JPH11330031A - Substrate processor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To perform uniform processing to a substrate. SOLUTION: A wafer W is held by holding a peripheral edge part between interposed supporting members 4 and 6 provided at the respective peripheral edge parts of a shield plate 40 and a base plate 60. Respective discharging ports 48a and 68a of cleaning liquid nozzles 48 and 68 face the upper and lower surfaces of the wafer W from openings 47 and 67 at the centers of the shield plates 40 and 60. The shield plates 40 and 60 are integrally rotated by getting rotational force from motors MU and ML, and in such a state, that cleaning liquid is supplied from the cleaning liquid nozzles 48 and 69 onto the upper and lower surfaces of the wafer W. Therefore, wince intervals between the upper and lower surfaces of the wafer W and the shield plate and base plate 40 and 60 can be surely regulated to a constant level, and uniform processing can be applied to plural wafers.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a flat panel display (FP) such as a semiconductor substrate and a substrate for a liquid crystal display.
The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus for processing a substrate by supplying a predetermined processing liquid to the surface of the substrate while rotating a substrate such as a substrate for D) or a glass substrate for a photomask.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a semiconductor device manufacturing process, the front and back surfaces of a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter simply referred to as "wafer") are cleaned as necessary. An example of a single wafer type substrate cleaning apparatus for cleaning wafers one by one is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-330904. The substrate cleaning apparatus disclosed in this publication includes a disk-shaped base member, a hollow rotary shaft that horizontally supports the base member, and a cleaning liquid that is disposed in the rotary shaft and that is upward from the center of the base member. , A disk-shaped shielding member arranged above the base member so as to be rotatable and vertically movable, and an upper nozzle for discharging the cleaning liquid downward from the center of the shielding member. On the upper surface of the base member, a holding member 5 for holding the wafer at the peripheral end surface is arranged.

[0003] In cleaning the wafer, the rotating shaft is rotated while the wafer is held by the holding member of the base member. Further, the shielding member is lowered to a position close to the upper surface of the wafer, and is rotated at the same speed as the base member. Then, the cleaning liquid is discharged from the upper nozzle and the lower nozzle toward the center of the upper and lower surfaces of the wafer. For example, in the initial period of the start of cleaning, a chemical such as hydrofluoric acid or aqueous ammonia is discharged as a cleaning liquid, and thereafter, pure water for cleaning off the chemical attached to the wafer is discharged as the cleaning liquid. The cleaning liquid supplied to each center of the upper and lower surfaces of the wafer is
The centrifugal force accompanying the rotation of the wafer guides the wafer to the peripheral edge thereof, thereby achieving uniform cleaning of the upper and lower surfaces of the wafer.

When the cleaning of the wafer with the cleaning liquid is completed, the discharge of the cleaning liquid from the upper and lower nozzles is stopped while the rotation of the base member and the shielding member is continued, and an inert gas such as nitrogen gas is supplied to the wafer. It is supplied to the upper surface side. As a result, shaking-off drying using centrifugal force is performed while preventing an oxide film or the like from being formed on the surface of the wafer.

According to this configuration, since the wafer is cleaned and dried in a limited space between the base member and the shielding member, it is possible to suppress the attachment of contaminants to the wafer. Also, when high temperature chemicals should be supplied to the wafer,
Since the distance between the upper and lower nozzles and the wafer is short, a chemical solution at a desired temperature can be supplied to the wafer, and a good cleaning effect can be obtained. Further, at the time of the drying process, the air around the wafer can be replaced with the inert gas to some extent efficiently, and the growth of an undesired oxide film can be suppressed.

[0006]

However, in the above-mentioned prior art, the distance between the base member and the shielding member is determined only by the raising / lowering control of the shielding member. Cannot be held. For this reason, the distance between the base member and the shielding member differs for each wafer, and there is a problem that uniform processing cannot be performed on a plurality of wafers.

If the wafer and the shielding member collide with each other during rotation, the wafer may be damaged. Therefore, it is necessary to arrange the shielding member at a sufficient distance from the wafer. As a result, the space above the wafer cannot be sufficiently restricted, and the effect of preventing contaminants from adhering may be insufficient, or the periphery of the wafer may not have a sufficient inert gas atmosphere. is there.

Further, in the above-mentioned prior art, the holding member provided on the base member must be driven between a state for holding the wafer and a released state in which the holding is released. is necessary. However, since the holding member rotates together with the base member, it is necessary to incorporate at least a part of the drive mechanism into the rotation shaft, which complicates the configuration around the rotation shaft.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to solve the above-mentioned technical problems and to provide a substrate processing apparatus capable of favorably processing a substrate.

[0010] A more specific object of the present invention is to provide a substrate processing apparatus capable of performing uniform processing on a substrate.

It is another specific object of the present invention to provide a substrate processing apparatus capable of performing high quality processing on a substrate by effectively limiting a space around the substrate. It is.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a substrate processing apparatus capable of holding and rotating a substrate with a simple configuration.

[0013]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a substrate processing apparatus for supplying a processing liquid to a surface of a substrate while rotating the substrate. A first substrate facing member having a first substrate facing surface larger than a size, and a second substrate facing member having a second substrate facing surface facing the first substrate facing surface and having a size larger than the size of the substrate A proximity position where the first substrate facing surface is close to the second substrate facing surface;
Moving means for moving the first substrate opposing member relatively to the second substrate opposing member between a substrate opposing surface and a separated position separated from the second substrate opposing surface; When the first substrate facing member is at the close position, the first substrate facing member is in contact with one main surface of the substrate to maintain a constant distance between the first substrate facing member and the one main surface of the substrate. A first intervening support member that is held in the second substrate facing member and abuts on the other main surface of the substrate when the first substrate facing member is at the close position, and
A second interposition support member for holding the substrate between the substrate opposing member and the other main surface of the substrate at a constant distance, and interposing the substrate between the first interposition support member and the first interposition support member; (2) a processing liquid supply means for supplying a processing liquid to the surface of the substrate sandwiched by the intervening support members, and a rotation driving means for integrally rotating the first substrate facing member and the second substrate facing member; A substrate processing apparatus characterized in that:

According to the above arrangement, the first interposed support member and the second interposed support member abut against the two main surfaces of the substrate, respectively, and sandwich the substrate. Each interval between the two substrate facing surfaces is reliably defined. Therefore, this interval is, when processing a plurality of substrates,
It is constant for all substrates. Therefore, processing for a plurality of substrates can be performed uniformly.

Further, since the distance between the first and second substrate facing surfaces and the substrate is reliably defined, it is easy to reduce this distance, and therefore, the distance between the first and second substrate facing surfaces is reduced. Space can be effectively restricted. Thus, high-quality processing can be performed on the substrate in the limited space. That is, for example, it is possible to prevent peripheral particles from adhering to the substrate.

Furthermore, by bringing the first substrate facing member and the second substrate facing member close to each other, the substrate is sandwiched between the first and second interposed support members, and the first and second substrate facing members are sandwiched.
Since the holding of the substrate can be released by separating the substrate facing members from each other, the configuration for holding and releasing the substrate is extremely simple. In addition, even if the first and second interposed support members are fixed to the first and second substrate facing members, respectively, there is no problem in holding and releasing the substrate. There is no need for a drive mechanism for driving the second opposing member. Therefore, the configuration related to the rotation driving means can be particularly simplified.

The first substrate facing member and the second substrate facing member may be both massive.
Preferably, one or both are plate-like members.

At the separated position, the distance between the first substrate facing surface and the second substrate facing surface is larger than when the first substrate facing member is at the close position.
It is preferable that this interval is a sufficient interval for loading / unloading the substrate between the first substrate facing surface and the second substrate facing surface.

Further, the first intervening support member and the second
It is preferable that one or both of the intervening support members is made of an elastic material.

Preferably, the first interposed support member is disposed on the first substrate opposing surface of the first substrate opposing member. Similarly, the second interposed support member is disposed on the first substrate opposing member of the second substrate opposing member. It is preferable to be provided on the two substrate facing surfaces.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the first interposed support member and the second interposed support member are configured to sandwich the peripheral portion of the substrate when the first substrate facing member is at the close position. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the substrate processing apparatus is provided on each of the first substrate facing member and the second substrate facing member.

According to the above configuration, even if particles are transferred from the first and second interposed support members to the substrate,
There is no risk of particles transferring to the central region of the substrate.

For example, when the first interposed support member and the second interposed support member sandwich the peripheral edge of the substrate from above and below, the intervening support member which is located at either lower side includes the substrate. A support portion for supporting the lower surface of the peripheral portion,
It is preferable that a guide surface facing the end surface of the substrate and guiding the substrate to the support portion is provided. Further, if the interposed support member located above any of the first interposed support member and the second interposed support member is provided with a tapered surface for guiding the substrate toward the center of rotation. More preferred.

It is preferable that a plurality of the first and second interposed support members are arranged at intervals on the peripheral portion of the substrate, whereby the processing liquid can be passed between the adjacent interposed support members. Can be drained outward.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the processing liquid supply means is disposed substantially at the center of the first substrate facing surface, and comprises a processing liquid nozzle for discharging the processing liquid toward one main surface of the substrate. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

According to the above arrangement, the processing liquid is supplied to substantially the center of the one main surface of the substrate. Therefore, the processing liquid supplied to the center is moved outward in the radial direction of rotation by the centrifugal force accompanying the rotation of the substrate. Spread toward. Thus, the one main surface of the substrate can be uniformly processed.

In addition, in the present invention, as described above, the first substrate facing surface can be arranged near the substrate, so that the discharge port of the processing liquid nozzle is arranged near the center of the substrate. It is possible to Therefore, the processing liquid does not bounce on the substrate surface, so that the processing of the substrate can be performed satisfactorily.Also, there is almost no temperature change of the processing liquid from the processing liquid nozzle to the main surface of the substrate. The substrate can be satisfactorily processed with the processing solution used.

The processing liquid supply means further includes a processing liquid nozzle disposed substantially at the center of the second substrate facing surface and discharging the processing liquid toward the other main surface of the substrate. You may.

The processing liquid nozzle may have a processing liquid passage through which the substrate facing member is inserted, and a discharge port which faces substantially the center of the surface of the substrate from an opening formed substantially at the center of the substrate facing surface. .

Further, the substrate processing apparatus of the present invention may be a substrate cleaning apparatus for supplying a cleaning liquid to a substrate to clean the substrate.

Further, in the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention, the first substrate-facing member and the second substrate-facing member are integrally rotated while the supply of the cleaning liquid is stopped, so that the liquid component on the surface of the substrate is removed. A substrate cleaning / drying device that shakes off and dry may be used. In this case, it is preferable that an inert gas supply unit that supplies an inert gas to the substrate held between the first and second interposed support members is provided.

[0032]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing the structure of a substrate processing apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention. This substrate processing apparatus is a single wafer type substrate cleaning / drying apparatus for cleaning and drying wafers W as substrates one by one.

This substrate processing apparatus includes a processing chamber 1 formed by a pair of an upper cup 10 and a lower cup 20 so as to be vertically splittable. The upper cup 10 includes a disc-shaped top wall 11 and a cylindrical side wall 12 hanging down from the entire periphery of the top wall 11 so that the top cup 10 can be moved up and down by a lifting mechanism 13 (moving means). It has become. Also,
The lower cup 20 has a disk-shaped bottom wall 21 and a cylindrical side wall 22 rising from the entire periphery of the bottom wall 21 and is fixed to a frame (not shown) of the apparatus. .

The lower end surface 12A of the side wall 12 of the upper cup 10
And the upper end surface 22A of the side wall 22 of the lower cup 20 are opposed to each other so that they can be in close contact with each other.
When A and the upper end surface 22A are in close contact with each other, the O-ring 30 interposed therebetween ensures the airtightness of the internal space of the processing chamber 1.

The elevating mechanism 13 raises the upper cup 10 to a retracted position higher than the illustrated position when the wafer W is taken in and out of the processing chamber 1 by a substrate transfer robot (not shown), and the processing on the wafer W is performed. In this case, the state in which the upper cup 10 is lowered to the illustrated processing position is maintained, and the airtightness of the internal space of the processing chamber 1 is ensured.

Near the center of the top wall 11 of the upper cup 10,
An opening 14 is formed, and the opening of the exhaust duct 31 is disposed in the opening 14. This exhaust duct 3
A support cylinder 32 is held between the first flange 31a and the inner peripheral surface 14a of the opening 14 via O-rings 33 and 34. The support cylinder 32 is fixed to the upper cup 10 by a fixing mechanism (not shown). Processing chamber 1
An exhaust passage (not shown) for guiding the internal atmosphere of the processing chamber 1 to the exhaust duct 31 is formed at an appropriate position of the support cylinder 32 facing the internal space of the processing cylinder 1.

A nitrogen gas duct 35 for introducing nitrogen gas as an inert gas through the exhaust duct 31 is provided. The lower end of the nitrogen gas duct 35 is guided further into the processing chamber 1 than the lower end of the exhaust duct 31. The lower end of the nitrogen gas duct 3
A skirt portion 36 having a diameter larger than 5 is provided. The skirt portion 36 is connected to the support tube 32, whereby the skirt portion 36 is fixed to the upper cup 10. An outward flange 36a is formed at the lower end of the outer peripheral surface of the skirt portion 36. Above the flange 36a, a bearing 37 is fitted to the outer peripheral surface of the skirt portion 36. The bearing 37 is also fitted into the inner peripheral surface of the rotary cylinder 38 and rotatably supports the rotary cylinder 38 with respect to the skirt portion 36.

On the lower end surface of the rotary cylinder 38, a disk-shaped shielding plate 40 (first substrate facing member) slightly larger than the wafer W is provided.
Are fixed by bolts 39. A gear member 41 is fixed to the outer peripheral surface of the rotary cylinder 38. A timing belt 42 is wound around the gear member 41. The timing belt 42 is connected to the motor MU.
And the rotation of the motor MU is transmitted to the rotary cylinder 38. The motor MU is mounted on the upper cup 10 using a suitable mounting mechanism (not shown). Note that 45 is
Reference numeral 46 denotes a seal member for keeping the inside of the processing chamber 1 airtight while allowing the rotation of the drive shaft 43.
This is a spacer for keeping the interval between the shield plate 7 and the shield plate 40.

An opening 47 is formed at the center of the shielding plate 40. In the opening 47, a discharge port 48a of a cleaning liquid nozzle 48 (processing liquid nozzle) through which the nitrogen gas duct 35 is inserted is arranged. A gap is provided between the discharge port 48a and the opening 47, and the gap is formed by a nitrogen gas nozzle 50 (nitrogen gas supply means) for discharging nitrogen gas introduced from the nitrogen gas duct 35 through the skirt portion 36. ). From the skirt part 36 to the rotating cylinder 38
In order to prevent nitrogen gas from leaking to the side,
A labyrinth packing 49 is provided between the lower end surface of the plate 6 and the upper surface of the shielding plate 40.

A disk-shaped base plate 60 (second substrate facing member) slightly larger than the wafer W is disposed so as to face the shielding plate 40 from below. This base plate 60
On the lower surface side, it is fixed to the rotating cylinder 58 by bolts 59. The rotary cylinder 58 is rotatably supported on the outer peripheral surface of the skirt portion 56 via a bearing 57 fitted on the inner peripheral surface. This skirt portion 56
It is provided at the upper end of a nitrogen gas duct 55 for introducing nitrogen gas, and has a larger diameter than this nitrogen gas duct 55.

The nitrogen gas duct 55 is provided through the exhaust duct 51 connected to exhaust equipment (not shown). The exhaust duct 51 is provided such that an inlet is disposed at an opening 24 formed at the center of the bottom wall 21 of the lower cup 20. A support cylinder 52 is sandwiched between the flange 51 a at the entrance of the exhaust duct 51 and the inner peripheral surface of the opening 24 with seal members 53 and 54 interposed therebetween. The support tube 52 is fixed to the lower cup 20 by a fixing mechanism (not shown) and is connected to the skirt portion 56. Thereby, the skirt portion 5
6 is fixed to the lower cup 20. Support tube 5
In position 2 facing the internal space of the processing chamber 1 in 2,
An exhaust passage for guiding the atmosphere in the processing chamber 1 to the exhaust duct 51 is formed.

A gear portion 61 is fixed to the outer peripheral surface of the rotary cylinder 58 rotatably supported by the skirt portion 56. The gear 61 has a timing belt 62.
The timing belt 62 further includes a pulley 6 fixed to a drive shaft 63 of the motor ML.
It is wound around 4. Therefore, when the motor ML is driven, the rotary cylinder 58 rotates, and accordingly, the base plate 60 rotates. In addition, 65 is the drive shaft 63
Is a sealing member for keeping the inside of the processing chamber 1 airtight while allowing the rotation of the bearing 57, and 66 is a spacer for keeping a space between the bearing 57 and the base plate 60.

A cleaning liquid nozzle 68 (processing liquid nozzle) for supplying a cleaning liquid to the wafer W is inserted into the nitrogen gas duct 55. The discharge port 68a at the upper end of the cleaning liquid nozzle 68 is provided with an opening 6 formed in the center of the base plate 60.
7, and faces the center of the lower surface of the wafer W. Opening 6
A gap is formed between the nozzle 7 and the discharge port 68a. This gap is used to supply the nitrogen gas guided from the nitrogen gas duct 55 through the internal space of the skirt portion 56 toward the center of the lower surface of the wafer W. The nitrogen gas nozzle 70 (nitrogen gas supply means) is formed. A labyrinth packing 69 for preventing nitrogen gas from leaking is provided between the upper end surface of the skirt 56 and the lower surface of the base plate 60.

As described above, the configuration relating to the base plate 60 and the configuration relating to the shielding plate 40 are substantially symmetric with respect to a horizontal plane including the wafer W held therebetween.

A drain / exhaust member 81 is arranged at a position radially outward of the shielding plate 40. Similarly, a drain / exhaust member 82 is located at a position radially outward of the base plate 60. Are supported by the upper cup 10 and the lower cup 20 via support members 83 and 84, respectively. The upper and lower drain / exhaust members 81 and 82 move toward and away from each other in accordance with the approach and separation of the upper and lower cups 10 and 20, and when they are in contact with each other, a drain / exhaust passage 85 is provided between them. Is formed. The upper drain / exhaust member 81 is formed to have a substantially quarter elliptical cross section that intersects the circumferential direction so that the drain / exhaust passage 85 has an inlet 81 a that opens toward the shielding plate 40. It has a passage portion 81b. On the other hand, the lower liquid discharging / discharging member 82 receives the liquid discharged from the inlet 81a and has a cross section that intersects the circumferential direction upward so that the gas introduced from the inlet 81a generates a spiral airflow. And a passage portion 82b which is formed in a substantially semicircular shape and is open to the outside. On the lower surface of the lower drain / exhaust member 82, a drain / exhaust duct 87 communicating with the passage portion 82b is attached.

The labyrinth packing 8 is provided between the inner peripheral surface of the upper drain / exhaust member 81 and the outer peripheral surface of the shielding plate 40.
8 are provided. Similarly, the lower drain / exhaust member 8
A labyrinth packing 89 is provided between the inner peripheral surface of the base 2 and the outer peripheral surface of the base plate 60. Thereby, the atmosphere from between the shielding plate 40 and the base plate 60 can be efficiently exhausted. Reference numeral 90 denotes a seal member for connecting the upper and lower drain / exhaust members 81 and 82 in an airtight manner.

In order to transfer the wafer W to and from the substrate transfer robot, the wafer elevating mechanism 10
0 is provided. The wafer lifting mechanism 100 includes a plurality of support pins 101 for supporting the wafer W from below,
Air cylinder 1 for raising and lowering this support pin 101
02.

The cleaning liquid nozzle 48 is supplied with an etching liquid from an etching liquid tank (not shown) via an etching liquid valve EV1 or a rinsing liquid from a rinsing liquid tank (not shown) via a rinsing liquid valve RV1 as a cleaning liquid. It is being supplied. Similarly, the cleaning liquid nozzle 68
In addition, the etching liquid valve E
The rinse liquid via the rinse liquid valve RV2 is supplied as a cleaning liquid from the etching liquid via the rinse liquid V2 or the rinse liquid tank. Further, nitrogen gas from a nitrogen gas supply source (not shown) is supplied to the nitrogen gas ducts 35 and 55 via nitrogen gas valves NV1 and NV2, respectively.

These valves EV1, EV2, RV1,
Opening / closing control of RV2, NV1, NV2 is performed by a control device 95 including a microcomputer and the like. The motors MU, ML, the lifting mechanism 13 and the air cylinder 102 are also controlled by the control device 95. In particular, driver circuits 91 and 92 for driving motors MU and ML include these motors MU.
And ML, a common control signal is provided from the control device 95 for synchronous rotation.

FIG. 2 is a bottom view of the shielding plate 40. The lower surface 40A of the shielding plate 40 is the first surface facing the upper surface of the wafer W.
A substrate facing surface is formed, and six intervening support members 4 (first intervening support members) are arranged at equal intervals along the circumferential direction at the peripheral edge. The interposition support member 4 is made of rubber or another elastic material, and has a flat surface substantially parallel to the wafer W on a surface facing the wafer W, as shown in an enlarged sectional view of FIG. 4a, and a tapered surface 4b that is inclined so as to move away from the upper surface of the wafer W toward the center of the wafer W.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the base plate 60. The upper surface 60A of the base plate 60 forms a second substrate-facing surface facing the lower surface of the wafer W, and its peripheral portion has six interposed support members 6 (second interposed support members) at equal intervals along the circumferential direction. Members) are arranged. That is, the interposition support member 6 is provided so as to correspond to the interposition support member 4 on the shielding plate 40 side. As shown in the enlarged sectional view of FIG. 4, the intervening support member 6 has a support surface 6a for supporting the peripheral portion of the lower surface of the wafer W, and a radially outer side of the base plate 60 than the support surface 6a. It has a guide rising surface 6b that rises at a closer position and is inclined so as to fall inward in the radial direction. This intervening support member 6 also
It is made of rubber and other elastic materials.

When the wafer W is transferred from the wafer lifting / lowering mechanism 100 to the base plate 60, the wafer W is supported by the guide rising surface 6b of the intervening supporting member 6.
It is guided to a and dropped. Thus, the wafer W
When the upper / lower mechanism 13 lowers the upper cup 10 after being positioned and held on the base plate 60, the shielding plate 40 is also lowered accordingly. When the upper cup 10 and the lower cup 20 are brought into close contact with each other, the tapered surface 4b of the interposition support member 4 on the shielding plate 40 comes into contact with the peripheral edge of the upper surface of the wafer W, and guides the wafer W toward the center of rotation. While elastically deforming. At this time, elastic deformation of the interposition support member 6 on the base plate 60 side also occurs at the same time. When the upper cup 10 is in close contact with the lower cup 20, the intervening supporting members 4 and 6 are elastically deformed, respectively, to clamp the peripheral portion of the wafer W. At this time, a certain distance D1 is secured between the lower surface 40a of the shielding plate 40 and the upper surface of the wafer W, and a certain distance D2 is similarly formed between the lower surface of the wafer W and the upper surface of the base plate 60. Secured.

The overall flow of the processing steps will be outlined below.

When loading an unprocessed wafer W into the processing chamber 1, the control device 95 controls the elevating mechanism 13 to raise the processing cup 10. Along with this, the shielding plate 40, the cleaning liquid nozzle 48 provided in connection with the shielding plate 40, the various ducts 31, 35, the drainage / exhaust member 81, and the like rise. In this way, the shielding plate 40 is guided to the separated position, and between the upper cup 10 and the lower cup 20,
Between the exhaust members 81 and 82 and between the shielding plate 40 and the base plate 6
Between 0 and 0, a carry-in path for the wafer W is secured.

The control device 95 further controls the air cylinder 1
02, the upper end of the support pin 101 is
Through a through hole (not shown) formed in the intermediate support member 6 (see FIG. 4),
The support pin 101 is raised.

When the upper end of the support pin 101 reaches the transfer height, the substrate holding hand of the substrate transfer robot enters the processing chamber 1 and places an unprocessed wafer W on the support pin 101. Evacuate outside.

Thereafter, the control device 95 controls the support pin 101
The support pin 101 is lowered until the upper end of the support pin reaches the retreat height below the lower surface of the base plate 60. In this process, as described above, the wafer W is dropped onto the support surface 6a by the guide rising surface 6b of the interposition support member 6.

Subsequently, the control device 95 controls the elevating mechanism 13 to lower the upper cup 10. As a result, the upper cup 10 comes into close contact with the lower cup 20, and the processing chamber 1
The inside of 0 becomes airtight. Further, at this time, the shielding plate 40 is guided to a close position close to the base plate 60, and the interposition support member 4 of the shielding plate 40 and the interposition support member 6 of the base plate 60
The peripheral portion of the wafer W is held at six locations. Further, the drain / exhaust members 81 and 82 are in close contact with each other to form a drain / exhaust passage 85.

Further, the control device 95 includes a driver 91,
A common drive control signal is supplied to the motor 92 to rotate the motors MU and ML synchronously. However, the motors MU, ML rotate in opposite directions. Thus, the upper and lower rotary cylinders 38, 5
8 is rotated in the same direction, and the shielding plate 40 and the base plate 60 fixed to the rotating cylinders 38 and 58 are integrally and synchronously rotated around a vertical axis passing through the respective centers. Therefore, the base plate 60 and the shielding plate 40
The wafer W sandwiched between them is rotated about a vertical axis substantially passing through the center thereof while being held horizontally.

Next, the control device 95 starts cleaning the wafer W with a chemical solution. That is, the etching liquid valve EV
1 and EV2, the cleaning liquid nozzle 48,
An etching liquid as a cleaning chemical is discharged from each of the discharge ports 48a, 68a. As a result, the etchant is supplied from a short distance toward the center of each of the upper surface and the lower surface of the wafer W. The supplied etching solution is supplied to the wafer W
As a result, the chemical solution cleaning can be performed on the entire upper and lower surfaces of the wafer W by the centrifugal force caused by the rotation of the wafer W. During this chemical cleaning period, the rinse liquid valves RV1 and RV2 are kept closed.

After the etching liquid has been supplied for a predetermined period of time, the control device 95 sets the etching liquid valve E
V1 and EV2 are closed to complete the chemical cleaning step, and the rinsing liquid valves RV1 and RV2 are opened. As a result, the rinsing liquid (pure water, ozone water, electrolytic ionic water, etc.) is supplied from the cleaning liquid nozzles 48 and 68 toward the center of the upper and lower surfaces of the wafer W. Thus, the rinsing step for washing away the etching liquid existing on the upper and lower surfaces of the wafer W after the chemical liquid cleaning step is performed.

After the rinsing liquid has been supplied for a predetermined period of time, the control device 95 sets the rinsing liquid valves RV1, RV
V2 is closed to end the rinsing step. After that, the control device 95 supplies a control signal for rotating the motors MU, ML at high speed to the drivers 91, 92. Thereby, the rotation of the wafer W is accelerated, and the liquid component on the surface is shaken off by the centrifugal force. Thus, a drying step is performed.
In the drying step, the control device 95 opens the nitrogen gas valves NV1 and NV2, and causes the nitrogen gas nozzles 50 and 70 to supply the nitrogen gas to the upper and lower surfaces of the wafer W. Thereby, the air in the limited small volume space between the shielding plate 40 and the base plate 60 is promptly replaced with nitrogen gas, so that an undesired oxide film is formed on the upper and lower surfaces of the wafer W after the cleaning process. Never grow.

After the end of the drying step, the control device 95
The rotation of the motors ML and MU is stopped, the upper cup 10 is raised by the lifting mechanism 13, and then the support pins 101 are raised by the air cylinder 102 to the transfer height. In this state, the substrate transfer robot receives the washed and dried wafer W from the support pins 101 and carries it out of the processing chamber 1.

At the beginning of the chemical cleaning step, the rinsing step and the drying step, the chemical or rinsing liquid flows to the outside of the wafer W along the upper and lower surfaces of the wafer W, and Through the wafer W to the outside of the wafer W. The ejected liquid is received in the drain / exhaust passage 85 and is drained out of the processing chamber 1 via the drain / exhaust duct 87. The mist generated when the liquid collides with the intervening support members 4 and 6 and the drain / exhaust members 81 and 82 is discharged by the drain / exhaust passage 85 and the drain / exhaust passage 85 by forced exhaust through the drain / exhaust duct 87. The gas is discharged through the exhaust duct 87 and is not guided to the space above and below the wafer W.

Further, the exhaust through the exhaust ducts 31 and 51 is constantly performed.
Particles caused by sliding in the gear 7 and the gear portions 41 and 61 are carried out of the processing chamber 1 and are shielded by the shielding plate 40.
It does not reach the surface of the wafer W between the wafer W and the base plate 60.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the periphery of the wafer W is sandwiched from above and below by the interposition support members 4 and 6 provided on the shielding plate 40 and the base plate 60, and in this state, the shielding plate 40 and the The base plate 60 is rotated. Therefore, the distances D1 and D2 (see FIG. 4) between the upper and lower surfaces of the wafer W and the shielding plate 40 and the base plate 60 can be reliably made constant for a plurality of processing target wafers. Therefore, uniform processing can be performed on a plurality of wafers.

The distances D1 and D2 between the upper and lower surfaces of the wafer W and the shield plate 40 and the base plate 60 are determined by the distance between the supporting members 4 and 4.
6, the shielding plate 40 and the base plate 60 do not collide with the wafer W. Therefore, it is easy to reduce the distances D1 and D2 between the shielding plate 40 and the base plate 60 and the upper and lower surfaces of the wafer W.
Therefore, by making the distances D1 and D2 sufficiently small, it is possible to prevent surrounding particles from adhering to the surface of the wafer W. Further, since the space around the wafer W can be effectively limited, the periphery of the wafer W can be promptly brought into a nitrogen gas atmosphere. Thereby, the cleaning process of the wafer W can be favorably performed.

Further, the discharge ports 48a, 68a of the cleaning liquid nozzles 48, 68 are connected to the wafer W through the central openings 47, 67 of the shielding plates 40, 60 which are extremely close to the upper and lower surfaces of the wafer W.
, The length of the cleaning liquid path from the discharge ports 48a and 68a to the upper and lower surfaces of the wafer W is extremely short.
Therefore, the cleaning liquid does not rebound on the surface of the wafer W. Further, the temperature of the cleaning liquid discharged from the discharge ports 48a and 68a hardly changes. This makes it possible to effectively execute the processing of the wafer W with the cleaning liquid whose temperature is controlled.

Furthermore, since the wafer W is supported by sandwiching the peripheral portion of the wafer W between the upper and lower intervening support members 4 and 6, for example, chuck pins (holding members) are erected on the base plate 60. As compared with the case where the end face of the wafer W is gripped by the chuck pins,
Since a complicated drive mechanism for operating the chuck pin that rotates together with the base plate 60 is not required, the configuration is extremely simple. Further, compared to the case where chuck pins are used, the number of members that cut off the wind is small, so that the turbulence of the airflow around the shielding plate 40 and the base plate 60 is small. This allows
Since the generation of mist and the winding of particles can be effectively prevented, the processing quality of the wafer W can be improved.

In order to hold the peripheral portion of the wafer W between the upper and lower interposed support members 4 and 6, the relative rotation position between the shielding member 40 and the base plate 60 must be adjusted.
Needs to be adjusted so that the positions of the two are aligned. However, since the shield plate 40 and the base plate 60 start rotating with the wafer W held therebetween, and stop rotating in that state, if the rotational positions of both are once aligned, then In principle, the state where the positions of the intervening support members 4 and 6 are aligned is maintained without readjustment in principle.

FIG. 5 is an illustrative sectional view for illustrating the configuration of the second embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 5, the same parts as those shown in FIGS. 1 to 4 are denoted by the same reference numerals. In this embodiment, a hemispherical interposition support member 6A protruding toward the lower surface of the wafer W is provided on the peripheral edge of the base plate 60, for example.
As shown in FIG. 6, six pieces are arranged on the upper surface 60A of the base plate 60 at equal intervals along the circumferential direction. Similarly, the shielding plate 40 is provided on its lower surface 40A at equal intervals along the circumferential direction.
A plurality of hemispherical intervening support members 4A are provided to protrude toward the upper surface of wafer W. Intervening support members 4A, 6A
Are made of an elastic material such as rubber. Also according to this configuration, the intervening support members 4A and 6A
Since the peripheral portion of the wafer W can be sandwiched from above and below, the same operation and effect as those of the first embodiment can be achieved.

However, the hemispherical intervening support members 4A, 6A
Does not have the function of aligning the wafer W, so the guide rising surface 6b and the tapered surface 4b (see FIG. 4)
Thus, the center of the wafer W can be aligned with the rotation centers of the base plate 60 and the shielding plate 40.
The embodiment is better.

FIG. 7 is an illustrative sectional view for explaining the structure of the third embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 7, the same parts as those shown in FIG. 5 or FIG. 6 are denoted by the same reference numerals. In this embodiment, a guide member 110 is provided on the periphery of the base plate 60,
For example, as shown in FIG.
In A, six are arranged at equal intervals along the circumferential direction. The guide member 110 includes a support portion 111 having a flat surface parallel to the upper surface of the base plate 60, and a guide portion 112 that stands up outside the support portion 11 on the rotation radial direction outside of the base plate 60. I have. The guide portion 112 has a guide surface 112a formed so as to be higher as going outward in the radial direction of rotation. And the support part 1
11 is a hemispherical interposed support member 6A made of an elastic material.
Is fixed upward.

On the other hand, on the periphery of the lower surface of the shielding plate 40, the holding member 120 is
For example, six pieces are arranged at equal intervals along the circumferential direction. A hemispherical interposition support member 4A made of an elastic material is fixed to the holding member 120 downward. A downward tapered surface 120a that becomes higher toward the radially outward side of the holding member 120 is formed on the radially outward side of the shielding plate 40 in the holding member 120. The inclination of the tapered surface 120a matches the inclination of the guide surface 112a on the guide member 110 side.

With this configuration, the wafer W is transferred to the base plate 60
When the wafer W is transferred, the wafer W can be guided to a predetermined position and dropped by the guide surface 112a of the guide member 110. When the shielding plate 40 is brought close to the base plate 60 and the peripheral edge of the wafer W is sandwiched by the intervening support members 4A and 6A, the guide portion 112 of the guide member 110 is accommodated in the space below the tapered surface 120a of the holding member 120. Therefore, there is no possibility that the guide portion 112 will interfere with the holding member 120.

According to this configuration, the same operation and effect as those in the first embodiment can be achieved.

FIG. 9 is an illustrative sectional view for explaining a configuration according to a modification related to the supply of the cleaning liquid and the nitrogen gas. In FIG. 9, parts that are the same as the parts shown in FIG. 1 are given the same reference numerals. In this modification, the nitrogen gas passage 131 and the cleaning liquid passage 1
The cleaning liquid and the nitrogen gas are supplied to the upper surface of the wafer W using the nozzle 130 formed in parallel with the cleaning liquid 32. That is, the nozzle 130 is provided with the nitrogen gas passage 131.
The discharge port 131a communicating with the cleaning liquid passage 132 and the discharge port 132a communicating with the cleaning liquid passage 132 are separately formed so that they face the center of the upper surface of the wafer W from the opening 47 at the center of the shielding plate 40. Has become. Thereby, the cleaning liquid (etching liquid or rinsing liquid) is supplied from the cleaning liquid passage 132.
Even if the nitrogen gas is discharged through the nitrogen gas passage 131 after supplying the cleaning liquid, there is no possibility that the cleaning liquid remaining near the discharge port 132a becomes a mist and adheres to the wafer W.

Also in the configuration shown in FIG. 1, the cleaning liquid and the nitrogen gas do not share the same path, so that the amount of mist generated during the supply of the nitrogen gas is small, but the cleaning liquid and the nitrogen gas do not share the same path. It can be said that the amount of mist generation is smaller in the case of the configuration in FIG.

On the other hand, also for supplying the cleaning liquid and the nitrogen gas to the lower surface of the wafer W, a nozzle 140 having a nitrogen gas passage 141 and a cleaning liquid passage 142 formed in parallel is used. However, the nozzle 140 is arranged such that a discharge port 145 shared by the nitrogen gas and the cleaning liquid faces the central opening 67 of the base plate 60.
A swirl chamber 150 having a mortar-shaped bottom surface 151 and a cylindrical wall surface 152 is formed below 45.

The upper end of the cleaning liquid passage 142 communicates with the center of the bottom surface 151 of the spiral chamber 150. And
An etching liquid can be supplied to the cleaning liquid passage 142 via an etching liquid valve EV2.
The rinsing liquid can be supplied via the rinsing liquid 2. The liquid in the cleaning liquid passage 142 is supplied to the drain valve D
The liquid can be drained through the V.

FIG. 10 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing the configuration near the spiral chamber 150, and FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line XI-XI of FIG. Nitrogen gas passage 141
Is bent in the horizontal direction near the side of the upper end surface 153 of the spiral chamber 150, and the nitrogen gas from the nitrogen gas passage 141 flows along the upper end surface 153 and the cylindrical wall surface 15.
Along the circumferential direction 2, the gas is introduced into the spiral chamber 150 from the nitrogen gas inlet 154. Spiral chamber 15
At 0, the discharge pipe 155 hangs from the periphery of the discharge port 145 to a position lower than the nitrogen gas inlet 154 by a predetermined distance.

When supplying the etching liquid or the rinsing liquid to the lower surface of the wafer W, the drain valve DV is closed.
Etching liquid valve EV2 or rinse liquid valve R
V2 is opened. As a result, the cleaning liquid rises through the cleaning liquid passage 142, and is discharged from the discharge port 145 toward the lower surface of the wafer W through the spiral chamber 150. At this time, since the nitrogen gas valve NV2 is closed, the liquid level of the cleaning liquid in the spiral chamber 150 rises,
The gas in the space above the lower end of the discharge pipe 155 is slightly compressed, but the level of the cleaning liquid does not rise to the level of the nitrogen gas inlet 154.

When the discharge of the cleaning liquid is stopped and the nitrogen gas is supplied to the lower surface of the wafer W, the etching liquid valve E
V2 and the rinsing liquid valve RV2 are both closed, and the drain valve DV is opened. When the nitrogen gas valve NV2 is opened in this state, the nitrogen gas passage 141 is opened.
The nitrogen gas is introduced from the nitrogen gas inlet 154 into the swirl chamber 150 through the passage. In the spiral chamber 150, the nitrogen gas forms a spiral airflow, and the cleaning liquid remaining on the cylindrical wall surface 152 and the mortar-shaped bottom surface 151 is transferred to the cleaning liquid passage 142.
It works to push into. Therefore, there is no possibility that the mist of the cleaning liquid is guided to the lower surface of the wafer W.

A part of the nitrogen gas introduced into the swirling chamber 150 enters the cleaning liquid passage 142. However, since the inside of the processing chamber 1 is exhausted by the exhaust ducts 31 and 51, most of the nitrogen gas is removed. , From the discharge pipe 155 to the discharge port 145 to replace the atmosphere in the space between the lower surface of the wafer W and the upper surface of the base plate 60.

As described above, several embodiments of the present invention have been described, but the present invention can be embodied in other forms. For example, in the above embodiment, the shielding plate 40
Motors MU and ML for rotationally driving the motor and the base plate 60.
However, when the wafer W is held between the interposition holding members 4 and 6, the shielding plate 40 and the base plate 60 can transmit torque to each other.
Therefore, one of the motors MU and ML may not be provided.

In each of the above embodiments, the case where the intervening support members 4, 4A, 6, 6A are made of an elastic material has been described. However, these intervening support members need not necessarily be made of an elastic material. However, in order to ensure the holding of the wafer W during rotation, it is preferable that the interposition support member is made of an elastic material.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the example in which the shielding plate 40 is driven to move up and down has been described. However, the shielding plate 40 may be fixed and the base plate 60 may be moved up and down. Both the base 40 and the base plate 60 may be configured to be able to move up and down. If at least one of them can be moved up and down, the wafer W can be held between the shielding plate 40 and the base plate 60, and this holding can be released.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, an apparatus for cleaning a wafer is taken as an example. However, the present invention can be applied to an apparatus for performing processing other than cleaning. The present invention is also applicable to an apparatus for processing other types of substrates such as a substrate.

In addition, various design changes can be made within the scope of the technical matters described in the claims.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a configuration of a substrate processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a bottom view of a shielding plate of the substrate processing apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a base plate of the substrate processing apparatus.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view showing a state in which a wafer is sandwiched by an interposition support member.

FIG. 5 is an illustrative sectional view for explaining a configuration of a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of a base member according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 7 is an illustrative sectional view for explaining the configuration of a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a plan view of a base member according to the third embodiment.

FIG. 9 is an illustrative cross-sectional view for explaining a configuration according to a modification related to the supply of the cleaning liquid and the nitrogen gas.

FIG. 10 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing a configuration near a spiral chamber in the modification.

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line XI-XI of FIG. 10;

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 4 intervening support member 6 intervening support member 13 elevating mechanism 40 shielding plate 60 base plate 38,58 rotating cylinder 42,62 timing belt 48,68 cleaning liquid nozzle 91,92 driver 95 control device MU, ML motor

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuing on the front page (72) Akira Izumi Inventor Akira Izumi, Yasu-cho, Yasu-gun, Shiga Prefecture 2426-1 Kuchinogawara Dainippon Screen Mfg. Co., Ltd. Yasu Office

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A substrate processing apparatus for supplying a processing liquid to a surface of a substrate while rotating the substrate, wherein the first substrate has a first substrate facing surface larger than the size of the substrate.
A substrate opposing member, a second substrate opposing member opposing the first substrate opposing surface and having a second substrate opposing surface having a size larger than the size of the substrate, and the first substrate opposing surface being the second substrate The first substrate opposing member is moved relative to the second substrate opposing member between a proximity position close to the opposing surface and a separated position where the first substrate opposing surface is separated from the second substrate opposing surface. Moving means for moving the first substrate-facing member to the first substrate-facing member, and when the first substrate-facing member is at the close position, abuts against one main surface of the substrate, and A first interposition support member that keeps a constant distance from the one main surface of the substrate; and a second interposition support member that is provided on the second substrate opposition member, wherein the first substrate opposition member is at the close position and the other of the substrates. Contacting the main surface of the second substrate facing member and the substrate A second interposition support member that holds the substrate between the first interposition support member and the first interposition support member while maintaining a constant distance from the other main surface; A processing liquid supply means for supplying a processing liquid to the surface of the substrate, and a rotation driving means for integrally rotating and driving the first substrate facing member and the second substrate facing member. apparatus. 2. The first interposed support member and the second interposed support member are configured to sandwich the peripheral portion of the substrate when the first substrate opposing member is at the close position. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the substrate processing apparatus is provided on each of the two substrate facing members. 3. The processing liquid supply means includes a processing liquid nozzle which is disposed substantially at the center of the first substrate facing surface and discharges the processing liquid toward one main surface of the substrate. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1.