JPS62115717A - Treater - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To increase the speed of treatment and improve precision thereof by forming a temperature gradient in a treating liquid interposed between a material to be treated and a temperature regulating means and generating a natural convection. CONSTITUTION:A plate 4 (a temperature regulating means) is mounted faced oppositely to the upper section of a wafer 2 fixed to a spin chuck 1 so as to be brought into contact with a developer 3 stored on the wafer 2. The plate 4 is moved to the upper section of the wafer 2 by a drive arm 5, brought into contact with the upper surface of the developer 3 stored on the wafer 2 and stopped where opposite to the wafer 2. A fluid at a temperature lower than the temperature of a member such as the wafer 2 is flowed through a cavity section 6 for the plate 4 at that time, and a natural convection is generated by a temperature gradient in the developer 3 being in simultaneously contact with the plate 4 and the wafer 2 having different temperatures, thus activating contacts between a photo-resist applied onto the surface of the wafer 2 and the developer 3.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field] The present invention relates to a processing technology, and particularly to a technology that is effective when applied to a development process performed in a wafer processing step in the manufacture of semiconductor devices.

[Background Art] For example, in the wafer processing process in the manufacture of semiconductor devices, photoresist is coated on the wafer surface by irradiating it with light that has passed through an original plate such as a photomask in which transparent parts are formed in a predetermined pattern. In some cases, a development process is performed in which the photoresist is exposed to light in a predetermined pattern, and then the exposed or unexposed areas of the photoresist are brought into contact with a developer to be dissolved and removed.

In this type of development process, for example, the wafer in the exposed area is fixed on a rotary table by vacuum suction, and the developing solution is stored on the stationary wafer for a predetermined period of time using surface tension. It is conceivable that the wafer is then rotated and the developer and the like are shaken off and removed by centrifugal force.

However, in the above development process, since the developer stored on the wafer is stationary, the dissolved photoresist remains at a high concentration on the part of the wafer surface that is in contact with the developer, and the photoresist on the wafer surface Disadvantages of Type H include the fact that the contact of the developer with the layer is not efficient, which increases the time required for development, and that photoresist scum remains in areas that should be removed, reducing development accuracy. The inventor has discovered that there is.

Note that the literature that describes the development processing of wafers in the manufacture of semiconductor devices includes the stock percentage formula %. It is about providing.

The above and other objects and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the description of this specification and the accompanying drawings.

[Summary of the Invention] A brief overview of typical inventions disclosed in this application is as follows.

That is, by providing a temperature adjustment means that faces the workpiece placed on the mounting table and is in contact with the processing liquid interposed between the workpiece and the workpiece, it is possible to eliminate the temperature adjustment means intervening between the workpiece and the temperature adjustment means. A temperature gradient is formed in the processing liquid to generate natural convection, which activates the contact between the processing object and the processing liquid, thereby improving processing speed and accuracy.

[Example 1] FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing the main parts of a processing device that is an example of the present invention.

A wafer 2 (workpiece) with a photoresist coated over its entire surface and exposed in a predetermined pattern is placed on a horizontally rotatable spin chuck 1 (mounting table) by, for example, vacuum suction. It is removably fixed.

A predetermined developer 3 (processing solution) is stored on the wafer 2 using surface tension, and the photoresist exposed in a predetermined pattern on the surface of the wafer 2 comes into contact with the developer 3. Accordingly, a development process is performed in which exposed or unexposed areas of the photoresist are dissolved and removed in a predetermined pattern.

In this case, a plate 4 (temperature adjustment means) is provided above the wafer 2 fixed to the spin chuck 1 so as to be in contact with the developer 3 stored above the wafer 2, and a drive arm 5 It is made movable by being connected to a predetermined moving mechanism (not shown) via a.

Further, a cavity 6 is formed inside the plate 4 along the surface facing the wafer 2, and a fluid at a predetermined temperature is passed through the fluid supply pipe 7, so that the plate 4 is heated to a predetermined temperature. It has a structure that maintains the temperature.

The operation of this embodiment will be explained below.

First, a wafer 2 is placed on a stationary spin chuck l.
is fixed, a developer 3 is supplied onto the wafer 2, and a predetermined amount of the developer 3 is applied to the wafer 2 due to surface tension, etc.
is stored over the entire surface.

Next, the plate 4 is moved above the wafer 2 by the drive arm 5 and stopped at a position facing the wafer 2 and in contact with the upper surface of the developer 3 stored above the wafer 2 .

In this case, a fluid having a temperature lower than that of the wafer 2 is passed through the cavity 6 of the plate 4, and the inside of the developer 3, which is in contact with the plate 4 and the wafer 2 at different temperatures at the same time, is caused by a temperature gradient. Natural convection occurs and wafer 2
The contact between the photoresist deposited on the surface of the photoresist and the developer 3 is activated.

For this reason, the photoresist etc. dissolved by the action of the developer 3 may stagnate at a high concentration in the contact area with the developer 3, reducing the speed of the development process, or This prevents slag from remaining in exposed areas or unexposed areas where the photoresist should be removed, speeds up the development process of the photoresist with the developer 3, and prevents slag from being deposited on the surface of the wafer 2. The photoresist is accurately removed in a predetermined pattern, and the accuracy of the development process is improved.

After a predetermined period of time has elapsed, the plate 4 is retracted from above the wafer 2, and the wafer 2 is rotated together with the spin chuck L for a predetermined period of time to remove the developer 3 stored on the surface of the wafer 2 and the developer generated by the development process. Photoresist scum and the like are removed by centrifugal force.

By repeating the above series of operations, the development processing of a plurality of wafers 2 is performed quickly and with high precision.

[Embodiment 2] FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing the main parts of a processing device that is another embodiment of the present invention.

In this embodiment, the spin chuck 1a (iJ2 mounting table) is energized from the electric current 'rA8, so that the wafer 2 is
Further, a power source 9 is connected to the plate 4a (temperature adjustment means), and the plate 4a is maintained at a predetermined temperature different from that of the wafer 2 by the so-called Peltier effect. This embodiment differs from the first embodiment in that it is configured as follows.

Therefore, the temperature gradient inside the developer 3 that contacts the wafer 2 and the plate 4a at different temperatures at the same time is maintained more stably, and as a result, the contact of the developer 3 with the wafer 2 due to natural convection is made more active. The developing process of the photoresist using the developer 3 is made faster, and the photoresist deposited on the surface of the wafer 2 is accurately removed in a predetermined pattern, thereby further improving the accuracy of the developing process.

[Effects] (1) Since the structure includes a temperature adjustment means that is provided opposite to the workpiece placed on the mounting table and is in contact with the processing liquid interposed between the workpiece and the workpiece, temperature adjustment is possible. By maintaining the means at a different temperature from the object to be treated, natural convection is generated due to the temperature gradient formed inside the processing liquid that contacts the object to be treated and the temperature adjustment means at different temperatures at the same time. As a result of the activated contact between the processing liquid and the object to be processed, the processing speed and accuracy of the object to be processed by the processing liquid are improved.

(2) As a result of (1) above, the contact of the developer with the photoresist deposited on the surface of the wafer is activated, and due to the action of the developer, the photoresist, etc. The photoresist remains at a high concentration in the contact area and slows down the development processing speed, or the photoresist residue dissolved by the developer remains in the exposed or unexposed areas where the photoresist 1- should be removed. This avoids this problem, speeds up the development process of the photoresist using the developer, and allows the photoresist deposited on the surface of the wafer to be accurately removed in a predetermined pattern, improving the accuracy of the development process.

(3) By providing the mounting table with a temperature control mechanism that brings the object to be processed to a predetermined temperature, the object to be processed can be stably maintained at a temperature different from that of the temperature adjustment means, and the processing liquid The processing speed and accuracy of the processed material are further improved.

(4) As a result of (1) to (3) above, the productivity of the wafer processing step in the manufacture of semiconductor devices is improved by one.

Although the invention made by the present inventor has been specifically explained above based on Examples, it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to the Examples and can be modified in various ways without departing from the gist thereof. Nor.

For example, it is also possible to carry out processing with the entire apparatus inverted.

[Field of Application] In the above explanation, the invention made by the present inventor was mainly applied to the application field of wafer processing technology, which is the background of the invention, but it is not limited to this, and It can be widely applied to techniques for forming patterns by optical etching.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing the main parts of a processing device that is an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing the main parts of a processing device that is another embodiment of the invention. 1. la... spin chuck (mounting table), 2... wafer (object to be processed), 3... developing solution (processing solution), 4.4
a... Plate (temperature adjustment means), 5.5a... Drive arm, 6... Cavity part, 7... Fluid supply/discharge pipe, 8...
...Power supply, 8a...Temperature control mechanism, 9...Power supply. Figure 1 Figure 2

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Provided opposite to the workpiece placed on the mounting table,
A processing apparatus characterized by having a temperature adjustment means that is in contact with a processing liquid interposed between the processing object and the processing object. 2. The processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the temperature adjusting means has a structure in which the temperature is maintained at a predetermined temperature by circulating a fluid at a predetermined temperature inside. 3. The processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the temperature adjusting means has a structure in which the temperature is maintained at a predetermined temperature by utilizing the Peltier effect. 4. The processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the mounting table is provided with a temperature control mechanism for bringing the object to be processed to a predetermined temperature. 5. The processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the object to be processed and the processing liquid are a wafer and a developer, respectively.