JPS60176236A - Resist processing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To form a resist pattern with high precision efficiently and rapidly by controlling the sensitivity to electromagnetic wave of resist or corpuscular irradiation without deteriorating the resolving power by a method wherein a resist film is baked and cooled at the same place by means of spraying process to cool its surface evenly. CONSTITUTION:A substrate to be processed 42 is coated with a resist film in the place other than a table 41 by means of e.g. a spin coating process. Firstly the resist film baked by a heater 43 at the specific temperature exceeding the glass transition point of resist for specific time. Secondly cooling regrigerant is sprayed while turning the substrate 42 with resist film to be processed using multiple nozzles 45 to cool the overall resist film evenly. At this time, the nozzles 45 spray the refrigerant with temperature and flow rate preliminarily and independently programmed. After the cooling process, the substrate 42 with resist film may be selectively irradiated by electromagnetic wave with specific wave length or corpuscular ray with energy specific to expose the resist film.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to a resist pattern forming technique, and more particularly to a resist processing apparatus for forming a highly accurate resist pattern by controlling the sensitivity of the resist.

[Technical background of the invention and its problems]

As the degree of integration of semiconductor devices, including ultra-L''S-'I, increases, finer and more precise pattern forming technology is required. In the case of a diameter wafer, the dimensional error with respect to the average dimension value of the pattern within the substrate surface is, for example, 3
It is required that ρ<Oyl[μTrL]. Furthermore, in a mass production line, speed of the pattern formation process is essential, and high sensitivity of the resist is desired.

However, because conventional resists have poor resolution, it is difficult to obtain the desired pattern dimensional accuracy.On the other hand, resists with high resolution have low sensitivity, which makes it difficult to achieve high throughput of pattern formation on mass production lines. There were problems such as not being able to measure compatibility.

FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing a resist pattern forming process according to the prior art. First, a resist is applied to a predetermined thickness on a substrate to be processed by a well-known spin coating method. Next, in order to remove the coating solvent and improve the adhesion between the resist and the substrate, the resist is baked (prebaked) using an oven or the like at a predetermined temperature <r-b'> depending on the resist. Thereafter, the resist film-coated substrate to be processed taken out from the oven is allowed to cool naturally on a support stand in the atmosphere to cool to room temperature over 20 to 30 minutes. The cooled resist film-coated substrate is exposed to electromagnetic waves in a predetermined wavelength range, such as ultraviolet light or particle beams with a predetermined energy, at a predetermined dose depending on the type of resist.
For example, the resist is exposed by selectively irradiating an electron beam.

Thereafter, a desired resist pattern is formed through a development and rinsing process.

By the way, when the present inventors investigated the temperature distribution of the entire film surface at a certain cut point with respect to the resist film on the substrate to be processed during the natural cooling described above using an infrared radiation thermometer, we found that
The results shown in FIG. 2 were obtained. In this case, the temperature Tb at the time of baking prior to natural cooling is ~160 [℃
It was 1. In FIG. 2, the temperature is high (cooling is slow) at the upper central part (point A) of the substrate 21 to be processed with a resist film, and it progresses downward (point 0) through the central area [(point B). As the temperature increases, the temperature becomes lower (cooling speed becomes faster). Note that each curve in the figure is an equicross line.

FIG. 3 shows the temperature change at points A, B, and C in FIG. 2 with respect to the temperature, and curves 31.32° and 33 are cooling characteristics corresponding to points A, B, and 0, respectively. point A and B
The maximum temperature difference between points was about 15 [°C], and the maximum temperature difference between point A and point 0 was about 30 [°C]. These temperature measurements were performed by bringing a thermocouple into contact with the portion to be measured on the resist film. The reason why such a temperature distribution (cold part velocity village) occurs is that the natural convection of the atmosphere due to heat dissipation occurs along the substrate surface because the naturally cooled medium wave processed substrate is placed on a support stand etc. This is thought to be due to the fact that the substrate tends to tilt upward, and that the lower part of the substrate is more likely to lose heat due to the support. In addition, the present inventors focused on the relationship between the temperature distribution during cooling of the resist film-coated substrate to be processed and the dimensional accuracy of the film-coated resist pattern after irradiation and development processing, and found that the temperature measurement points A and B in FIG.
, when we measured the dimensions of the pattern formed in area C, we found that the pattern, which should originally have the same dimensions of, for example, 2 [μtrt], had 0.1 [μ77L] at 8 points, and 0.2 [μm] at point C. It was confirmed that the temperature distribution during cooling of the substrate with a resist film and the size distribution of the formed resist pattern completely corresponded to each other through the sensitivity distribution of the resist.

Therefore, in order to obtain a highly sensitive resist pattern with uniform pattern dimensions, it has been found that uniform cooling that does not cause temperature distribution within the substrate surface after resist baking is essential.

On the other hand, the present inventors focused on the relationship between the resist cooling process after baking and resist sensitivity, and as a result of various experiments,
It has been found that when a resist film is baked at a temperature equal to or higher than the glass transition temperature of the resist and then rapidly cooled, the resist sensitivity is dramatically increased. It has also been found that the resist sensitivity can be controlled to an arbitrary value by performing resist baking at a temperature equal to or higher than the glass transition temperature and then cooling the resist by controlling the cooling time or cooling rate. In addition, the resolution of the resist pattern formed through these rapid cooling processes and the resist pattern formed through the controlled cooling process is slightly degraded compared to the original pattern resolution of the resist. It turns out there isn't. Also,
It has also been found that a resist pattern with high dimensional accuracy can be obtained by uniformly cooling the resist film over the entire substrate surface.

Furthermore, the present inventors have developed a method of beta-rotating a resist film at a predetermined temperature Tb for a predetermined period of time, first lowering the temperature of the resist film from Tb to an arbitrary intermediate cooling temperature Tm, and then performing arbitrary final cooling from Tm to, for example, room temperature or lower. It has been found that by rapidly cooling to the temperature TC (Tb≧Tm≧Tc), the sensitivity of the resist can be controlled with complete reproducibility as before.

Further, as a result of further intensive research by the present inventors, it has been found that the effects produced by the above-mentioned controlled beta/cooling process are the same even when the beta/cooling process is performed immediately before the exposure process of the resist film. It was confirmed that the same effect appeared even if it was applied later just before the developing process.

Although it has been found that the sensitivity of the resist film can be arbitrarily set to 1q by controlling the bake cooling of the resist film in this manner, an apparatus suitable for the above-mentioned resist processing has not yet been put into practical use. In particular, at present, there is no resist processing apparatus that can uniformly cool a resist film over the entire film surface and can arbitrarily vary the cooling rate and cooling time.

(Object of the Invention) The object of the present invention is to arbitrarily control the sensitivity of a resist to electromagnetic waves or particle beam irradiation without deteriorating resolution, and to form a highly accurate resist pattern efficiently and quickly. An object of the present invention is to provide a resist processing device.

[Summary of the invention]

The gist of the present invention is to bake and cool a resist film at the same location, and to cool the film uniformly by a spray method.

That is, the present invention provides a resist processing apparatus for baking and cooling a resist, which includes: a table on which a substrate to be processed coated with a resist sensitivity is placed; a heating mechanism for heating the substrate to a temperature higher than the glass transition temperature of the resist; A heat shielding mechanism that inhibits heating of the substrate by a heating mechanism, and a cooling mechanism that includes a plurality of nozzles and sprays a cooling refrigerant onto the substrate to cool the substrate are provided to uniformly cool the resist. The cooling rate can be controlled arbitrarily.

Furthermore, in addition to the above configuration, the present invention has a rotatable table structure and is provided with a resist dropping mechanism that drops liquid resist near the center of the substrate to be processed, so that resist coating as well as baking and cooling can be performed at the same location. This is what I did.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention, beta cooling of the resist film can be performed on the same table. Furthermore, since a plurality of nozzles for spraying a cooling refrigerant are used to cool the resist, the resist film can be cooled uniformly, and the cooling rate of the resist film can be arbitrarily controlled. Therefore, it is easy to perform the above-mentioned bake-cooling process, and for this reason, the sensitivity of the resist to 1 m wave or particle beam irradiation can be improved without deteriorating its resolution.
Can be set arbitrarily. Therefore, even a resist with low sensitivity can be made highly sensitive without deteriorating its resolution, and the time for irradiation treatment with electromagnetic waves or particle beams can be shortened. Moreover, since the resist film after baking is cooled uniformly over the entire film, it is possible to form a highly accurate resist pattern with little dimensional variation over the entire substrate to be processed. Furthermore, since bake cooling can be performed using the same device, there are advantages such as the simplification of the entire system. Additionally, by adding a resist dripping mechanism, resist coating, baking, and cooling can all be performed in the same place, which has the advantage of further simplifying the overall system. .

[Embodiments of the invention]

FIG. 4 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a resist processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 41 denotes a table on which a substrate to be processed 42 is placed, and this table 41 fixes the substrate to be processed 42 by a vacuum chuck or the like and is rotated by a motor or the like (not shown). A heater (heating mechanism) 43 is arranged around the table 41. This heater 43 heats the resist film-coated substrate 42 to the glass transition temperature T (predetermined temperature Tb of 1 or more) of the resist. Also, between the table 41 and the heater 43, there is a heat shielding plate ( A heat shielding mechanism) 44 is arranged.

This heat shielding plate 44 is configured to be movable in the vertical direction by a drive section (not shown). When baking the resist film-coated substrate 42, it is moved upward and the substrate 42 is moved upward.
2, the table 41 and heater 43 are connected as shown in the figure.
It is something that is interposed between.

On the other hand, a cooling refrigerant is applied to the table 41 above the table 41.
A plurality of nozzles (cooling i structure) 45 are provided for spraying onto the substrate 42 on the substrate 1 . These nozzles 45 are
For example, they are arranged on a straight line passing through the center of the table 41, and are arranged more densely at the periphery than at the center. The temperature and flow rate are controlled independently for each nozzle from these nozzles 45, and the cooling refrigerant is sprayed onto the substrate 42, thereby cooling the resist film-coated substrate 42. Door.

With this configuration, the resist film-coated substrate 4 is heated by the heater 43 while the heat shield plate 44 is moved upward.
2 at a predetermined temperature T higher than the glass transition temperature Tg of the resist.
It can be heated up to b. After that, the heat shield plate 44 is moved between the heater 43 and the table 41, and the nozzle 45
By spraying the cooling refrigerant onto the substrate 42 on the table 41, the substrate 42 can be rapidly and uniformly cooled from the temperature Tb to the final cooling temperature TC. Therefore, the entire cooling process of the resist-coated substrate to be processed 42 can be effectively performed.

In order to achieve uniform cooling, it is important to set the number of nozzles and the opening area appropriately, and it is important to be able to independently control the temperature and flow rate of the refrigerant flowing through each nozzle. is important.

Furthermore, the nozzle may be arranged at any position around the substrate 42 as long as uniform cooling of the substrate 42 is possible. Furthermore, clean nitrogen gas or the like may be used as the cooling refrigerant.

FIGS. 5(a) to 5(d) are flowcharts, each not showing a resist pattern forming process using the apparatus of the above embodiment. In the case of FIG. 5(a), a resist film is first applied onto the substrate 42 to be processed.

This resist application is performed at a location different from the table 41,
For example, the spin code method is used. Next, the heater 43
Baking the resist film at a predetermined temperature Tb higher than the glass transition temperature l+ of the resist for a predetermined time (prebaking)
do. Next, while rotating the resist film-coated substrate 42 to be processed, a cooling refrigerant is sprayed onto the surface of the substrate using a plurality of nozzles 45 to uniformly cool the entire resist film.

In this case, in order to perform cooling with uniform temperature distribution while controlling the cooling time or cooling rate, the plurality of nozzles 45 spray refrigerant at a temperature and flow rate that are independently programmed in advance. After this cooling, the substrate with the resist film is selectively irradiated with electromagnetic waves of a predetermined wavelength or particle beams of a predetermined energy to expose the resist film.

Thereafter, a desired resist pattern is formed by performing development and rinsing processing.

FIG. 5(b) shows a method in which an intermediate cooling temperature Tm is provided.

That is, the process up to the resist leveling process is the same as that shown in FIG.
cooling. Next, the second cooling is performed from the intermediate temperature T Ill to the final cooling temperature Tc using the nozzle 4 in the same manner as before.
This is done by the spray method using 5. The rest is the same as the previous example.

The examples shown in FIGS. 5(c) and 5(d) are respectively shown in FIGS.
)) is an improvement in that the resist is baked and cooled after exposure. That is, the example shown in FIG. 5(C) is the same as the conventional method up to the exposure step, and a baking and cooling step as shown in FIG. 5(a) is performed after exposure and before development processing. Furthermore, the example shown in FIG. 5(d) is the same as the conventional method up to the exposure step, but after the exposure, a baking and cooling step as shown in FIG. 5(b) is performed.

In each of the above steps, the resist film is applied at a location different from the table 41, but by newly providing a resist dropping mechanism 61 as shown in FIG. 6, each step of resist application, baking, and cooling can be performed. It is possible to do it in the same place. Here, the resist dropping mechanism 61 moves the resist injection section 63 onto the table 41 by rotating the conduit section 62. When applying the resist, the resist is coated by dropping liquid resist onto the center of the substrate 42 on the table 41 while rotating the table 41. In this case, the steps of resist application, baking, and cooling can be performed at the same location, and the entire system can be simplified.

Next, FIGS. 5(a)-(
The actual resist pattern forming process corresponding to step d) will be explained.

<Experimental Example 1> In this example, poly(2,2,2-1-lifluoroethyl-
The resist pattern forming process corresponding to the process in FIG. Apply on the substrate.

The coating film thickness may be, for example, about 0.3 to 1 [μ771], but here it was set to 0°8 cm]. Although there are various types of substrates to be processed, such as semiconductor wafers and glass substrates, a glass substrate with a metal film was used here. Next, using the resist processing apparatus described above, a baking and cooling process of Regime 1 was performed on the film. The dryness Tb is the glass transition temperature Tg of the resist.
(~110°C) was set at 190[°C]. After about 1 hour of beta, cooling to room temperature was performed by changing the cooling time (cooling rate). The cooling time from temperature Tb to room temperature is, for example, ■30 minutes, ■5 minutes, ■1 minute, ■10 seconds, 0
The cold m91!1 system was operated so that the time was 5 seconds. FIG. 7 shows changes in substrate temperature during these cooling treatments. As a result of investigating the electron beam sensitivity characteristics of the resist samples that underwent these beta cooling processes, the 8th
A sensitivity curve as shown in the figure was obtained. The sensitivity characteristics shown in FIG. 8 are as follows: After the baking and cooling process described above, the resist coating was irradiated with an electron beam at an acceleration voltage of 20 [Ke'V] at 0 A (l, methyl isobutylene (MIBK) at room temperature): These were obtained by developing with isopropyl alcohol (IPA) = 7:3 developer for 10 minutes and then rinsing with IPA for 30 seconds, corresponding to each cooling process shown in Figure 7. The resist sensitivity (electron beam irradiation amount at which residual III-temperature is zero) is ■4X 10-6 [c/ci], ■2
X10-”[C/cIAL, @9x 10-T[
C/crl], @5x10-7[C/cffl]
, ■3X 10-7[c,/cnfJ. on the other hand,
A substrate to be processed with a resist film (a 6-inch glass substrate with a metal film) that has gone through the same baking and cooling process as in these ■, ■, ■, ■, and ■ is then exposed using an electron beam lithography system with an acceleration voltage of 20 [KeV]. Selective pattern exposure is performed at the sensitivity (dose) corresponding to each, and MIBK/
1PA (=7/3) development and IPA rinsing treatment were performed to form a resist pattern. The resist patterns obtained through any of the processes (1) to (2) had good resolution. In addition, with the dimensional accuracy of the resist pattern in the range of, for example, line width 0.5 to 2.0 Lμm, the dimensional variation error 3ρ<0 within the substrate surface.
．． 1 [μm].

<Experiment example 2> This example is a method corresponding to FIG. 5(b).

The resist material, coating film thickness, and substrate to be processed are the same as in Experimental Example 1, and the resist coating process is also the same. Next, the resist film is baked using the resist processing device.
Cooling treatment was performed. The baking temperature Tb was set at 180 [° C.] exceeding the resist's glass transition temperature Tl1l. After baking for about 40 minutes, the temperature of the film-coated substrate was uniformly lowered to an arbitrary intermediate temperature Tm (Tm < Tb ) in Rinse 1.

Next, the substrate to be processed is cooled from the intermediate humidity Tm to the final cooling temperature T.
It was rapidly and uniformly cooled down to c by refrigerant spray.

Here, intermediate cooling fJI temperature (rapid cooling start temperature) TII
l is 18, sandwiching the glass transition temperature To of the resist film.
The temperature was varied by 10['C] in the range of 0 to 40[C].

In addition, the final cooling fiI] temperature Tc is the air temperature (25”C)
I chose. FIG. 9 shows a temperature change Tb −+Tm during cooling of the resist film-coated substrate when the intermediate cooling fJI temperature, that is, the rapid cooling start temperature Tm is, for example, 150 ['C].
-+Tc, and A shown in FIG. 2 above on the resist surface on the substrate to be processed.

These are the results of measuring temperature changes in three regions substantially equivalent to regions B and C. The characteristics corresponding to the temperature changes in each of the above regions A, B, and 'C are curves 91.92°93, respectively, and compared to the cooling characteristics of the conventional method shown in Figure 3, the overall characteristics are (Tb→
It is clearly seen that uniform cooling is achieved, especially in the Tm-)TO cooling region. Such a uniform (Tb −)TIIl −+Tc
) and rapid cooling (Tlll −+TO) was similarly observed for other arbitrary Tl1l. Note that the cooling time from Tm to ``lc'' of each substrate to be processed was 10 seconds or less in all cases in this example.・Cooling process (Tb=180°C-) Tm ->To
As a result of examining the sensitivity to electron beams (the amount of electron beam irradiation when the remaining thickness of the resist film becomes zero under the specified development conditions) for each resist sample after the resist sample was heated at 25°C, the results are shown in Figure 10 (a). The following characteristics were obtained.

The characteristics shown in FIG. 10(a) are as follows. After irradiating the film with an electron beam of 20 [KeV] to the rinse 1 that has gone through each of the above baking and cooling processes, methyl isobutyl ketone (MIBK
): Obtained by developing with isopropyl alcohol (IPA)-7:3 developer for 10 minutes and then rinsing with IPA solution for 30 seconds. Figure 10 (a
), in the resist cooling process from Tl1-ITIII to TC, the intermediate cooling temperature, that is, the rapid cooling start) temperature Tm, is equal to the glass transition temperature To (~133
A wide range of changes in resist sensitivity appears in the temperature range approximately equal to (°C). High resist sensitivity is obtained in the Tb≧Tl1l>TIJ region, and as Tln approaches Tb, the sensitivity increases, and the maximum resist sensitivity is ~1.2×10−
B [C/cd is obtained. 7g >Tm >Tc
(=25° C.), as the rapid cooling start temperature Tm decreases, the resist sensitivity decreases and approaches the sensitivity of conventional natural cooling ~8×10'[C/'d].

On the other hand, 20 [KeV] was applied to the entire surface of the substrate to be processed with the resist film (a 6-inch glass substrate with a metal film), which had been subjected to a baking and cooling process similar to the process described above, except for the peripheral part.
Selective pattern irradiation is performed using an electron beam lithography device at a dose corresponding to each of the above sensitivities, and a resist pattern is formed by performing MIBK/IPA (=7/3) development at air temperature and IPA rinsing process. did. All of these resist patterns had good resolution. Also, for example, the line width is 0.5 to 2. As a result of measuring and evaluating the dimensional accuracy of resist patterns in the range of [OF μ bottom], all resist patterns in each case were highly accurate and fully satisfied the in-plane dimensional variation error 3ρ < 0.1 [μm]. Met.

<Example 3> In this example, polymethyl methacrylate is used as a resist, and a resist pattern forming process corresponding to the process shown in FIG. 5(C) will be described. As in Experimental Example 1, a glass substrate with a metal film was used as the substrate to be processed, and the resist film was first coated onto the substrate to a thickness of 0°8 [IITrL]. Next, the resist film was prebaked and allowed to cool naturally. The prebake temperature was 160 ['C] and the prebake time was 30 minutes. Regarding the temperature distribution over the entire resist film during natural cooling, intentional uniform cooling was not performed. Next, an accelerating voltage of 20% is applied to the resist sensitivity.
The resist film is exposed to a [KeV] electron beam.

Thereafter, the resist film was baked before development and controlled uniformly cooled using the resist processing apparatus. The baking temperature Tb during the pre-development beta was set at 180[° C.], which is higher than the glass transition temperature g~110['C] of this resist. The pre-development baking temperature time does not need to be long and was set to 10 minutes here. After the pre-development bake, the cooling time to room temperature is 30 by uniformly controlled cooling of the device.
I changed it to minutes, ■5 minutes, ■1 minute, ■10 seconds, and ■5 seconds. MIBK development for 13 minutes at room temperature on these Rinse I samples.
As a result of performing IPA rinsing for 30 seconds and examining the corresponding sensitivity, ■9X10-B [c/cM], ■
6. '5X10-6 [C/cIIl Ko, ■5x
1 0-' [C/ 7], ■3, 5 ×10
-6 [c'/CIA], ■2.5X10-6 Cc/
crA].

On the other hand, a substrate with a resist film (a 6-inch glass substrate with a metal film) coated with the above resist film to a thickness of ~0.8 [μm] was prebaked and allowed to cool naturally in the same manner as above. 20[
[KeV] Using an electron beam lithography system, pattern exposure was performed selectively at the irradiation concavities corresponding to the sensitivities of each of the above items (1) to (2). After that, in order to obtain each of the above-mentioned sensitivities, a corresponding pre-development bake (Tb=180°C) is carried out.
MIB is then uniformly spray cooled and brought to room temperature.
A resist pattern was formed by performing K development and IPA rinsing. The resist patterns obtained through any of the processes (1) to (O) had good resolution. In addition, as in Experimental Example 1, we evaluated the dimensional accuracy of resist patterns in the line width range of 0.5 to 2°0 [μm], and found that all resist patterns had high accuracy and no dimensional variation error within the substrate surface. 3ρ<0.1[
μTrL].

<Experiment example 4> This example is a method corresponding to FIG. 5(d).

The resist material, coating film thickness, and substrate to be processed are the same as those in Experimental Example 3, and the process up to the exposure process of the resist film is the same. Next, the resist film was baked and cooled using the resist processing apparatus.

The baking temperature Tb was set at 170[° C.], which exceeds the glass transition temperature TO of linst. The baking time was 10 minutes. After this pre-development baking, the baking temperature Tb=170[℃
] to set the temperature of the resist film coated substrate to an arbitrary intermediate temperature Tm
(Tm <Tb>). Next, the substrate to be processed was rapidly and uniformly cooled from the intermediate temperature Tffl to the final cooling temperature Tc by a refrigerant spray.

Here, the intermediate cooling temperature (rapid cooling start temperature) TDI is the glass transition temperature T (+) of the resist film, from 170 to
The temperature was changed in steps of 10 [°C] within a range of 40 [°C]. Also,
Room temperature (25°C) was chosen as the final cooling temperature Tc. The cooling time from each Tm to Tc was ~10 seconds or less in this example as well. MIBK development for 13 minutes at room temperature was applied to the resist film that had undergone the various cooling processes described above.
A 0-minute IPA bath treatment process was performed to examine the sensitivity characteristics of each sample. 10(b) is the intermediate cooling temperature,
That is, it shows the change in resist sensitivity with respect to the rapid cooling start temperature Tm. In this example as well, the rapid cooling temperature Tll+ is the resist glass transition temperature Tg (~11
A wide range of changes appear in resist sensitivity in a temperature range approximately equal to 0° C.). Tl)≧Tl1l>T(] in the region
The higher m is, the higher the resist sensitivity becomes, ~2×10−
It reaches a sensitivity of 6 [C/cIIi]. TQ > T1
In the 1+ > TO (=25℃) region, the lower the Tm, the lower the instantaneous impression, and the sensitivity in the case of conventional natural cooling is ~
It approaches lXl0' [c/d].

On the other hand, a substrate to be processed with a resist film coated with the above-mentioned resist to a thickness of ~0.8 [μTrL] (a metal film-coated thin glass substrate) was prepared, and the same pre-beta as above, natural cooling, and exposure ( The amount of electron beam irradiation corresponds to each of the above-mentioned electron beam sensitivities), pre-development baking, Tb-+Tm-ITC cooling process (cooling process corresponding to each of the above-mentioned sensitivities), development, rinsing, etc. A resist pattern was formed. As a result, the resolution of the resist pattern was good over all the substrates. Also, for example, the line width is 0.5 to 2. As a result of measuring and evaluating the dimensional accuracy of resist patterns in the range of ○ [μm], all resist patterns in each case were highly accurate, with a dimensional variation error of 3ρ within the substrate plane.
<0.1 [μ7111 was sufficiently satisfied.

As described above, by using the apparatus of this embodiment, it is possible to effectively uniformly cool the resist sensitivity and control the cooling rate, and it is possible to form a highly accurate resist pattern with extremely small dimensional errors in the substrate plane. became possible.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above. For example, as a mechanism for heating the substrate to be processed,
The device is not limited to a heater, and may be one that blows hot air onto the substrate to be processed. Further, conditions such as the number of nozzles of the cooling mechanism, the opening area, the arrangement position, and the temperature and flow rate of the refrigerant flowing through the nozzles may be appropriately determined according to the specifications. Further, as the cooling refrigerant, any gas may be used as long as it does not alter the quality of the resist film, and in addition to gas, it is also possible to use liquid materials such as water, Freon, and higher alcohols. However, it is desirable that the rapid cooling refrigerant has a large heat capacity. Further, the material of the table is not particularly limited, but it is desirable that the material has a small heat capacity so that the resist film-coated substrate to be processed can be rapidly cooled. Generally speaking, it is desirable that the contact area between the substrate to be processed and the table be as small as possible. In addition, within the scope of not departing from the gist of the present invention,
Various modifications can be made.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figure 1 is a flowchart schematically showing a conventional resist pattern forming process, Figure 2 is a schematic diagram showing isothermal curves of temperature changes at various points on the substrate after resist baking in the conventional process; FIG. 3 is a characteristic diagram showing the state of temperature change as a time vs. temperature curve, FIG. 4 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a rinsing treatment apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS.
(d) is a flowchart schematically showing the resist pattern forming process using the above embodiment apparatus, FIG. 6 is a schematic configuration diagram showing another embodiment apparatus, and FIGS. 7 to 10 are respectively Figure 7 is a characteristic diagram showing the resist cooling rate, Figure 8 is a characteristic diagram showing the relationship between irradiation amount and remaining film thickness, and Figure 9 is a characteristic diagram showing the relationship between the resist cooling rate and the remaining film thickness. Characteristic diagrams showing the cooling rate, and FIGS. 10(a) and 10(b) are characteristic diagrams relating to resist sensitivity. 41...Table, 42...Substrate to be processed, 43...
・Heater (heating mechanism), 44... Heat shielding plate (heat shielding mechanism), 45... Nozzle (cooling mtf4), 61.
...Resist dropping mechanism, 62...Introduction tube, 63...
Resist injection part. Applicant's representative Patent attorney Takehiko Suzue Figure 1 Shouting F, Fl [Poor] □ Figure 4 Figure 6 Figure 2 Figure 5 (a) (b) 1-H 21m (c) (d) Nini ni niko ■■ 2 ==ko Figure 7 Figure 8 Figure 9

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] (1) A table on which a substrate to be processed coated with a resist is placed, a heating mechanism that heats the substrate to a temperature equal to or higher than the glass transition temperature of the resist, and heating of the substrate by the heating mechanism. 1. A resist processing apparatus comprising: a heat shielding mechanism for inhibiting the cooling; and a cooling device comprising a plurality of nozzles for spraying a cooling refrigerant onto the substrate to cool the substrate. (2) The resist processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the table is configured to be rotatable and is rotated during heating by the heating mechanism and during cooling by the cooling mechanism. 3) The resist processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the heating mechanism is made of an electric resistance heating element and is arranged outside the outer periphery of the table and spaced apart from the table. (4) The heat shielding mechanism is comprised of a movably provided heat shielding plate, and is interposed between the table and the heating mechanism during cooling by the cooling mechanism. The resist processing apparatus according to Item 1. (5) The cooling mechanism cools the substrate by independently controlling the temperature and flow rate of the coolant blown out from the nozzles for each nozzle. The resist processing apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that: (6) a rotary table on which a substrate to be processed is placed, and a liquid resist dripping onto the substrate near the center of the table; A resist dropping mechanism for spin-coding the resist, a heating mechanism for heating the substrate to a temperature higher than the glass transition temperature of the resist, a heat shielding mechanism for inhibiting heating of the substrate by the heating mechanism, and a plurality of nozzles. A resist processing apparatus characterized by comprising a cooling mechanism for spraying a cooling refrigerant onto a substrate and cooling the substrate. (7) The heating III structure is composed of an electric resistance heating element, Claim 6, characterized in that the device is arranged outside the outer periphery of the table and separated from the table.
The resist processing apparatus described in . (8) The heat shielding mechanism is comprised of a movably provided heat shielding plate, and is interposed between the table and the heating mechanism during cooling by the cooling mechanism. The resist processing apparatus according to scope 6. (9) Claim 6, wherein the cooling mechanism cools the substrate by independently controlling the temperature and flow rate of the coolant blown out from the nozzles for each nozzle. The resist processing device described.