquid while holding the wafer 3 in the lateral direction. The wafer 3 can be easily transferred at the upper position by immersing the wafer 3 in a predetermined process. During the predetermined processing, the wafer 3 as a substrate is held in an inclined position so that the processing liquid supply side is lowered, so that the wafer 3 in the horizontal direction is immersed in the processing liquid or taken out of the processing liquid. In this case, it is possible to suppress the bending of the wafer 3 and the remaining liquid on the wafer 3 to improve the liquid drainage, and to make the supplied processing liquid flow almost uniformly on the entire surface of the wafer 3 without difficulty. Thus, the dependence of the etching uniformity on the position in the tank, which has conventionally occurred in a batch processing apparatus for simultaneously processing a plurality of sheets, can be more reliably eliminated.

Further, if various treatments are performed by purging the inside of the substrate treatment tank 2 with nitrogen, the wafers 3 accommodated in the substrate treatment tank 2 have at least the surface thereof during the treatment in the substrate treatment tank 2. Is not exposed to the air, problems such as the conventional growth of the native oxide film on the surface and the generation of particles due to the problem are eliminated, and the uniformity of the substrate surface is further maintained. In addition, the wafer 3
Is less susceptible to environmental influences from, for example, chemical mist or other contamination.

Further, if the wafer 3 is supported in the vertical direction (vertical posture), the supporting member contacts both the front surface and the back surface of the wafer 3, but in the present embodiment, the wafer 3 is received from below in an inclined posture. Therefore, the supporting members 41a and 41b do not contact the surface of the wafer 3, so that damage such as contamination and scratches on the supporting portion of the surface of the wafer 3 is greatly suppressed, and the surface side There is no longer any portion that cannot be washed, and there is no dry residue on the supporting portion, and a good dry state can be obtained. The surface portion of the wafer 3 is an important portion where semiconductor devices and the like are formed.

Further, because of the single-wafer processing in which each sheet is processed,
There is no generation of particles due to so-called wafer transfer in which particles peeled off from the surface of the wafer 3 are reattached to the surface of another wafer 3.

In this embodiment, the processing liquid supply port 24
The processing liquid supplied into the tank from the overflow drain port 2
Although it is configured to drain the liquid after overflowing from 5, a storage tank is provided in the tank member 23, and a drain tank capable of receiving the processing liquid overflowed from the storage tank and draining the liquid is provided around the storage tank. With this configuration, in the case of a pure water cleaning process or the like, the chemical solution attached to the substrate at the time of the chemical solution process and the substance (particles) generated by the chemical solution process together with the pure water,
It is possible to smoothly flow out of the outer member through the drainage tank, and further suppress the adverse effect on the substrate surface, and further suppress the contact of the substrate surface with the atmosphere, and the growth of the natural oxide film etc. Further suppression is achieved, and further uniformity of the substrate surface can be maintained.

In this embodiment, the support members 41a,
Although the wafer 3 is received from below by the 41b and supported in an inclined posture, the wafer 3 may be supported in a horizontal posture or a vertical posture. When the wafer 3 is supported in a vertical position, the supporting member is supported so that both the front surface and the rear surface of the wafer 3 are in contact with each other, as compared with the case where the wafer 3 is supported in a horizontal position or an inclined position. In some cases, a portion that cannot be completely cleaned may be formed on the front surface side of the important wafer 3 in which the components are formed, or damage such as contamination or a scratch may be generated on a support portion of the surface.

[0048]

As described above, according to the first aspect, since one substrate is immersed in the processing solution in the sealed outer member to perform various types of processing on the substrate surface, an apparatus for batch processing is provided. In addition to eliminating the dependence of the etching uniformity on the position in the tank, which has occurred conventionally, the uniformity of the substrate surface can be suppressed by suppressing the occurrence of water marks (stain) which has conventionally occurred in the substrate processing apparatus for single-wafer processing. , And can cope with an increase in substrate size without damage due to rotation. In addition, since it is a small tank in which only one substrate is contained in the outer member, it is possible to reduce the size and space and to reduce the processing liquid, and further to shorten the processing time. Cost reduction can be achieved.

According to the second aspect, in addition to the effect of the first aspect, a storage tank capable of storing the substrate together with the processing liquid in the outer casing member, and a drainage liquid receiving the processing liquid overflowing from the storage tank Since the tank is provided, for example, the chemical solution adhered to the substrate during the chemical solution treatment, and substances (particles) generated by the chemical solution treatment can be more smoothly flown out of the outer member through the drainage tank together with the pure water. As a result, the adverse effect on the substrate surface can be further suppressed, the contact of the substrate surface with the atmosphere can be further prevented, the growth of a natural oxide film can be further suppressed, and the further uniformity of the substrate surface can be maintained. can do.

According to the third aspect, in addition to the effects of the first or second aspect, in addition to the effects of the first or second aspect, the substrate holding portion may hold the substrate in the horizontal direction while holding the substrate in a lower position and an upper position outside the processing solution. Therefore, the substrate can be immersed in the processing liquid at a lower position to perform predetermined processing, and the substrate can be easily delivered and received at an upper position.

Further, according to claim 4, claims 1 to 3 are provided.
In addition to the effect of the above, the substrate is supported at an inclination so that the processing liquid supply side is lowered, so that when the substrate in the horizontal direction is immersed in or removed from the processing liquid, the substrate is bent. In addition to reducing the amount of liquid remaining and reducing the amount of liquid remaining, the supplied processing liquid can flow over the entire surface of the substrate without difficulty. The dependence on the position in the tank can be more reliably eliminated.

[Brief description of the drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of a main part in a wafer supply / discharge state in the substrate processing apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of a main part of the substrate processing apparatus of FIG. 1 in a state in which a wafer is bumped before rapid drainage.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view showing a configuration of a main part during drying under reduced pressure in the substrate processing apparatus of FIG. 1;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Substrate processing apparatus 2 Substrate processing tank 3 Wafer 4 Substrate holding member 5 Top cover 6 Transfer robot 7 Control means 21 Processing gas supply port 22, 42 Driving member 23 Tank member 24 Processing liquid supply port 25 Overflow drain port 26 Discharge port 41a, 41b Supporting member 61 Hand member 62 Arm member 71 to 77, 79 Valve member 78 Decompression pump 80 Control unit

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A substrate processing apparatus capable of processing a substrate surface while holding a substrate therein, comprising: an outer member capable of opening or closing the inside; a substrate holding portion capable of holding the substrate within the outer member; Control means for controlling supply and / or discharge of a processing liquid or / and processing gas into the outer member. 2. A substrate processing apparatus capable of processing a substrate surface while holding a substrate therein, comprising: an outer member capable of opening or sealing the inside; and a storage disposed in the outer member and capable of storing a processing liquid. A tank, a substrate holding unit capable of holding the substrate in the storage tank in a lateral direction, a drainage tank for receiving the processing liquid overflowing from the storage tank, a supply of the processing liquid into the storage tank, and the outer casing member A substrate processing apparatus comprising: a control unit configured to control supply of a processing gas into the inside, and drainage or exhaust from the storage tank and / or the drainage tank. 3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the substrate holding unit includes a support member for supporting the substrate in a horizontal or inclined posture, and a driving member for moving the support member to a vertical position inside and outside the processing liquid. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: 4. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the support member is configured to support the substrate by inclining the substrate so that the processing liquid supply side is lowered.