KR20060075458A - Developing apparatus for the semi-conductor wafer - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a semiconductor wafer developing apparatus, comprising: a chamber; Two or more catch cups installed in the chamber; A spin chuck installed in each of the catch cups and having a wafer fixed to an upper surface thereof; It provides a semiconductor wafer developing apparatus comprising a dispenser nozzle for injecting a photosensitive liquid and the like on the wafer from the top of the spin chuck.

According to the present invention, the development process can be performed on two or more wafers while maintaining the same factors affecting the development degree, such as the line width and the line width uniformity, so that the development degree for each wafer can be reduced without lowering the productivity. Since it can be kept almost the same, the wafer yield can be increased.

Wafer, development, development degree, line width.

Description

Developing apparatus for the semi-conductor wafer

1 is a partial cutaway view showing an example of a conventional semiconductor wafer developing apparatus.

2 is a partial cutaway view showing an embodiment of a semiconductor wafer developing apparatus according to the present invention.

3 is a partial cutaway view showing another embodiment of a semiconductor wafer developing apparatus according to the present invention.

4 is a graph showing an average value of line widths of wafers developed by the developing apparatus of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a graph showing an average value of line widths of a wafer developed through the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2.

<Explanation of symbols for main parts of the drawings>

102: chamber,

104: air duct,

110: slide body,

112: guide rail,

114: vertical arm,

116: horizontal moving mechanism,

118: horizontal arm,

120: dispenser nozzle,

130: catch cup,

132: spin chuck.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a semiconductor wafer developing apparatus, and more particularly, to a developing apparatus for developing a pattern exposed by photolithography.

The photolithography process in the semiconductor manufacturing process is a process for forming a desired pattern on a wafer, and uniformly applying a photoresist film such as photoresist to the surface of the wafer after cleaning and drying, on a photomask having a predetermined layout thereon. After performing an exposure process according to a specific pattern, it means a process of forming an intended pattern on the surface of the wafer by removing unnecessary portions of the pattern exposed in the development process.

In the developing step, the developer is sprayed onto the exposed wafer surface so that the exposed or unexposed portion is left or removed on the wafer surface in response to the developer, depending on the characteristics of the photosensitive film. Thereafter, DI water is sprayed to clean the wafer surface.

1 shows an example of a conventional developing apparatus. The developing apparatus includes a chamber 10 for blocking a wafer from an external foreign matter during a process, and an air duct 12 for introducing outside air is installed at an upper portion of the chamber 10. An air filter (not shown) is installed at the end of 12 to prevent intrusion of foreign matter such as dust.

On the other hand, the inside of the chamber 10 is provided with a nozzle 24 for injecting the developer and the cleaning solution on the surface of the wafer, the nozzle 24 is fixed to the end of the horizontal arm (22). Here, the horizontal arm 22 serves to transfer the nozzle 24 to the wafer side. One end of the horizontal arm 22 is fixed to a vertical arm 20 installed vertically from the bottom of the chamber 10, and the nozzle 24 is connected to the developer and the cleaning solution reservoir through a conduit (not shown). Thus, the developer and the cleaning solution are sprayed onto the wafer surface.

Meanwhile, a cylindrical catch cup 30 is positioned at one side of the vertical arm 20, and a spin chuck 32 connected to the rotation shaft 34 is installed inside the catch cup 30. The spin chuck 32 serves to fix the wafer. As the wafer rotates at a high speed by the rotation of the rotating shaft 34, application, cleaning, and drying of the developer are performed.

Here, in order to improve productivity, it is common to provide two or more of the same developing devices. Productivity can be increased because the process can be carried out at two or more places at the same time, but in order to obtain stable wafer yield, the degree of development, i.e., line width and line width uniformity, must be substantially the same in each developing apparatus.

However, since the mechanical differences between the respective developing apparatuses are inevitably existed, there is a difference in the degree of development. In the developing apparatus, factors affecting such line width and line width uniformity are as follows.

1. Ambient conditions in the chamber (temperature, humidity, wind speed)

2. Chemical temperature of developer

3. Developer nozzle status

4. Rotating Speed

5. Catch cup inside condition

6. Develop recipe

There are various other factors, but the above six factors are the main factors. Therefore, the above 1 to 5 are all related to the mechanical conditions of the developing unit, and it is very difficult to maintain the same line width and line uniformity in the two wafers in which the developing process is performed in the respective chambers.

The present invention has been made to overcome the disadvantages of the prior art as described above, it is possible to maintain the same degree of development, such as the line width and line width uniformity of two or more wafers at the same time the development process is performed without lowering the productivity It is a technical problem to provide a semiconductor wafer developing apparatus.

The present invention to achieve the above technical problem, the chamber; Two or more catch cups installed in the chamber; A spin chuck installed in each of the catch cups and having a wafer fixed to an upper surface thereof; It provides a semiconductor wafer developing apparatus comprising a dispenser nozzle for injecting a photosensitive liquid and the like on the wafer from the top of the spin chuck.

That is, in the present invention, by installing two or more catch cups in one chamber and simultaneously developing the two or more wafers, the development degree such as the line width and the line width uniformity in each wafer can be maintained uniformly. It is.

Preferably, the spin chuck may be configured to spray photoresist or the like on top of the plurality of spin chucks simultaneously. As a result, not only the atmospheric conditions but also the state of the developing solution in the chamber can be maintained the same, so that the degree of development can be maintained more uniformly.

Here, the dispenser nozzle may be arranged across the top of the plurality of spin chuck. In other words, by extending the width of the dispenser nozzle so that the width of the dispenser nozzle can be arranged above all of the plurality of spin chucks, the spraying conditions of the developer and the like can be made the same.

In addition, the dispenser nozzle may further include a moving means to be positioned above the respective spin chuck. In other words, after the developer is sprayed on one wafer, the dispenser nozzle is moved to spray the developer on the other wafer.

The moving means may include a dispenser arm on which one end of the dispenser nozzle is mounted; It is coupled to the other end of the arm, it may be to include a rotating shaft rotatably installed on the bottom of the chamber. The moving unit may further include a dispenser arm having one end mounted with the dispenser nozzle; It may include a slide body coupled to the other end of the arm and slidably installed on the bottom of the chamber.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings will be described in detail an embodiment of a semiconductor wafer developing apparatus according to the present invention.

2, the chamber 102 of the first embodiment 100 of the semiconductor wafer developing apparatus according to the present invention basically has the same shape as the chamber shown in FIG. Of course, the shape of the chamber 102 is not necessarily limited to that shown, and may have any shape having a space in which a catch cup and a nozzle may be installed. An air duct 104 for introducing outside air is connected to the upper portion of the chamber 102 to reduce the drying time by introducing the outside air into the inside of the chamber 102.

Meanwhile, a guide rail 112 extending along the width direction of the chamber 102 is installed on the bottom surface of the chamber 102, and the slide body 110 may move along the guide rail in the guide rail 112. It is mounted so that. The slide body 110 is provided with a driving means therein, can move under the control of the controller (not shown) of the embodiment. A vertical arm 114 is installed at an upper portion of the slide body 110 to extend in the height direction of the chamber, and a horizontal moving mechanism 116 is installed at an upper portion of the vertical arm 114.

The horizontal movement mechanism 116 serves to advance or retract the horizontal arm 118 inserted therein, so that the horizontal arm 118 moves toward the catch cup to be described later, or the home position (operation initial position). You can retreat. The dispenser nozzle 120 is installed at the end of the horizontal arm 118. The dispenser nozzle 120 is connected to the developer and the cleaning solution reservoir by a conduit (not shown), and is moved to an arbitrary position in the chamber 102 by the slide body 110 and the horizontal moving mechanism 116. And the cleaning liquid can be injected.

Two catch cups 130 are installed at the front of the guide rail 112. The catch cup 130 has a cylindrical shape, and the upper end portion is bent toward the center to prevent the injected developer and the cleaning solution from leaking to the outside. The central portion of the catch cup 130 is provided with a spin chuck 132 is fixed on the rotating shaft 134 is rotated by a separate drive means (not shown). The spin chuck 132 is to fix the wafer to the upper surface to rotate at a high speed. The spin chuck 132 allows the developer and the cleaning solution injected through the dispenser nozzle 120 to be evenly applied to the surface of the wafer and to allow faster drying. do.

Therefore, in the above embodiment, the development process can be performed on two wafers at the same time. At this time, the atmospheric conditions in the chamber among the five mechanical factors affecting the degree of development such as the line width and the line width uniformity can be developed in the same state, and if the distance between the catch cup is set short, the state of the nozzle and developer The same can be taken to minimize the difference in the degree of development of the two wafers.

On the other hand, in addition to the illustrated embodiment, it is also possible to consider an embodiment of extending the nozzle to the left and right so that the developer can be sprayed on two wafers at the same time in a fixed state without moving the slide body. In addition, although two catch cups are shown in FIG. 2, an embodiment in which more catch cups are installed may be considered.

3, a second embodiment of a semiconductor wafer developing apparatus according to the present invention is shown. The chamber 102 and the air duct 104 in the second embodiment 200 may employ the one shown in FIG. 2. Similarly, the catch cup 130 and the spin chuck 132 may also employ the same.

On the other hand, a vertical arm 202 is installed on the bottom surface of the chamber 102, the vertical arm 202 is rotatably installed by a separate drive means (not shown) such as a motor. A horizontal movement mechanism 204 is provided at the upper end of the vertical arm 202, and is configured to advance or retract the horizontal arm 206 provided in the horizontal movement mechanism 204. At the end of the horizontal arm 206, a dispenser nozzle 208 for injecting the developer and the cleaning solution onto the surface of the wafer loaded on the spin chuck 132 is provided.

In the embodiment 200, the vertical arm 202 does not move horizontally, but rather approaches the upper portion of each catch cup 130 by rotation. At this time, the horizontal movement mechanism 204 moves to the upper portion of the wafer fixed to the spin chuck 132 of the dispenser nozzle 208. When adjusting the length of the horizontal arm 206, the horizontal movement mechanism 204 You can also omit the installation of.

Although two catch cups are installed in the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, an embodiment in which three or more catch cups are installed may be considered. In this case, the respective catch cups are preferably arranged on the circumference around the vertical arm.

4 and 5 illustrate a development degree of the wafer according to the conventional developing apparatus and the embodiment shown in FIG. 2. As shown in FIG. 4, in the conventional developing apparatus, the difference in the line width average value of the wafer developed in each developing apparatus is large, but in the graph shown in FIG. 5, the difference is remarkably reduced.

According to the present invention having the above-described configuration, the development process can be performed on two or more wafers while maintaining the same factors affecting the degree of development such as line width and line width uniformity, so that the productivity can be reduced without reducing productivity. Since the degree of development on the wafer can be maintained about the same, the wafer yield can be increased.

Claims (6)

A chamber; Two or more catch cups installed in the chamber; A spin chuck installed in each of the catch cups and having a wafer fixed to an upper surface thereof; And a dispenser nozzle for spraying a photoresist or the like onto the wafer from the upper portion of the spin chuck. The method of claim 1, The spin chuck is a semiconductor wafer developing apparatus, characterized in that for spraying a photosensitive liquid and the like on top of the plurality of spin chuck at the same time. The method of claim 2, And the dispenser nozzle is disposed across the tops of the plurality of spin chucks. The method of claim 1, And moving means for allowing the dispenser nozzle to be positioned above the respective spin chucks. The method of claim 4, wherein The means of transportation A dispenser arm on which one end of the dispenser nozzle is mounted; And a rotating shaft coupled to the other end of the arm and rotatably installed on the bottom of the chamber. The method of claim 4, wherein The means of transportation A dispenser arm on which one end of the dispenser nozzle is mounted; And a slide body coupled to the other end of the arm and slidably installed on the bottom of the chamber.

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