KR101394456B1 - Apparatus and method for treating substrate - Google Patents

Abstract

This specification discloses a substrate processing apparatus and a substrate processing method for performing a supercritical process. An aspect of the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention includes: a housing for providing a space in which a process is performed; And a plurality of support members disposed in the interior of the housing and spaced apart from each other in the vertical direction, each supporting the edges of the plurality of substrates.

Description

[0001] APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR TREATING SUBSTRATE [0002]

The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus and a substrate processing method, and more particularly, to a substrate processing apparatus and a substrate processing method that perform a supercritical process.

Semiconductor devices are fabricated by forming circuit patterns on a substrate through various processes including photolithography. Particles, organic contaminants, metal impurities, etc. are generated during the manufacturing process. Such foreign materials cause defects on the substrate and directly affect the yield of semiconductor devices. Therefore, a cleaning process for removing foreign substances from the substrate is essentially involved in the semiconductor manufacturing process.

Generally, in the cleaning process, the substrate is cleaned with pure water (DI-water: deionized water), cleaned with an organic solvent such as isopropyl alcohol (IPA) And then the substrate is evaporated to dry the substrate. However, in the conventional drying method, the drying efficiency is low in the case of a semiconductor device having a fine circuit pattern, and a pattern collapse which is damaged by a surface tension of a relatively weak organic solvent during a drying process And has problems that occur.

Accordingly, a supercritical drying process for drying a substrate using a supercritical fluid for a semiconductor device having a line width of 30 nm or less is gradually replacing the conventional drying process. Supercritical fluid is a fluid having both gas and liquid properties at both critical temperature and critical pressure. It is excellent in diffusion and penetration, has high solubility, and has very little surface tension, so it can be very useful for drying substrates.

However, the process chamber for performing the supercritical process suffers from a problem that the substrate throughput is lowered due to an increase in the foot print in order to maintain the supercritical state at a high pressure. Recently, A study on the structure of the process chamber for improving the performance of the process chamber has been actively carried out.

An object of the present invention is to provide a substrate processing apparatus and a substrate processing method capable of simultaneously processing a plurality of substrates.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a substrate processing apparatus and a substrate processing method for effectively spraying a supercritical fluid on a plurality of substrates.

The problems to be solved by the present invention are not limited to the above-mentioned problems, and the problems not mentioned can be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the description and the accompanying drawings will be.

The present invention provides a substrate processing apparatus.

An aspect of the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention includes: a housing for providing a space in which a process is performed; And a plurality of support members disposed in the interior of the housing and spaced apart from each other in the vertical direction, each supporting the edges of the plurality of substrates.

And a nozzle member in which one end for injecting the process fluid is disposed between the adjacent substrates when viewed from the side.

The nozzle member may have one end located at a central portion of the substrate when viewed from above.

The nozzle member may be provided to eject the process fluid toward the upper surface of the lower one of the substrates adjacent to each other.

The nozzle member may be provided to simultaneously jet the process fluid toward the upper surface of the lower substrate and the lower surface of the upper substrate among the adjacent substrates.

The nozzle member may be provided to inject the process fluid radially in an inclined manner with respect to the vertical direction.

The nozzle member may be provided such that one end thereof is located at an edge region or outside of the substrate when viewed from above, and the processing fluid is jetted in a direction parallel to the substrate.

And a lower supply port formed on a lower wall of the housing and injecting the process fluid.

And an upper supply port formed in the upper wall of the housing and injecting the process fluid.

And a controller for controlling the injection of the process fluid to the nozzle member when the internal pressure of the process chamber reaches a predetermined pressure after supplying the process fluid to the lower supply port.

And a support bar extending downward from an upper wall of the housing, wherein the plurality of support members can be spaced at regular intervals in the support bar.

The housing may further include an upper housing and a lower housing disposed at a lower portion of the upper housing, and an elevating member for lifting one of the upper housing and the lower housing to open and close the housing.

The process fluid may be a supercritical fluid.

Another aspect of the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention includes: a housing for providing a space in which a process is performed; A first support member for supporting an edge of the first substrate; A second support member for supporting an edge of the second substrate; And an upper supply port formed on an upper wall of the housing and injecting supercritical fluid toward an upper surface of the second substrate.

And one end of the supercritical fluid injected from the side is positioned between the first support member and the second support member.

The nozzle member may jet the supercritical fluid toward an upper surface of the first substrate.

The nozzle member may inject the supercritical fluid into a space between the first substrate and the second substrate.

And a support bar extending downward from the upper wall of the housing, wherein the first support member extends horizontally at a lower end of the support bar, and the second support member extends in the middle of the support bar And can extend in the horizontal direction.

The present invention provides a substrate processing method.

One aspect of the substrate processing method according to the present invention is that a plurality of support members arranged vertically spaced apart from each other in an interior of a housing for providing a space in which processes are performed support the edges of a plurality of substrates, A nozzle member, one end of which is positioned between the adjacent substrates, injects the process fluid to process the plurality of substrates at the same time.

The nozzle member may process the upper surface of the lower substrate by spraying the process fluid onto the upper surface of the lower substrate among the substrates adjacent to each other.

The nozzle member may treat the upper surface of the upper substrate and the upper surface of the lower substrate by spraying the supercritical fluid into a space between the adjacent substrates.

Wherein the housing includes an upper housing and a lower housing disposed at a lower portion of the upper housing, wherein the upper housing or the lower housing is lifted and lowered to open and close the housing, And the process can be performed in a state in which the housing is closed.

The process fluid may be a supercritical fluid.

According to the present invention, a plurality of substrates can be simultaneously processed in one process chamber.

According to the present invention, since the nozzle member is disposed between a plurality of substrates spaced apart from each other and vertically spaced to support the supercritical fluid, the supercritical fluid is efficiently transferred to the plurality of substrates, thereby improving the process efficiency.

The effects of the present invention are not limited to the above-mentioned effects, and the effects not mentioned can be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the present specification and attached drawings.

1 is a graph showing the phase change of carbon dioxide.
2 is a plan view of one embodiment of a substrate processing apparatus.
Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view of the first process chamber of Figure 2;
Figures 4 and 5 are cross-sectional views of one embodiment of the second process chamber of Figure 2;
Figure 6 is a cross-sectional view of another embodiment of the second process chamber of Figure 2;
Figs. 7 and 8 are views showing the shape of one end of the nozzle member of Figs. 4 and 5. Fig.
Fig. 9 is a view showing the nozzle member of Fig. 7 ejecting supercritical fluid. Fig.
10 is a view showing a modified example of the nozzle member of Figs. 4 and 5. Fig.
11 is a flowchart of one embodiment of a substrate processing method.
12 is a flowchart of another embodiment of the substrate processing method.
13 and Fig. 14 are operation diagrams of the substrate processing method of Fig.

The terms and accompanying drawings used herein are for the purpose of illustrating the present invention easily, and the present invention is not limited by the terms and drawings.

The detailed description of known techniques which are not closely related to the idea of the present invention among the techniques used in the present invention will be omitted.

Hereinafter, a substrate processing apparatus 100 according to the present invention will be described.

The substrate processing apparatus 100 may perform a supercritical process of processing the substrate S using a supercritical fluid as a process fluid.

Here, the substrate S is a comprehensive concept that includes all semiconductor devices, flat panel displays (FPDs), and other substrates used in the manufacture of circuit patterns on thin films. Examples of such a substrate S include silicon wafers, various wafers, glass substrates, organic substrates, and the like.

The supercritical fluid means a phase having gas and liquid properties simultaneously formed when a supercritical state exceeding a critical temperature and a critical pressure is reached. The supercritical fluid has a molecular density close to a liquid and a viscosity close to that of a gas. Thus, the supercritical fluid has excellent diffusion, penetration and dissolving power and is advantageous for a chemical reaction and has no surface tension. .

The supercritical process is performed using the characteristics of the supercritical fluid. Typical examples thereof include a supercritical drying process and a supercritical etching process. Hereinafter, the supercritical drying process will be described with reference to the supercritical drying process. However, since this is merely for ease of explanation, the substrate processing apparatus 100 can perform a supercritical process other than the supercritical drying process.

The supercritical drying process can be performed by dissolving the organic solvent remaining in the circuit pattern of the substrate S as a supercritical fluid and drying the substrate S, There are advantages to be able to. As the supercritical fluid used in the supercritical drying process, a substance having miscibility with an organic solvent can be used. For example, supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO ₂ ) can be used as a supercritical fluid.

1 is a graph showing the phase change of carbon dioxide.

The carbon dioxide has a critical temperature of 31.1 ° C. and a relatively low critical pressure of 7.38 Mpa, which makes it easy to form a supercritical state, and it is easy to control the phase change by controlling the temperature and the pressure, and is cheap. In addition, since carbon dioxide has no toxicity and is harmless to human body, it has the characteristics of nonflammability and inertness. Supercritical carbon dioxide has a diffusion coefficient of about 10 to 100 times that of water and other organic solvents, Has a property of being advantageous to be used for drying a substrate (S) having a fine circuit pattern because the solvent is replaced quickly and the surface tension is low. In addition, carbon dioxide can be recycled as a by-product of various chemical reactions, and at the same time, it can be used in a supercritical drying process, converted into gas, and then separated and reused.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the substrate processing apparatus 100 according to the present invention will be described. The substrate processing apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention may perform a cleaning process including a supercritical drying process.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of one embodiment of the substrate processing apparatus 100. Fig.

Referring to FIG. 2, the substrate processing apparatus 100 includes an index module 1000 and a processing module 2000.

The index module 1000 transfers the substrate S from the outside and transfers the substrate S to the process module 2000. The process module 2000 can perform the supercritical drying process.

The index module 1000 includes a load port 1100 and a transfer frame 1200 as an equipment front end module (EFEM).

The load port 1100 is provided with a container C in which the substrate S is accommodated. As the container C, a front opening unified pod (FOUP) may be used. The container C can be carried from the outside to the load port 1100 or taken out from the load port 1100 by an overhead transfer (OHT).

The transfer frame 1200 conveys the substrate S between the container C placed on the load port 1100 and the process module 2000. The transfer frame 1200 includes an index robot 1210 and an index rail 1220. The index robot 1210 moves on the index rail 1220 and can transport the substrate S. [

The process module 2000 includes a buffer chamber 2100, a transfer chamber 2200, a first process chamber 3000, and a second process chamber 4000 as a module for actually performing a process.

The buffer chamber 2100 provides a space for temporarily holding the substrate S conveyed between the index module 1000 and the processing module 2000. The buffer chamber 2100 may be provided with a buffer slot in which the substrate S is placed. For example, the index robot 1210 can pull the substrate S out of the container C and place it in the buffer slot, and the transfer robot 2210 of the transfer chamber 2200 can transfer the substrate S placed in the buffer slot And can return it to the first process chamber 3000 or the second process chamber 4000. The buffer chamber 2100 may be provided with a plurality of buffer slots so that a plurality of substrates S can be placed.

The transfer chamber 2200 carries the substrate S between the buffer chamber 2100, the first process chamber 3000 and the second process chamber 4000 disposed therearound. The transfer chamber 2200 may include a transfer robot 2210 and a transfer rail 2220. The transfer robot 2210 moves on the transfer rail 2220 and can transfer the substrate S.

The first process chamber 3000 and the second process chamber 4000 can perform a cleaning process. At this time, the cleaning process may be sequentially performed in the first process chamber 3000 and the second process chamber 4000. For example, in the first process chamber 3000, a chemical process, a rinsing process, and an organic solvent process may be performed in the cleaning process, and a supercritical drying process may be performed in the second process chamber 4000.

The first process chamber 3000 and the second process chamber 4000 are disposed on the side of the transfer chamber 2200. For example, the first process chamber 3000 and the second process chamber 4000 may be disposed on opposite sides of the transfer chamber 2200 to face each other.

In the process module 2000, a plurality of first process chambers 3000 and a plurality of second process chambers 4000 may be provided. The plurality of process chambers 3000, 4000 may be arranged in a line on the side of the transfer chamber 2200, stacked in the vertical direction, or arranged by a combination thereof.

Of course, the arrangement of the first process chamber 3000 and the second process chamber 4000 is not limited to the above example, and may be appropriately changed in consideration of various factors such as the footprint of the substrate processing apparatus 100, have.

Hereinafter, the first process chamber 3000 will be described.

3 is a cross-sectional view of the first process chamber 3000 of FIG.

The first process chamber 3000 may perform a chemical process, a rinsing process, and an organic solvent process. Of course, the first process chamber 3000 may selectively perform only some of these processes. Here, the chemical process is a process of removing a foreign substance on the substrate S by providing a cleaning agent on the substrate S, and the rinsing process is a process of rinsing the cleaning agent remaining on the substrate S by providing a rinsing agent on the substrate , The organic solvent process is a process of replacing the rinsing agent remaining between the circuit patterns of the substrate (S) with an organic solvent having a low surface tension by providing an organic solvent on the substrate (S).

Referring to FIG. 3, the first process chamber 3000 includes a support member 3100, a nozzle member 3200, and a recovery member 3300.

The support member 3100 supports the substrate S and can rotate the supported substrate S. [ The support member 3100 may include a support plate 3110, a support pin 3111, a picking pin 3112, a rotation axis 3120, and a rotation driver 3130.

The support plate 3110 has an upper surface having the same or similar shape as the substrate S and a support pin 3111 and a hooking pin 3112 are formed on the upper surface of the support plate 3110. The support pins 3111 support the substrate S and the processing pins 3112 can fix the supported substrate S. [

A rotation shaft 3120 is connected to a lower portion of the support plate 3110. The rotary shaft 3120 receives the rotational force from the rotary actuator 3130 and rotates the support plate 3110. Accordingly, the substrate S mounted on the support plate 3110 can be rotated. At this time, the machining pin 3112 can prevent the substrate S from deviating from the correct position.

The nozzle member 3200 ejects the medicament onto the substrate S. The nozzle member 3200 includes a nozzle 3210, a nozzle bar 3220, a nozzle axis 3230, and a nozzle soccer motive 3240.

The nozzle 3210 ejects the medicament onto the substrate S that is seated on the support plate 3110. The medicament may be a detergent, a rinsing agent or an organic solvent. As the detergent, a hydrogen peroxide (H ₂ O ₂ ) solution or a hydrogen peroxide solution mixed with ammonia (NH ₄ OH), hydrochloric acid (HCl) or sulfuric acid (H ₂ SO ₄ ) or a hydrofluoric acid have. In addition, pure water can be used as the rinsing agent. Examples of the organic solvent include isopropyl alcohol, ethyl glycol, propanol, tetrahydrofuran, 4-hydroxy, 4-methyl, A solution of 2-pentanone, 1-butanol, 2-butanol, methanol, ethanol, n-propyl alcohol or dimethylether Gas may be used.

This nozzle 3210 is formed on the bottom surface of the nozzle bar 3220 at one end. The nozzle bar 3220 is coupled to the nozzle shaft 3230, and the nozzle shaft 3230 is provided to be able to lift or rotate. The nozzle synchronization 3240 may adjust the position of the nozzle 3210 by moving the nozzle axis 3230 up or down.

The recovery member 3300 recovers the medicine supplied to the substrate S. The support member 3100 can rotate the substrate S and uniformly supply the medicament to the entire area of the substrate S when the medicament is supplied to the substrate S by the nozzle member 3200. [ When the substrate S is rotated, the medicine is scattered from the substrate S, and the medicine to be scattered can be recovered by the recovering member 3300.

The collecting member 3300 may include a collecting box 3310, a collecting line 3320, a lifting bar 3330,

The recovery cylinder 3310 is provided in the form of an annular ring surrounding the support plate 3110. A plurality of the collection bins 3310 may be provided in a ring shape away from the support plate 3110 in order from the top and a plurality of collection bins 3310 provided at a distance from the support plate 3110 3310) is provided so that its height is higher. Thus, a collection port 3311 through which the medicine scattered from the substrate S flows into the space between the collection tubes 3310 is formed.

A collection line 3320 is formed on the lower surface of the collection box 3310. The recovery line 3320 supplies the recovered medicines to the medicament regeneration system (not shown) for regenerating medicines.

The lifting bar 3330 is connected to the recovery bottle 3310 and receives the power from the lifting base 3340 to move the recovery bottle 3310 up and down. The elevating bar 3330 may be connected to a waste collection box 3310 disposed at the outermost position when the collection box 3310 is plural. The elevator shaft synchronizer 3340 can control the withdrawal port 3311 through which the scattering agent 3310 flows in the plurality of withdrawal ports 3311 through the lifting bar 3330.

Hereinafter, the second process chamber 4000 will be described.

The second process chamber 4000 may perform a supercritical drying process using a supercritical fluid. Of course, as described above, the process performed in the second process chamber 4000 may be a supercritical process other than the supercritical drying process, and further, the second process chamber 4000 may use another process fluid instead of the supercritical fluid May be used to perform the process.

This second process chamber 4000 may be disposed on one side of the transfer chamber 2200, as described above. When a plurality of the second process chambers 4000 are provided, they may be arranged in a line on one side of the transfer chamber 2200, stacked up and down, or arranged by a combination thereof. In the substrate processing apparatus 100, the load port 1100, the transfer frame 1200, the buffer chamber 2100, and the transfer module 2200 may be sequentially arranged, and the second process chamber 4000 may be arranged in the same direction And may be arranged in a line on one side of the transfer chamber 2200.

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the second process chamber 4000 will be described.

Figures 4 and 5 are cross-sectional views of one embodiment of the second process chamber of Figure 2;

4 and 5, the second process chamber 4000 includes a housing 4100, a lift member 4200, a support unit 4300, a heating member 4400, a supply port 4500, and an exhaust port 4600 ).

The housing 4100 provides a space in which the supercritical drying process is performed. The housing 4100 is provided with a material capable of withstanding a high pressure exceeding a critical pressure.

The housing 4100 may include an upper housing 4110 and a lower housing 4120 disposed under the upper housing 4110.

The upper housing 4110 is fixed and the lower housing 4120 can be raised and lowered. When the lower housing 4120 is lowered and separated from the upper housing 4110, the inner space of the second process chamber 4000 is opened, the substrate S is carried into the inner space of the second process chamber 4000, . Here, the substrate S to be transferred to the second process chamber 4000 may be in a state where the organic solvent remains in the first process chamber 3000 through the organic solvent process. When the lower housing 4120 rises and comes into close contact with the upper housing 4110, the inner space of the second process chamber 4000 is sealed, and the supercritical drying process can be performed therein. Of course, unlike the above-described example, the lower housing 4120 may be fixedly installed in the housing 4100, and the upper housing 4110 may be vertically moved.

The elevating member 4200 moves the lower housing 4120 up and down. The elevating member 4200 may include a lifting cylinder 4210 and a lifting rod 4220. The lifting cylinder 4210 is coupled to the lower housing 4120 to generate a vertical driving force, that is, a lifting force. The elevating cylinder 4210 is operated so that the supercritical drying process is performed while the high pressure equal to or higher than the critical pressure inside the second process chamber 4000 is obtained and the upper and lower housings 4110 and 4120 are brought into close contact with each other, ) To a degree sufficient to seal the opening. One end of the lifting rod 4220 is inserted into the lifting cylinder 4210 and extends vertically upward, and the other end is coupled to the upper housing 4110. When the driving force is generated in the lifting cylinder 4210 according to this structure, the lifting cylinder 4210 and the lifting rod 4220 are relatively lifted and the lower housing 4120 coupled to the lifting cylinder 4210 can be lifted and lowered. The lifting rod 4220 prevents the upper housing 4110 and the lower housing 4120 from moving in the horizontal direction while the lower housing 4120 is lifted and lowered by the lifting cylinder 4210, It is possible to prevent the housing 4110 and the lower housing 4120 from deviating from each other at a predetermined position.

The support unit 4300 supports a plurality of substrates S in the interior of the housing 4100. The support unit 4300 may include a support bar 4310 and a plurality of support members 4320.

The support bar 4310 can extend downward from the lower wall of the upper wall of the housing 4100, i.e., the upper housing 4110. The support bar 4310 may be provided with a pair of horizontally spaced bars or two pairs of bars.

The support members 4320 are spaced apart from the support bars 4310 at regular intervals. The support member 4320 may be provided to extend in the horizontal direction from the support bar 4310. For example, the first support member 4320a may extend horizontally in the middle of the support bar 4310 and the second support member 4320 may extend horizontally at the lower end of the support bar 4310b. When the support bars 4310 are provided in two pairs spaced from each other, the support members 4320 extending from the respective support bars 4310 extend toward each other.

However, the number of the support members 4310 is not limited to the example described above, and may be added or subtracted as necessary.

The support member 4310 can support the edge region of the substrate S. [ The distance between the pair of support bars 4310 is larger than the diameter of the substrate S and the support member 4320 can extend from the support bar 4310 to the side where the support bar 4310 faces each other. Accordingly, the support member 4310 supports the edge region of the substrate S, and both the upper and lower surfaces of the substrate S are exposed to the inner space of the housing 4100 to be supplied with the supercritical fluid to be dried. Here, the upper surface of the substrate S may be a pattern surface, and the lower surface thereof may be a non-pattern surface.

Thus, when the support unit 4100 supports a plurality of substrates S in the housing 4100, the second process chamber 4000 can simultaneously perform a supercritical drying process on the plurality of substrates S have.

Since the support unit 4300 is installed in the fixed upper housing 4110, the substrate S can be relatively stably supported while the lower housing 4120 moves up and down.

A horizontal adjustment member 4111 may be installed in the upper housing 4110 where the support unit 4300 is installed. The horizontal adjustment member 4111 adjusts the horizontality of the upper housing 4110. When the level of the upper housing 4110 is adjusted, the level of the substrate S mounted on the support unit 4300 installed in the upper housing 4111 can be adjusted. In the supercritical drying process, when the substrate S is inclined, the organic solvent remaining on the substrate S flows along the inclined surface to dry or overdry a specific portion of the substrate S, . The horizontal adjustment member 4111 can align the substrate S to prevent this problem. Of course, when the upper housing 4110 is raised and lowered and the lower housing 4120 is fixed or the support unit 4300 is installed in the lower housing 4120, the horizontal adjustment member 4111 is installed in the lower housing 4120 .

The heating member 4400 heats the interior of the second process chamber 4000. The heating member 4400 may heat the supercritical fluid supplied into the second process chamber 4000 to a supercritical fluid or to supercritical fluid if it is liquefied. The heating member 4400 may be embedded in the wall of at least one of the upper housing 4110 and the lower housing 4120. [ The heating member 4400 may be provided, for example, as a heater that receives power from the outside and generates heat.

The supply port 4500 supplies the supercritical fluid to the second process chamber 4000. The supply port 4500 may be connected to a supply line 4550 that supplies supercritical fluid. At this time, the supply port 4500 may be provided with a valve for regulating the flow rate of the supercritical fluid supplied from the supply line 4550.

The supply port 4500 may include an upper supply port 4510, a lower supply port 4520, and a nozzle member 4530.

The upper supply port 4510 is formed in the upper housing 4110 and supplies the supercritical fluid to the upper surface of the uppermost substrate S among the substrates S supported by the support unit 4300. The lower supply port 4520 is formed in the lower housing 4120 and supplies the supercritical fluid to the lower surface of the substrate S of the substrate S supported by the support unit 4300.

The upper supply port 4510 and the lower supply port 4520 can inject supercritical fluid into the central region of the substrate S. [ For example, the upper supply port 4510 may be located vertically above the center of the substrate S supported by the support unit 4300. Further, the lower supply port 4520 may be positioned vertically downward from the center of the substrate S supported by the support unit 4300. The supercritical fluid injected into the upper supply port 4510 and the lower supply port 4520 can reach the central region of the substrate S and spread to the edge region to dry the substrate S. [

The nozzle member 4530 may be positioned between the adjacent supporting members 4320, that is, between the substrates S adjacent to each other, at one end for injecting the supercritical fluid. The nozzle member 4530 may be provided one by one between the plurality of support members 4320. The nozzle member 4530 extends downward from the upper wall of the housing 4100, that is, from the upper housing 4110, and the lower end of the nozzle member 4530 extends in a horizontal direction at a middle height at which the support member 4320 of the support bar 4310 And may extend to the central portion of the substrate S. Accordingly, one end of the nozzle member 4530 is located between the adjacent substrates S when viewed from the side, and is located at the center of the substrate S when viewed from the top.

The nozzle member 4530 can jet the supercritical fluid to the upper surface of the lower substrate S among the substrates S whose one ends are adjacent to each other. It is important to dry the upper surface of the substrate S because the upper surface of the substrate S is seated on the supporting unit 4300 so that the upper surface of the substrate S is a pattern surface. The upper surface of the substrate S, which is seated on the first supporting member 4320a, The supercritical fluid is supplied by the supply port 4510 and the upper surface of the substrate S mounted on the second support member 4320b is supplied with the supercritical fluid by the nozzle member 4530 and is supplied to the plurality of substrates S ) Can be performed.

On the other hand, in the upper supply port 4510, the lower supply port 4520 and the nozzle member 4530, first, the lower supply port 4520 supplies the supercritical fluid, and later the upper supply port 4510 and the nozzle member 4530, 0.0 > supercritical < / RTI > Since the supercritical drying process can initially proceed in the state where the interior of the second process chamber 4000 is under the critical pressure, the supercritical fluid supplied into the second process chamber 4000 can be liquefied. Therefore, when the supercritical fluid is supplied to the upper supply port 4510 or the nozzle member 4530 at the beginning of the supercritical drying process, the supercritical fluid is liquefied and drops down to the substrate S by gravity, . ≪ / RTI > Accordingly, when the supercritical fluid is supplied to the second process chamber 4000 through the lower supply port 4520 and the internal pressure of the second process chamber 4000 reaches the critical pressure, the upper supply port 4510 and the nozzle When the member 4530 starts to supply the supercritical fluid, the supplied supercritical fluid can be prevented from being liquefied and falling to the substrate S.

The exhaust port 4600 exhausts the supercritical fluid from the second process chamber 4000. The exhaust port 4600 may be connected to an exhaust line 4650 that exhausts the supercritical fluid. At this time, the exhaust port 4600 may be provided with a valve for regulating the flow rate of supercritical fluid to be exhausted to the exhaust line 4650. Supercritical fluid exhausted through the exhaust line 4650 may be released to the atmosphere or may be supplied to a supercritical fluid regeneration system (not shown).

The exhaust port 4600 may be formed in the lower housing 4120. In the latter stage of the supercritical drying process, the supercritical fluid is exhausted from the second process chamber 4000 and its internal pressure is lowered to a critical pressure or less, so that the supercritical fluid can be liquefied. The liquefied supercritical fluid may be discharged through the exhaust port 4600 formed in the lower housing 4120 by gravity.

Although the description has been made with reference to the second process chamber 4000 that supports and processes two substrates S simultaneously, the number of substrates S that can be processed by the second process chamber 4000 is limited to the above example It is not.

In addition, the upper supply port 4510 and the lower supply port 4520 among the components of the second process chamber 4000 described above are optional components. For example, in the second process chamber 4000, either or both of the upper supply port 4510 and the lower supply port 4520 may not be provided. If the upper supply port 4510 is omitted in the second process chamber 4000, a nozzle member 4530 may be further provided between the uppermost support member 4320 and the upper wall of the housing 4100. This nozzle member 4530 can supply the supercritical fluid to the upper surface of the substrate that is seated on the uppermost support member 4320 instead of the omitted upper supply port 4510.

Although the support unit 4300 is described as having the support bar 4310 and the support member 4320 in the second process chamber 4000 described above, the support unit 4300 may be provided in a different form . For example, the support unit 4300 may be provided in a form similar to a buffer slot of the buffer chamber 2100. Specifically, the support unit 4300 may be provided as a pair of plates extending in the horizontal direction from the side wall of the housing 4100. It is possible to support both side edges of the substrate S of the pair of plates. Further, a plurality of support units 4300 in the form of a slot may be provided on the side wall of the housing 4100 in the vertical direction. A plurality of support units 4300 can support a plurality of substrates S. [

6 is a cross-sectional view of another embodiment of the second process chamber 4000 of FIG.

Referring to FIG. 6, three support members 4320a, 4320b, and 4320c may be provided on the support bar 4310 to support the substrate S in the vertical direction, respectively. The nozzle member 4530 includes a first nozzle member 4530a disposed between the first and second support members 4320a and 4320b and a second nozzle member 4530b disposed between the second and third support members 4320b and 4320b. And a second nozzle member 4530b disposed between the second nozzle member 4520c. Accordingly, the upper supply port 4510, the first support member 4530a, and the second support member 4530b can inject supercritical fluid onto the upper surface of the substrate S, respectively. This second process chamber 4000 will be able to process three substrates simultaneously.

Although it has been described above that the nozzle member 4530 injects the supercritical fluid onto the upper surface of the substrate S positioned below the nozzle member 4530, the direction and shape of the nozzle member 4530 are not limited thereto.

The nozzle member 4530 can be radially injected instead of injecting the supercritical fluid in a direction perpendicular to the upper surface of the substrate S positioned thereunder.

Figs. 7 and 8 are views showing the shape of one end of the nozzle member 4530 in Figs. 4 and 5, and Fig. 9 is a view showing that the nozzle member 4530 in Fig. 7 ejects supercritical fluid.

7, a fine hole 4532a is formed in one end of the nozzle member 4530 to guide the nozzle member 4530 from the hollow 4531 through which the supercritical fluid moves, passing through the center of the nozzle member 4530, Can be formed. The supercritical fluid moves along the hollow 4531 in the nozzle member 4530, and can be discharged through the fine holes 4532a at one end. Since the fine holes 4532a have a shape radially spreading from the center of the nozzle member 4530, the supercritical fluid can be injected obliquely in the vertical direction instead of vertically downward. 9, the supercritical fluid has a velocity of the horizontal component so that it spreads rapidly from the central portion of the substrate S to the edge region of the substrate S, May be provided evenly.

8, a fine hole 4532b may be formed at one end of the nozzle member 4530 in the form of a screw instead of a radial fine hole 4532a. Since this fine hole 4532b applies a rotational force to the supercritical fluid, it can be sprayed with the rotational force of the supercritical fluid again, as shown in Fig. 9, so as to be uniformly provided over the entire region of the substrate S .

In addition, the nozzle member 4530 does not necessarily need to inject the supercritical fluid to the upper surface of the substrate S under the nozzle member 4530. For example, the nozzle member 4530 ejects a supercritical fluid toward the lower surface of the substrate S thereon or a supercritical fluid is simultaneously supplied to both the upper surface of the lower substrate S and the lower surface of the upper substrate S It may be sprayed.

On the other hand, one end of the nozzle member 4530 may not be located at the center of the substrate S.

Fig. 10 is a view showing a modified example of the nozzle member 4530 of Figs. 4 and 5. Fig.

Referring to FIG. 10, one end of the nozzle member 4530 may be located at an edge or outside of the substrate S when viewed from above. Such a nozzle member 4530 can jet a supercritical fluid into a space between the substrates S adjacent to each other. At this time, the nozzle member 4530 can jet the supercritical fluid in parallel to the upper surface and the lower surface of the substrate S. When supercritical fluid is sprayed from the edge or outside of the substrate S, the supercritical fluid moves from the edge of the substrate S to the opposite edge of the substrate S by the horizontal velocity component of the fluid, In the entire region of < / RTI > In addition, a supercritical fluid is simultaneously provided on the lower surface of the upper substrate S of the nozzle member 4530 and the upper surface of the lower substrate S.

Although the substrate processing apparatus 100 according to the present invention has been described as processing a substrate by supplying a supercritical fluid to the substrate S, the substrate processing apparatus 100 according to the present invention must perform the supercritical process The present invention is not limited thereto. Accordingly, the second process chamber 4000 of the substrate processing apparatus 100 may process the substrate S by supplying another process fluid instead of the supercritical fluid to the supply port 4500. In this case, an organic solvent or various other constituent gases, a plasma gas, an inert gas, or the like may be used instead of the supercritical fluid as the process fluid.

Further, the substrate processing apparatus 100 may further include a controller for controlling the components. For example, the controller may control the heating member 4400 to adjust the internal temperature of the housing 4100. [ Alternatively, the controller may control valves installed in the supply line 4550 or the exhaust line 4650 to control the flow rate of the drug or supercritical fluid. For example, the controller may be configured such that when either the upper supply port 4110 and the lower supply port 4120 start supplying supercritical fluid first, the internal pressure of the second process chamber 4000 reaches a preset pressure , The other one may be controlled to start supplying the supercritical fluid.

Such a controller may be implemented in a computer or similar device using hardware, software, or a combination thereof.

In hardware, the controller may be implemented as an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), digital signal processors (DSPs), digital signal processing devices (DSPDs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) micro-controllers, microprocessors, or electrical devices that perform similar control functions.

Also, the software may be implemented by software code or software applications written in one or more programming languages. The software is executed by a hardware-implemented control unit. The software may be installed by being transmitted from an external device such as a server in the hardware configuration described above.

Hereinafter, the substrate processing method according to the present invention will be described using the substrate processing apparatus 100 described above. However, since this is merely for the sake of explanation, the substrate processing method may be performed by using another apparatus which is the same or similar to the substrate processing apparatus 100 described above. Further, the substrate processing method according to the present invention can be stored in a computer-readable recording medium in the form of a code or a program for performing the processing.

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the substrate processing method will be described. One embodiment of the substrate processing method relates to the cleaning process in general.

11 is a flowchart of one embodiment of a substrate processing method.

Referring to FIG. 11, an embodiment of a substrate processing method includes a step S 110 of carrying a substrate S into a first process chamber 3000, a step S 120 of performing a chemical process, a step of performing a rinsing process (S130), performing an organic solvent process (S140), bringing a substrate (S) into a second process chamber (4000) (S150), performing a supercritical drying process (S160) (S170) of accommodating the substrate (S) in the container (C) placed on the substrate (1100). On the other hand, the steps described above are not necessarily executed in the order described, and the steps described later may be performed prior to the steps described earlier. This is true in other embodiments of the substrate processing method described later. Each step will be described below.

The substrate S is carried into the first process chamber 3000 (S110). First, a transfer device such as an overhead transfer or the like places the container C in which the substrate S is housed in the load port 1100. When the container C is placed, the index robot 1210 pulls the substrate S from the container C and loads it into the buffer slot. The substrate S loaded in the buffer slot is withdrawn by the transfer robot 2210, is transferred to the first process chamber 3000, and is placed on the support plate 3110.

When the substrate S is carried into the first process chamber 3000, a chemical process is performed (S120). When the substrate S is placed on the support plate 3110, the nozzle axis 3230 moves and rotates by the nozzle soccer synchronizer 3240 so that the nozzle 3210 is positioned above the substrate S. The nozzle 3210 ejects the cleaning agent onto the upper surface of the substrate S. When the cleaning agent is sprayed, foreign matter is removed from the substrate S. At this time, the rotary actuator 3130 can rotate the substrate S by rotating the rotary shaft 3120. When the substrate S is rotated, the cleaning agent is uniformly supplied to the substrate S and scattered from the substrate S. The scattered cleaning agent flows into the recovery tank 3310 and is sent to the fluid recovery system (not shown) through the recovery line 3320. At this time, the lifting / lowering motors 3340 raise / lower the collection box 3310 so that the cleaning agent scattered to any one of the plurality of collection bins 3310 flows through the lifting bar 3330.

When the foreign substance on the substrate S is sufficiently removed, a rinsing process is performed (S130). When the chemical process is completed, foreign substances are removed from the substrate S, and the cleaning agent remains. The nozzles 3210 for spraying the cleaning agent from the plurality of nozzles 3210 are separated from the upper portion of the substrate S and the other nozzles 3210 are moved to the upper portion of the substrate S, . When rinsing agent is supplied to the substrate (S), the cleaning agent remaining on the substrate (S) is cleaned. The rotation of the substrate S and the recovery of the medicament can be performed even during the rinsing process. The elevator shaft synchronizing unit 3340 adjusts the height of the recovery cylinder 3310 so that the rinsing agent is introduced into the recovery cylinder 3310 and the recovery cylinder 3310 in which the cleaning agent is recovered.

When the substrate S is sufficiently cleaned, an organic solvent process is performed (S140). When the rinsing process is completed, another nozzle 3210 moves to the upper portion of the substrate S to spray the organic solvent. When the organic solvent is supplied, the rinsing agent on the substrate S is replaced with an organic solvent. On the other hand, during the organic solvent process, the substrate S can be rotated or rotated at a low speed. When the organic solvent evaporates directly on the substrate S, the surface tension of the organic solvent causes the interfacial tension to act on the circuit pattern, so that the circuit pattern can be destroyed.

When the organic solvent process is completed in the first process chamber 3000, the substrate S is carried into the second process chamber 4000 (S150), and the second process chamber 4000 performs a supercritical drying process S160). Steps S150 and S160 will be described in detail in another embodiment of a substrate processing method to be described later.

When the supercritical drying process is completed, the substrate S is accommodated in the container C placed on the rod port 1100 (S170). When the second process chamber 4000 is opened, the transfer robot 2210 takes out the substrate S. [ The substrate S moves to the buffer chamber 2100 and can be withdrawn from the buffer chamber 2100 by the index robot 1110 and accommodated in the container C. [

Hereinafter, another embodiment of the substrate processing method will be described. Another embodiment of the substrate processing method relates to a method in which the second process chamber 4000 performs a supercritical drying process.

12 is a flowchart of another embodiment of the substrate processing method.

12, an embodiment of the substrate processing method may include a step S210 in which the substrate S is placed on the first support member 4320a, a step in which the substrate S is placed on the second support member 4320b The upper supply port 4510 and the nozzle member 4530 are separated from each other by the supercritical fluid flow rate of the supercritical fluid in the step S220, the housing 4100 is closed in S230, the lower supply port 4520 supplies the supercritical fluid S240, (S250) supplying the fluid, discharging the supercritical fluid (S260), and removing the substrate (S) (S270). Each step will be described below.

13 and Fig. 14 are operation diagrams of the substrate processing method of Fig.

13, the substrate S is carried into the second process chamber 4000 by the transfer robot 2210 and is mounted on the first support member 4320a (S110) Is carried into the second process chamber 4000 by the transfer robot 2210 and is mounted on the second support member 4320b. Here, the substrate S may be transferred to the substrate S through the organic solvent process in the first process chamber 3000, and the substrate S may be transferred into the state in which the organic solvent remains.

Here, steps S110 and S120 may be performed first, step S110 may be performed first, step S120 may be performed first, step S110 may be performed after step S120, or both steps may be performed simultaneously. In addition, the housing 4100 may be in a state in which the upper housing 4110 and the lower housing 4120 are spaced apart from each other.

14, when the substrates S are seated, the elevating member 4200 moves up the lower housing 4120 to engage with the upper housing 4110. [ Accordingly, the housing 4100 or the second process chamber 4000 is sealed (S130).

When the second process chamber 4000 is sealed, the lower supply port 4520 injects the supercritical fluid into the lower region inside the second process chamber 4000 (S140). Here, the supercritical fluid may be supercritical carbon dioxide. In this process, the heating member 4400 can heat the inside of the housing 4100.

When the supercritical fluid is sufficiently supplied to the interior of the second process chamber 4000, the temperature and the pressure exceed the threshold value, and a supercritical atmosphere is formed inside the second process chamber 4000.

When the supercritical atmosphere is formed, the upper supply port 4510 and the nozzle member 4530 inject the supercritical fluid (S160). Thus, the supercritical fluid is provided on the pattern surface of the substrate S which is seated on the support members 4320, and the organic solvent remaining between the circuit patterns is dissolved, and the substrate S is dried.

At this time, the upper supply port 4510 is connected to the substrate S placed on the first supporting member 4320a, and the nozzle member 4530 is connected to the substrate S placed on the second supporting member 4320b. Respectively, so that the supercritical drying process is effectively performed on the two substrates S.

If the drying of the substrate S is sufficiently performed, the foreign substances generated in the supercritical fluid drying process and the supercritical drying process are discharged from the second process chamber 4000 (S160). Accordingly, the internal pressure of the process chamber 4000 can be atmospheric pressure. The elevating member 4200 moves down the lower housing 4120 to open the second processing chamber 4000 and the substrate S is carried out by the transfer robot 2210 in step S170.

On the other hand, if the supercritical fluid is saturated in the process of dissolving the organic solvent or the like in the supercritical fluid in step S150, the drying efficiency may be lowered. Therefore, in order to improve the drying efficiency, the supercritical fluid used in the supercritical drying process may be exhausted and the new supercritical fluid may be supplied. That is, steps S150 and S160 may be performed several times, and supply and exhaust of supercritical fluid may be repeated.

The above-described embodiments of the present invention are described in order to facilitate understanding of the present invention to those skilled in the art, so the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments.

Therefore, it is to be understood that the present invention may be embodied in many other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. For example, the present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. All of the modifications are included.

In addition, the scope of protection of the present invention should be construed according to the following claims, and all inventions within the scope of the claims should be construed as being included in the scope of the present invention.

100: substrate processing apparatus
1000: index module 1100: load port 1200: transfer frame
1210: index robot 1220: index rail
2000 Process module 2100 Buffer chamber 2200 Transfer chamber
2210: transfer robot 2220: transferring rail
3000: first process chamber 3100: support member 3200: nozzle member
3300: recovery member
4000: second process chamber 4100: housing 4110: upper housing
4120: lower housing 4200: elevating member 4300: supporting unit
4310: support bar 4320: support member 4400: heating member
4500: Supply port 4510: Upper supply port 4520: Hebei supply port
4530: nozzle member 4600: exhaust port
C: vessel S: substrate

Claims (23)

A housing for providing a space in which the process is performed;
A plurality of support members disposed in the interior of the housing and spaced apart from each other in the vertical direction and each supporting the edges of the plurality of substrates;
An upper supply port formed in the upper wall of the housing and injecting process fluid;
And a nozzle member having one end for ejecting the process fluid from the side, the nozzle member being positioned between the adjacent substrates,
Wherein the nozzle member extends vertically from the top wall through the top wall of the housing and is bent in parallel with the substrate between the plurality of substrates to supply the process fluid to the substrate.
/ RTI > delete The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the nozzle member has one end located at a central portion of the substrate when viewed from above
/ RTI > The method of claim 3,
Wherein the nozzle member is provided to eject the process fluid toward an upper surface of a lower substrate of the substrates adjacent to each other
/ RTI > The method of claim 3,
The nozzle member is provided to simultaneously spray the process fluid toward the upper surface of the lower substrate and the lower surface of the upper substrate among the adjacent substrates
/ RTI > The method according to claim 4 or 5,
The nozzle member is provided to inject the process fluid radially in an oblique direction with respect to the vertical direction
/ RTI > The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the nozzle member is provided for ejecting the process fluid in a direction parallel to the substrate, the one end being located at an edge region or outside of the substrate when viewed from above
/ RTI > A housing for providing a space in which the process is performed;
A plurality of support members disposed in the interior of the housing and spaced apart from each other in the vertical direction and each supporting the edges of the plurality of substrates;
A nozzle member having one end for injecting the process fluid when viewed from the side, the nozzle member being positioned between the adjacent substrates; And
And a lower supply port formed in a lower wall of the housing and injecting the process fluid
/ RTI > delete 9. The method of claim 8,
And a controller for supplying the process fluid to the lower supply port and controlling the injection of the process fluid to the nozzle member when the internal pressure of the housing reaches a predetermined pressure
/ RTI > The method according to any one of claims 1 and 3 to 5 and 7 to 8 and 10,
Further comprising: a support bar extending downward from an upper wall of the housing,
The plurality of support members are arranged at regular intervals in the support bar
/ RTI > The method according to any one of claims 1 and 3 to 5 and 7 to 8 and 10,
The housing includes an upper housing and a lower housing disposed below the upper housing,
And a lifting member for lifting one of the upper housing and the lower housing to open and close the housing,
/ RTI > The method according to any one of claims 1 and 3 to 5 and 7 to 8 and 10,
The process fluid includes a supercritical fluid chain
/ RTI > A housing for providing a space in which the process is performed;
A first support member for supporting an edge of the first substrate;
A second support member for supporting an edge of the second substrate;
An upper supply port formed in the upper wall of the housing and injecting supercritical fluid toward the upper surface of the second substrate; And
Further comprising: a nozzle member having one end for ejecting the process fluid from a side view, the nozzle member being positioned between adjacent substrates,
Wherein the nozzle member extends vertically from the top wall through the top wall of the housing and is bent in parallel with the substrate between the plurality of substrates to supply the process fluid to the substrate.
/ RTI > 15. The method of claim 14,
Wherein the nozzle member has, as viewed from the side, one end thereof positioned between the first support member and the second support member
/ RTI > 16. The method of claim 15,
Wherein the nozzle member is configured to eject the supercritical fluid toward an upper surface of the first substrate
/ RTI > 16. The method of claim 15,
Wherein the nozzle member is configured to inject the supercritical fluid into a space between the first substrate and the second substrate
/ RTI > 18. The method according to any one of claims 14 to 17,
Further comprising: a support bar extending downwardly from an upper wall of the housing,
Wherein the first support member extends horizontally at a lower end of the support bar,
The second support member extends in a horizontal direction in the middle of the support bar
/ RTI > delete delete delete delete delete

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