KR100378049B1 - Substrate heat processing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

Provided is a substrate heat treatment apparatus capable of suppressing adhesion of particles.

The gas above the hot plate 80 is exhausted from the first exhaust port 50 via a ring-shaped exhaust slit 90 formed between the hot plate 80 and the side wall 10a of the processing chamber. In the exhaust slit 90, the shielding member 91 is arrange | positioned so that the space | interval may become large as the distance from the exhaust port 50 becomes long. Thereby, the area of the area | region where the suction force of the gas of the vicinity of the 1st exhaust port 50 is large among the ring-shaped exhaust slits 90 becomes small, On the contrary, the suction force of the gas which largely separated from the 1st exhaust port 50 is small. The area of the area becomes large. As a result, the flow rate of air per unit area in the exhaust slit 90 becomes constant, and adhesion of particles to the portion of the substrate W located in the vicinity of the exhaust port 50 can be suppressed.

Description

Substrate Heat Treatment Equipment {SUBSTRATE HEAT PROCESSING APPARATUS}

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a substrate heat treatment apparatus which heat-treats a semiconductor substrate, a glass substrate for a liquid crystal display device, a glass substrate for a photomask, a substrate for an optical disk, and the like (hereinafter, simply referred to as a substrate) in a sealed space.

In general, a series of substrate treatments are achieved for the above substrates by sequentially performing a resist coating treatment, an exposure treatment, a developing treatment, and a heat treatment accompanying them. During heat treatment, the adhesion strengthening treatment improves the adhesion between the resist and the substrate by controlling the temperature of the substrate while supplying a gas of hexamethyl disilazane (hereinafter referred to as "HMDS") to the substrate. It is a heat treatment performed for the purpose.

Conventionally, the adhesion reinforcement process is performed in the process chamber provided with the heat processing plate which heats or cools. The process chamber was provided with an inlet for carrying in and out of the substrate, and heat treatment was performed while evacuating the inside of the treatment chamber so that HMDS gas did not leak to the outside from the inlet during the treatment.

However, since the inlet could not be closed, the process room was in a semi-closed state, and it was not possible to completely prevent leakage of HMDS gas at the inlet.

Since HMDS gas is not only harmful to the human body but also adversely affects the excimer process using a chemically amplified resist by combining with moisture in the atmosphere, the leakage needs to be minimized.

For this reason, by installing the upper cover freely lifting up and down in the processing chamber which opened upwards, and making the upper cover face to face, it becomes possible to make the processing chamber into a sealed space, supplying HMDS gas in the said sealed space, and strengthening close_contact | adherence. The technique which performs a process is employ | adopted.

However, even when such a closed processing chamber is employed, the top cover needs to be opened and closed in order to carry in and take out the substrate. For this reason, in order to prevent the leakage of the HMDS gas which remains slightly while the top cover is open to the outside, the atmosphere in the process chamber is exhausted from the exhaust port provided in the process chamber.

An exhaust port for exhausting the atmosphere above the heat treatment plate is provided on the side of the heat treatment plate on the side wall of the processing chamber. The atmosphere above the heat treatment plate is exhausted from the annular exhaust slit formed between the heat treatment plate and the side wall of the processing chamber to the exhaust port.

At this time, since the exhaust balance is different in the vicinity of the exhaust port and the part far away from the exhaust port, the particles introduced together with the air by the exhaust from the vent formed between the upper cover and the processing chamber are near the exhaust port. The problem of sticking to the part of the board | substrate located in the side has arisen.

This invention is made | formed in view of the said subject, and an object of this invention is to provide the substrate heat processing apparatus which can suppress adhesion of particle | grains.

1 is a view showing the overall configuration of a substrate heat treatment apparatus according to the present invention;

2 is a plan view showing a main part of the substrate heat treatment apparatus of FIG.

3 is a view showing a state in which the shield member is placed in the exhaust slit,

4 is a plan view illustrating another example of the main part of the substrate heat treatment apparatus of FIG. 1.

<Description of the code>

10 treatment chamber, 10a sidewall,

20 top cover, 50 first exhaust port,

80 hotplates, 90 exhaust slit,

91 shield member, 95 plate member,

96 holes, 97 fittings,

W substrate.

In order to solve the said subject, invention of Claim 1 is a board | substrate heat processing apparatus which heat-processes a board | substrate in a sealed space, Comprising: (a) the process chamber which opened upward, and (b) the process chamber relative to the said process chamber. A lid capable of lifting up and down in contact with the processing chamber so as to form an airtight space in the processing chamber and spaced apart from the processing chamber to open the processing chamber, and (c) a substrate disposed in the processing chamber. (D) a first exhaust port provided on a side wall of the processing chamber and exhausting gas above the plate from an annular exhaust slit formed between the plate and the side wall; (e) When performing the exhaust from the exhaust port, the area of the suction region to which the suction force by the exhaust in the exhaust slit acts. A flow control means for controlling the flow rate so that the flow rate of the gas per unit area in the exhaust slit is constant by increasing the distance from the exhaust port so as to be longer; and (f) the lower portion of the process chamber is provided below the plate. And a second exhaust port for exhausting the gas.

Further, the invention of claim 2 is the substrate heat treatment apparatus according to the invention of claim 1, wherein the flow rate control means is disposed in the exhaust slit such that the intervals between the exhaust ports become longer as the distance from the exhaust port is increased. A plurality of shielding members for shielding part of the exhaust slit are included.

In addition, in the substrate heat treatment apparatus according to the invention of claim 1, the invention of claim 3 is a plate-shaped member which is provided in the flow rate control means in the exhaust slit and provided with a plurality of holes at equal intervals along the exhaust slit. And a plurality of fitting members fitted to any one of the plurality of holes and arranged in the plate-like member so that the arrangement interval becomes longer as the distance from the exhaust port becomes longer.

Embodiment of the Invention

EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION Hereinafter, embodiment of this invention is described in detail, referring drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS It is a figure which shows the whole structure of the substrate heat processing apparatus which concerns on this invention. 2 is a top view which shows the principal part of the substrate heat processing apparatus. The substrate heat treatment apparatus is a close-tightening treatment unit for supplying HMDS gas to a substrate and performing heat treatment. The substrate heat treatment apparatus includes a processing chamber 10, an upper lid 20, a substrate raising mechanism 30, a lid raising mechanism 40, and a first exhaust port. 50, a second exhaust port 60, a gas introduction port 70 and a hot plate 80 are provided.

The processing chamber 10 is a cylindrical body with an open top. In addition, the upper cover 20 is a cover of the processing chamber 10 provided above the processing chamber 10. The upper cover 20 is installed to be liftable by the cover lift mechanism 40. That is, the upper cover 20 is connected to the air cylinder 42 through the retaining rod 41, and the upper cover 20 also moves up and down in conjunction with the air cylinder 42 raising and lowering the retaining rod 41. Is done.

When the upper cover 20 is lowered by the air cylinder 42, the upper cover 20 faces the O-ring 12 provided at the upper end of the side wall 10a of the processing chamber 10, and the processing chamber 10 becomes a sealed space. In addition, when the upper cover 20 is raised by the air cylinder 42, the upper cover 20 is separated from the processing chamber 10, and the inside of the processing chamber 10 is opened. As a result, the upper lid 20 is a lid that faces the treatment chamber 10 so that the inside of the treatment chamber 10 is a sealed space and that the inside lid 20 can be opened away from the treatment chamber 10.

In addition, a gas introduction port 70 penetrates and is fixed to an upper portion of the upper cover 20. The gas introduction port 70 is connected to a gas supply source other than the drawing, and can supply HMDS gas or nitrogen gas into the processing chamber 10 while the upper cover 20 is lowered.

The hot plate 80 is installed in the processing chamber 10. The hot plate 80 is a heat dissipation plate on which the substrate W is placed and heated. The mounting of the substrate W onto the hot plate 80 is performed by the substrate lifting mechanism 30.

The substrate lifting mechanism 30 includes a substrate supporting rod 33, a holding plate 34, a connecting rod 31, and an air cylinder 32. The substrate supporting rod 33 is a rod-shaped member which is installed upright along the vertical direction on the disc-shaped holding plate 34. The holding plate 34 is connected to the air cylinder 32 via the connecting rod 31, and the air cylinder 32 is linked to raising and lowering the connecting rod 31 and the holding plate 34. The lifting and lowering operation is performed. Moreover, the board | substrate support rod 33 is able to insert the inside of the hotplate 80, and the upper end supports the edge part of the board | substrate W in three places (FIG. 2). Reference).

Therefore, when the board | substrate support rod 33 is raised by the air cylinder 32, the board | substrate W supported by it also raises. In addition, when the board | substrate supporting rod 33 is lowered by the air cylinder 32, the board | substrate W supported by it will also fall, and will be mounted on the hotplate 80. As shown in FIG.

In the state where the substrate supporting rod 33 is lowered, the O-ring 14 and the holding plate 34 provided on the bottom wall 10b of the processing chamber 10 face each other, and the sealed state in the processing chamber 10 is maintained. Keep it.

Further, the first exhaust port 50 penetrates the side wall 10a of the processing chamber 10 on the side of the hot plate 80, and similarly, the second exhaust port () is provided on the bottom wall 10b of the processing chamber 10. 60 penetrates and is installed. Both the first exhaust port 50 and the second exhaust port 60 communicate with exhaust means other than the drawing, and have a function of exhausting the gas in the processing chamber 10. The two exhaust ports are provided in the processing chamber 10 for the following reasons.

That is, in the state where the upper cover 20 is lowered and in contact with the O-ring 12, the inside of the processing chamber 10 is largely divided into two spaces. One is a space above the hot plate 80, and the other is a space below the hot plate 80. These two spaces are not strictly separated, but are communicated by holes through which the substrate support rods 33 provided on the hot plate 80 are inserted. However, since the air permeability is low in the state where the substrate support rod 33 is inserted into the hole, the exhaust efficiency is remarkably reduced only by one exhaust port. Therefore, the first exhaust port 50 exhausts gas in a space above the hot plate 80, and the second exhaust port 60 exhausts gas in a space below the hot plate 80. It is.

When exhausting from the first exhaust port 50 provided on the side of the hot plate 80, an annular exhaust slit 90 formed between the hot plate 80 and the side wall 10a of the processing chamber 10 is provided. Gas from the hot plate 80 is exhausted.

2, in the substrate heat treatment apparatus according to the present invention, a plurality of shielding members 91 for shielding a part of the exhaust slit 90 are arranged in the exhaust slit 90. 3 is a view showing a state in which the shielding member 91 is placed on the exhaust slit 90. The shielding member 91 is a cross-sectional T-shaped member in which the shielding plate 91a and the balance plate 91b are joined. The shielding member 91 is placed in the exhaust slit 90 by re-closing the shielding plate 91a between the end of the hot plate 80 and the side wall 10a of the processing chamber 10. The balance plate 91b is for preventing the shielding member 91 from moving its position by the airflow passing through the exhaust slit 90.

2, the shielding member 91 is arrange | positioned in the exhaust slit 90 so that a space | interval may become large as distance from the exhaust port 50 becomes long. By arrange | positioning the shielding member 91 in this way, exhaust balance in the exhaust slit 90 is adjusted, This will be mentioned later again.

Next, the procedure at the time of performing an adhesion strengthening process in the board | substrate heat processing apparatus which has the said structure is demonstrated easily.

First, in a state where the upper lid 20 is raised to open the process chamber 10 and the substrate support rod 33 is also raised, the substrate W is loaded by a transport robot outside the apparatus, and the substrate support rod 33 is opened. Is placed on top of the. After the substrate W is supported on the upper end of the substrate support rod 33, the substrate support rod 33 is lowered and the substrate W is placed on the hot plate 80.

In addition, as the substrate support rod 33 descends, the retaining plate 34 and the O-ring 14 face each other.

Next, the upper cover 20 is lowered while exhausting from the first exhaust port 50 and the second exhaust port 60. That is, when the top cover 20 descends to the position just before contacting the O-ring 12, the exhaust from the first exhaust port 50 and the second exhaust port 60 is stopped at this point in time. The exhaust is stopped to prevent the inside of the process chamber 10 from becoming negative pressure and the upper lid 20 to fall abruptly and collide with the process chamber 10.

When the upper lid 20 is further lowered by the air cylinder 42 and faces the O-ring 12, the exhaust from the first exhaust port 50 and the second exhaust port 60 is restarted. In this step, since the inside of the processing chamber 10 becomes a closed space by the contact between the top cover 20 and the O-ring 12 and the contact between the retaining plate 34 and the O-ring 14, The interior of the process chamber 10 is in a reduced pressure in accordance with the exhaust from the first exhaust port 50 and the second exhaust port 60. That is, when the pressure in the processing chamber 10 is reduced to a predetermined first pressure, the exhaust from the first exhaust port 50 and the second exhaust port 60 is stopped, and the predetermined amount of gas from the gas introduction port 70 is stopped. By introducing the HMDS gas into the processing chamber 10 until the two pressures are reached, the adhesion strengthening treatment to the substrate W proceeds. In addition, since the inside of the processing chamber 10 is a closed space, there is no fear of HMDS gas leaking to the outside during the adhesion strengthening process.

After that, when the adhesion strengthening process ends after a predetermined time, exhaust from the first exhaust port 50 and the second exhaust port 60 is started again, and the pressure in the process chamber 10 is reduced to the first pressure. do. When the pressure in the processing chamber 10 reaches the first pressure, the exhaust from the first exhaust port 50 and the second exhaust port 60 is stopped, and nitrogen gas is discharged from the gas introduction port 70 to the processing chamber ( 10) Introduce into.

Thereafter, the upper lid 20 is lifted by the air cylinder 42, separated from the process chamber 10, and the inside of the process chamber 10 is opened. At this time, the concentration of the HMDS gas in the processing chamber 10 is considerably reduced by the introduction of the above-described exhaust gas and nitrogen gas, but the HMDS gas is not completely removed and a part of the HMDS gas still remains in the processing chamber 10.

Therefore, immediately after the upper lid 20 is lifted up and separated from the processing chamber 10, the exhaust gas is started again by the first exhaust port 50 and the second exhaust port 60, and remains in the processing chamber 10. Excluded HMDS gas. This significantly reduces the possibility of HMDS gas leaking out through a series of processes. In addition, the exhaust gas is restarted immediately after the upper lid 20 is separated from the treatment chamber 10. When the upper lid 20 is exhausted while facing the treatment chamber 10, the inside of the treatment chamber 10 becomes negative pressure. This is because it causes a problem to the rise of the upper cover (20).

As described above, the exhaust from the first exhaust port 50 and the second exhaust port 60 is also performed during the lowering and raising steps of the upper lid 20 before and after the adhesion reinforcing process. In these cases, since the top cover 20 is separated from the processing chamber 10 and the inside of the processing chamber 10 is open, air flows in from the outside of the apparatus along with the exhaust, and the introduced air passes through the exhaust slit 90. Is exhausted from the first exhaust port 50.

Here, in the ring-shaped exhaust slit 90, the suction force of the gas is different in the vicinity of the first exhaust port 50 and largely away from the first exhaust port 50, so that the flow rate of air per unit area is not uniform. And the exhaust balance is different.

For this reason, in the related art, the particles introduced together with the air from the outside of the device are easily attached to the portion of the substrate W located near the exhaust port 50 as described above.

Therefore, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the shielding member 91 is arrange | positioned in the exhaust slit 90 so that a space | interval may become large, as the distance from the exhaust port 50 becomes long. Thereby, the area of the area | region where the suction force of the gas of the vicinity of the 1st exhaust port 50 is large among the ring-shaped exhaust slits 90 becomes small, On the contrary, the suction force of the gas which largely separated from the 1st exhaust port 50 is small. The area of the area becomes large.

As a result, the flow rate of air per unit area in the exhaust slit 90 becomes constant, and the exhaust balance is made uniform.

In other words, the plurality of shielding members 91 arranged in the exhaust slit 90 play a role as the flow control means for performing the flow control so that the flow rate of the gas per unit area in the exhaust slit 90 becomes constant.

In this way, since the exhaust air is uniformly discharged from the annular exhaust slit 90, the adhesion of particles to the portion of the substrate W located near the exhaust port 50 can be suppressed.

In addition, when the exhaust gas is uniformly discharged from the annular exhaust slit 90, the flow of air flow on the upper surface of the substrate W becomes uniform, so that the heat treatment of the substrate is also performed uniformly.

As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described, this invention is not limited to said example. For example, in the said embodiment, although the some shielding member 91 was used as flow control means, it is not limited to this, The form as shown in FIG. 4 may be sufficient.

In the form shown in FIG. 4, the plate-shaped member 95 is provided in the exhaust slit 90, and the whole exhaust slit 90 is covered by the plate-shaped member 95. As shown in FIG. The plate member 95 is provided with a plurality of holes 96 at equal intervals along the annular exhaust slit 90.

In addition, in the plate member 95, each of the plurality of fitting members 97 is fitted to any one of the plurality of holes 96 such that the distance between the exhaust ports 50 is increased so that the arrangement interval is increased. have.

Even in this way, the area of the region where the suction force of the gas near the first exhaust port 50 is large in the annular exhaust slit 90 becomes small, and conversely, the suction force of the gas that is largely separated from the first exhaust port 50 is reduced. The area of the small area becomes large. As a result, the flow rate of air per unit area in the exhaust slit 90 becomes constant, the exhaust balance becomes uniform, and the same effects as in the above embodiment can be obtained. That is, in the form of FIG. 4, the flow control means is realized by the plate-shaped member 95 and the several fitting member 97 in which the some hole 96 was provided.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 4, since the fitting member 97 can be easily arranged simply by counting the number of the holes 96, the efficiency of the arrangement work by the operator becomes high. On the other hand, in the form shown in FIG. 2, the minute flow rate can be adjusted only by moving the shielding member 91 slightly.

2 and 4, the flow control may be performed so that the flow rate of gas per unit area in the exhaust slit 90 is constant. For example, the hot plate 80 may be moved to move the exhaust port ( 50, the area of the region near the first exhaust port 50 in the annular exhaust slit 90 may be made smaller, and the area of the region far away from the first exhaust port 50 may be increased.

Moreover, in the said embodiment, although the board | substrate heat processing apparatus which concerns on this invention was applied to the apparatus which performs a adhesion strengthening process, it is also possible to apply it to other heat processing apparatuses (for example, the post-exposure bake apparatus which performs baking after exposure). .

In addition, in the said embodiment, although the hotplate 80 is provided and it is set as the structure which heats the board | substrate W, it is also possible to set it as the structure which provided the cool plate which cools the board | substrate W instead. .

In the above embodiment, the process chamber 10 is fixed and the upper lid 20 is lifted to make the inside of the process chamber 10 a sealed space and to separate the process chamber 10 from the process chamber 10 to open the process chamber 10. Although this is done, it is not limited to this, On the contrary, the upper cover 20 may be fixed and the process chamber 10 may be raised and lowered. As a result, when only the water supply of the substrate is set between the transport robot outside the apparatus, the upper lid 20 is elevated relative to the processing chamber 10. Thus, the upper chamber 20 and the upper lid 20 are constructed. ) May be raised or lowered.

As described above, according to the invention of claim 1, since the flow rate control is performed so that the flow rate of gas per unit area in the exhaust slit is constant, the exhaust is uniform from the exhaust slit, and adhesion of particles to the substrate can be suppressed. Can be. In addition, when the exhaust is uniformly discharged from the exhaust slit, the flow of air flow on the upper surface of the substrate becomes uniform, so that the heat treatment of the substrate is also performed uniformly.

In addition, according to the invention of claim 2, since a plurality of shielding members, each of which shields a part of the exhaust slit, are arranged in the exhaust slit so that the arrangement interval becomes longer as the distance from the exhaust port becomes longer, the exhaust port of the exhaust slit The area of the area | region where the suction force of the gas of the vicinity is large becomes small, and the area of the area | region where the suction force of the gas which is largely separated from the exhaust port is large becomes large, As a result, the effect similar to invention of Claim 1 can be acquired.

According to the invention of claim 3, the plurality of plate-shaped members which are provided in the exhaust slit and provided with a plurality of holes at equal intervals along the exhaust slit, and the arrangement intervals become longer as the distance from the exhaust port becomes longer. Since it has a plurality of fitting members which are fitted in any one of the holes and are arranged in the plate-like member, the area of the area where the suction force of the gas in the vicinity of the exhaust port is large among the exhaust slits is small, and conversely, it is large from the exhaust port. The area of the area | region where the suction force of the separated gas is small becomes large, As a result, the effect similar to invention of Claim 1 can be acquired.

Claims (3)

In a substrate heat treatment apparatus for performing a heat treatment on a substrate in a sealed space, (a) a treatment chamber with an open top, (b) a lid which is installed above and above the processing chamber so as to be able to lift and lower relative to the processing chamber, and that the processing chamber is closed to face the processing chamber, and that the cover can be opened apart from the processing chamber; , (c) a plate disposed in the processing chamber and placed on a substrate to perform the heat treatment; (d) a first exhaust port provided on a side wall of said processing chamber and exhausting gas above said plate from an annular exhaust slit formed between said plate and said side wall, (e) When performing the exhaust from the exhaust port, the area of the suction region where the suction force from the exhaust in the exhaust slit acts increases as the distance from the exhaust port increases, thereby per unit area in the exhaust slit. Flow rate control means for performing flow rate control so that the flow rate of said gas is constant; (f) a second exhaust port provided at a lower portion of the processing chamber to exhaust gas under the plate; Substrate heat treatment apparatus comprising a. The method of claim 1, The flow control means, And a plurality of shielding members disposed on the exhaust slit such that the distance between the first exhaust port is increased, the plurality of shielding members respectively shielding part of the exhaust slit. The method of claim 1, The flow control means, A plate-shaped member which is provided in the exhaust slit and provided with a plurality of holes at equal intervals along the exhaust slit; A plurality of fitting members arranged in the plate-shaped member by being fitted to any one of the plurality of holes so as to lengthen the arrangement interval as the distance from the first exhaust port becomes longer; Substrate heat treatment apparatus comprising a.