JPS6253591B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a surface treatment apparatus that performs processes such as development, etching, and cleaning, and particularly to a surface treatment apparatus that can perform processes evenly and with high precision while reducing the amount of processing liquid consumed. The present invention relates to a surface treatment device that can perform surface treatment.

Semiconductor manufacturing processes include various processes, such as development, etching, and cleaning, in which a processing solution is supplied and applied to the surface of a semiconductor substrate or a coating on the substrate. Therefore, development processing will be explained as a conventional example.

The conventional method for developing a film on a semiconductor wafer is to attach the wafer to a rotating chuck with the film surface facing upward, rotate it, and drop or spray a developer onto the rotating film surface from above. That's what I do. This resulted in the following drawbacks.

The developer is not applied uniformly to the entire surface of the coating, resulting in uneven development.

Scum generated by development tends to remain in the grooves formed by development, resulting in poor development accuracy.

Since the developer is sprayed in a shower, the amount of developer consumed is large.

The above are the drawbacks of development processing. In addition, when using a method that does not circulate the processing solution in etching processing (well etching) or cleaning processing, it is possible to use a method that does not circulate the processing solution, as compared to a method that immerses the processing object in the processing solution, since a fresh processing solution is always used, it is possible to Good processing is possible with no dust etc. However, the conventional method has the disadvantage that a large amount of processing liquid is consumed.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus that can circulate a processing liquid and reduce the amount of processing liquid consumed.Another object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus that can reduce the amount of processing liquid consumed. It is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus that can perform etching processing accurately and evenly.

The present invention is characterized in that, in a surface treatment apparatus that processes a substrate by supplying a predetermined processing liquid to the surface to be processed, means for holding the substrate so that the surface to be processed faces downward; and means for forming a laminar flow section of the working processing liquid.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Each embodiment of a film developing device will be described below as an embodiment of the present invention with reference to the drawings. Note that each of the embodiments is an apparatus applied to a semiconductor manufacturing process.

1 and 2 show a first embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention. This film developing device 1 has a structure in which one tank 2 and a chuck mechanism 3 are arranged close to each other.

The tank 2 has a structure in which a disk-shaped table 5 is provided inside the tank body 4. Table 5 is table surface 5
A is a horizontal plane, and a large number of holes 6 are formed in the table 5 and open to the table surface 5a. This hole 6 selectively communicates with a developer supply pipe 7 or a stop solution supply pipe 8 via a switching mechanism. The developer flows through the pipe 7 and gushes out from the hole 6, flows laminarly in the direction of the outer periphery over the table surface 5 as shown by the arrow, and is drained from the drain 10 through the surrounding groove 9. . The drained developer is not circulated to the supply side due to the slow dissolution rate of scum and is completely discarded. Unused developer is always supplied from the pipe, and a predetermined depth of unused developer is deposited on the table surface 5a. A laminar flow section is formed. That is, the developer is disposable. Since the developer is thus supplied in a laminar flow, the amount consumed is lower than in conventional sprays.

The chuck mechanism 3 has a structure in which a suction chuck 13 is provided at the tip of a rotating arm 12 which is supported on a shaft 11.

When performing development processing, the semiconductor wafer 15
is attached to the chuck 13 with its coated surface 15a facing downward, and the rotating arm 12 is rotated until it is approximately horizontal.
As a result, as shown in FIG. 2, the semiconductor wafer 15 is held close to and parallel to the table 5, with the coating surface 15a facing downward.
hits the laminar flow section of the developer, and development takes place.

Here, the entire surface of the coated surface 15a is always in contact with the developer, and a uniform developing action is applied over the entire surface. As a result, the coating surface 15a is developed uniformly over the entire surface, and uneven development does not occur. In addition, since the coating surface 15a faces downward, the scum after development (its specific gravity is greater than the specific gravity of the developer) settles due to its own weight, escapes from the recess where it was removed by development, and remains in the recess. will disappear. Note that the escape of the scum from the recessed portion is also facilitated by the action of the laminar flow portion. Therefore, etching after development can be performed without being adversely affected by residual scum, and even minute pattern parts can be etched with high precision.

Further, since the development (dissolution) speed changes depending on the temperature of the developer, it is necessary to control the temperature of the developer. When the liquid is injected more forcefully than the nozzle, the temperature of the liquid decreases during injection, making it impossible to control the temperature of the liquid that actually performs the developing action. On the other hand, in this embodiment, since the developer jets out from the hole 6, there is no change in the temperature of the solution in this part, and the temperature of the solution in the laminar flow section where the actual developing action is performed is controlled. Development is carried out stably with time management.

After a predetermined period of time has elapsed after the start of development, a switching valve (not shown) is switched. As a result, the supply of the developer is stopped, and in its place, the stop solution from the pipe 8 is spouted out onto the table surface in a laminar flow, similar to the case of the developer described above. form a section. This laminar flow part of the stop liquid is formed on the coating surface 15.
a, and development is stopped. Therefore, development and stopping are performed in the same tank, and stopping is performed immediately after development.

In addition, since the pressure exerted on the coating surface 15a by the developer and stop solution is weak, even if the adhesion of the coating to the wafer is weak, there is no inconvenience that the coating will peel off unnecessarily due to the action of the liquid flow during the development and stop operations. It won't happen.

Furthermore, the developing solution and stop solution are not unnecessarily splashed onto the upper surface of the semiconductor wafer.

After stopping, the rotating arm 12 is rotated clockwise to move the semiconductor wafer 15 upward and away from the table 5, and the semiconductor wafer 15 is removed from the suction chuck 13. Semiconductor wafer 15 is then subjected to an etching process.

3 and 4 show a second embodiment of the device of the invention. In this embodiment, the tank side is changed, and in each figure, the same components as those shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the explanation thereof will be omitted.

In this film developing device 20, a tank 21 disposed close to the chuck mechanism 3 has a tank main body 22.
A rectangular table 23 is provided inside, and a pipe-shaped developing solution nozzle 24 and a stop solution nozzle 25 are horizontally suspended in parallel on one end side of the table 23. Each nozzle 24, 25 is shown in FIG.
As shown in B, the pipe has a structure in which a plurality of nozzle holes 26 are arranged in a line in the longitudinal direction of the pipe.

The developing solution is ejected weakly from the nozzle 24 and flows laminarly over the flat table 23 as shown by the arrow, and the stop solution is ejected weakly from the nozzle 25 and flows over the flat table 23 as shown by the arrow.
As above, it flows laminarly. The developer and stop solution are drained from the drain 10 through grooves 27 on the downstream side, respectively.

As shown in FIG. 4, the semiconductor wafer 15 is
The table 23 has its coating surface 15a facing downward.
The upper laminar flow section is brought into contact, and development and subsequent stopping are performed in the same manner as in the previous case.

In the case of the first embodiment, since the liquid flowing out from the hole 6 acts directly on the coating surface 15a, the removal of the developer scum from the recessed portion is more effective than in the case of the second embodiment. It is done.

The apparatus of the present invention is not limited to the development of semiconductor wafers, but can also be applied to other fields such as etching, cleaning, etc.

As described above, according to the surface treatment apparatus of the present invention, since the surface to be treated is directed downward and the treatment liquid is applied to the laminar flow section, various treatments can be performed unevenly over the entire surface to be treated. The treatment can be carried out uniformly without any residual scum, and the treatment can be carried out with high accuracy, and the amount of processing liquid consumed can be reduced.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 and 2 are views showing a first embodiment of the surface treatment apparatus according to the present invention, FIGS. 3 and 4 are views showing a second embodiment of the apparatus according to the present invention, and FIG. 5A , B are views showing the nozzles in FIGS. 3 and 4, respectively. 1, 20... Film developing device, 2, 21... Tank,
3...chuck mechanism, 4,22...tank body, 5,
23... table, 6... hole, 7... developer supply piping, 8... stop liquid supply piping, 9, 27... groove,
10...Drain, 11...Shaft, 12...Rotating arm, 13...Suction chuck, 15...Semiconductor wafer, 15a...Coating surface, 24...Developer nozzle, 25...Stop liquid nozzle , 26... Nozzle hole.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A surface treatment apparatus that processes a surface of a substrate by supplying a predetermined processing liquid to the surface to be processed, comprising: means for holding the substrate with the surface to be processed facing downward; 1. A surface treatment apparatus comprising means for forming a laminar flow section of a working treatment liquid. 2. The surface treatment apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the surface to be treated is a surface of a film to be developed, and the treatment liquid is a developer. 3. The surface treatment apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the surface to be treated is a surface of a film to be etched, and the treatment liquid is an etching liquid.