KR20070058179A - Photoresist coating apparatus and method for processing suck back thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

A photoresist applying apparatus and a suck back processing method are provided to accurately supply a photoresist liquid by synchronizing a recovery completing point of a diaphragm and a spraying completing point of the photoresist liquid. A nozzle(140) sprays a photoresist liquid supplied from a photoresist liquid source onto a semiconductor substrate. The photoresist liquid source is connected to the nozzle by a duct(134) for forming a flow path of the photoresist liquid. A suck back valve(110) is installed in the duct, and has a diaphragm(112) for uniformly supplying the photoresist liquid from the nozzle and controlling suck back operation of the photoresist liquid. The suck back valve is controlled in such a way that a recovery completing point of the diaphragm and a spraying completing point of the photoresist liquid are synchronized.

Description

Photoresist Coating Apparatus and Method for Processing Limeback {{PHOTORESIST COATING APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR PROCESSING SUCK BACK THEREOF}

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Fig. 1 shows a partial configuration of a photoresist coating apparatus according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a waveform diagram for explaining a back-back operation of a general photoresist coating apparatus; FIG. And

3 is a waveform diagram for explaining the back-back operation of the photoresist coating apparatus according to the present invention.

Explanation of symbols on the main parts of the drawings

100 photoresist coating device 102 photoresist supply source

104: buffer tank 106: pump

108: filter 110: seat back valve

112: diaphragm 114: air operated valve

116: seat back capacity control valve 118: seat back speed control valve

120: disconnection speed regulating valve 122: main valve

124, 130: solenoid valve 126, 128: pump driven valve

132: control unit 134: piping

136: discharge valve 140: nozzle

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to semiconductor manufacturing equipment, and more particularly, to a photoresist coating apparatus for synchronizing a back-back operation to uniformly apply a trace amount of photoresist.

A typical photoresist application apparatus sprays a photoresist solution through a nozzle connected to a photoresist source to apply it to the loaded wafer surface. The sprayed photoresist solution is cured after a certain time, and the wafer is unloaded and transferred to a subsequent process.

At this time, the photoresist solution remains at the end of the nozzle where the injection of the photoresist solution is completed. If the remaining photoresist solution falls on the surface of the wafer, it may cause defects and affect subsequent processes. In order to prevent this, the photoresist application apparatus includes a seat back valve for a suck back operation of the nozzle. For example, the seat back valve is provided in the diaphragm (diaphragm) method therein.

Therefore, the photoresist coating apparatus processes a suck back operation of sucking the photoresist solution remaining at the nozzle end into the pipe by using the seat back valve after the injection of the photoresist solution is completed. Therefore, with a suck back, the photoresist solution is sucked from the nozzle end into the pipe to prevent the photoresist solution from curing at the nozzle.

However, in the general photoresist coating apparatus, the diaphragm of the seat back valve is rapidly recovered at the beginning of the injection point of the nozzle, so that the initial injection amount is not kept constant. For this reason, the photoresist coating apparatus using a small amount of photoresist is not uniformly applied. As a result, it may cause a subsequent process failure and degrade the product quality.

As described above, in the general coating apparatus, during the back-back operation used when spraying and applying a photoresist solution onto the wafer surface, the diaphragm inside the back-back valve is rapidly recovered at the beginning of the injection point of the nozzle, so that the injection amount is constant at the beginning of the injection. There is a problem that is not maintained. This causes uneven coating and adversely affects product quality. In addition, in the case of the photoresist solution, the injection amount is very small and the thickness uniformity has a great influence on the quality, and thus there is a need to prevent and improve it.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a photoresist application apparatus for the use of trace amounts of photoresist and for uniform application.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a photoresist application apparatus for applying a photoresist solution by synchronizing the initial time of injection of the nozzle and the completion of recovery of the seatback valve to process the seatback operation.

In order to achieve the above objects, the photoresist application apparatus is characterized by synchronizing the initial time of spraying the nozzle and the completion of recovery of the seat back valve to process the seat back operation. As such, the photoresist application apparatus enables the use of trace amounts of photoresist and uniform application.

The photoresist coating apparatus of the present invention includes a supply source for supplying a photoresist solution; A nozzle for injecting said photoresist solution from said source to a semiconductor substrate; A pipe provided between the source and the nozzle to form a movement path of the photoresist solution; And a seat back valve provided in the pipe so as to constantly supply the photoresist to the nozzle, and having a diaphragm for controlling the seat back operation of the photoresist from the nozzle; The photoresist coating apparatus adjusts the seat back valve so that the recovery completion point of the diaphragm in the seat back valve and the point of completing the injection of the photoresist from the nozzle are synchronized.

In one embodiment, the seat back valve; A first speed control valve controlling a speed of the seat back valve; A dose control valve for adjusting the seat back capacity; An air operated valve for preventing backflow of the photoresist solution during the slab operation; And a second speed control valve for adjusting the disconnection speed of the seat back valve.

In another embodiment, the photoresist coating apparatus; And a control unit for controlling the seat valve so that the recovery completion point of the diaphragm in the seat back valve and the point of completing the injection of the photoresist from the nozzle are synchronized.

Another feature of the present invention is to provide a method for processing a bag back operation in a nozzle of a photoresist coating device having a seat back valve. According to the method of processing the back-back operation of this aspect, the use of a small amount of photoresist and uniform application are made possible by synchronizing the recovery completion time of the diaphragm inside the seat-back valve with the completion time of spraying the photoresist from the nozzle. do.

This method supplies the photoresist solution from the photoresist source to the nozzle. The photoresist solution is sprayed from the nozzle onto the semiconductor substrate. The seat back valve is controlled such that the time point at which the photoresist solution is injected from the nozzle is completed and the point at which recovery of the diaphragm inside the seat back valve coincides. Then, it backs off from the said nozzle.

The embodiments of the present invention may be modified in various forms, and the scope of the present invention should not be interpreted as being limited by the embodiments described below. These examples are provided to more fully explain the present invention to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the shape of the components in the drawings, etc. have been exaggerated to emphasize a more clear description.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3.

1 is a view showing a part of the configuration of the photoresist coating apparatus according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, the photoresist coating apparatus 100 is a device for applying a photoresist solution to a surface of a wafer in a photolithography process, and supplies a photoresist solution from a port resist source 102 to a nozzle 140. In order to supply and spray the photoresist solution to the 134, a bellows-type pump 106 providing a proper pressure to the buffer tank 104, and a filter 108 for filtering foreign substances contained in the supplied photoresist solution. And a plurality of valves 110 to 130 whose opening and closing amounts are controlled to supply and spray the photoresist solution. At this time, the filter 108 is provided with a discharge valve 136 for removing bubbles generated when the photoresist solution is filtered by the filter. The pump 106 also includes pump drive valves 126 and 128 for driving the pump and solenoid valve 130 that is pneumatically controlled.

In addition, the photoresist application apparatus 100 includes a seat back valve 110 for adjusting a suck back operation of the nozzle 140, a plurality of valves 122 to 130 and a seat back valve for applying a photoresist solution. The controller 132 controls the operation of the 110. In addition, the controller 132 controls the back-back operation at the nozzle 140.

In detail, the photoresist application apparatus 100 accurately supplies a small amount of photoresist solution to the nozzle 140 and inhales to prevent the photoresist solution remaining at the end of the nozzle 140 from flowing down after injection. ). The seat back valve 110 is controlled by the control unit 132 capacity and speed for supply and suction.

The seatback valve 110 includes a diaphragm 112 provided therein, an air operated valve 114 for preventing backflow of the photoresist solution during the seatback operation, and a seatback capacity control valve 116. ), A disconnection speed control valve 120 and a seat back speed control valve 118. And a solenoid valve 124 and a pressure regulating main valve 122 for adjusting the internal pressure of the seat back valve 110. It also includes a solenoid valve 130 for adjusting the operation of the pump 106.

Therefore, the controller 132 processes and processes the suck back operation of the nozzle 140 in order to use a small amount of photoresist and to uniformly apply the same. That is, the suck back phenomenon is performed by an operation of restoring the state of the diaphragm 112 inside the seat back valve 110. Therefore, the controller 132 synchronizes the injection completion point of the nozzle 140 with the recovery completion point of recovery of the diaphragm 112 of the seat back valve 110 during the seat back operation.

When the photoresist solution is applied to the wafer surface in the conventional photoresist coating apparatus, as shown in FIG. 2, the diaphragm of the seat back valve is rapidly recovered at the beginning of the injection of the nozzle, thereby opening the valve 150 and Sukback operation 152 is made unstable so that the initial injection amount is not kept constant, the uniform application is not made.

However, the photoresist coating apparatus 100 of the present invention, as shown in Figure 3, when the completion of the injection of the nozzle 140 and the recovery completion point of recovery of the diaphragm 112 of the seat back valve 110 during By synchronizing, the opening operation 150 and the seat back operation 154 of the valve are stabilized to enable the use of a small amount of photoresist solution and uniform injection.

As described above, the photoresist coating apparatus 100 of the present invention is used to precisely spray and apply a photoresist solution to the surface of the wafer, and to prevent condensation and poor application dispersion at the nozzle 140 end. The operation of the valve 110 is synchronized so that the time point at which the photoresist solution is injected from the nozzle 140 and the recovery time point of the diaphragm 112 inside the seatback valve 110 coincide with each other. This maintains a constant and stable while the injection amount is injected to improve the coating uniformity of the photosensitive liquid.

In the above, the configuration and operation of the photoresist coating apparatus according to the present invention is shown in accordance with the detailed description and drawings, which are merely described by way of example, and various changes and modifications without departing from the technical spirit of the present invention. This is possible. For example, when a liquid chemical is applied by spraying onto the surface of an object, it is applicable to all manufacturing facilities which handle a suck back operation.

As described above, the photoresist coating apparatus of the present invention synchronizes the initial timing of injection of the nozzle with the completion of recovery of the seat back valve, thereby accurately supplying and using a small amount of photoresist solution, and enabling uniform coating.

In addition, the operation of the seat back valve is synchronized with the timing of completion of the injection of the photoresist solution from the nozzle and the time of completion of the recovery of the diaphragm inside the seat back valve, thereby maintaining a uniform and stable injection amount, thereby providing uniformity of coating and product performance. Can improve the quality.

Claims (4)

In a photoresist application device: A source for supplying the photoresist solution and A nozzle for injecting said photoresist solution from said source to a semiconductor substrate; A pipe provided between the source and the nozzle to form a movement path of the photoresist solution; And a seat back valve provided in the pipe so as to constantly supply the photoresist to the nozzle, and having a diaphragm for controlling the seat back operation of the photoresist from the nozzle; And the photoresist coating device adjusts the seat back valve so that the completion point of recovery of the diaphragm in the seat back valve and the point of completion of the injection of the photoresist from the nozzle are synchronized. The method of claim 1, The seat back valve is; A first speed control valve controlling a speed of the seat back valve; A dose control valve for adjusting the seat back capacity; An air operated valve for preventing backflow of the photoresist solution during the slab operation; And a second speed control valve for controlling a disconnection speed of the seat back valve. The method according to claim 1 or 2, The photoresist coating device is; And a control unit for controlling the seat valve so that the recovery completion point of the diaphragm in the seat back valve and the point of completing the injection of the photoresist from the nozzle are synchronized. In the method of processing the back-back operation of the photoresist coating device: Supplying a photoresist solution from the photoresist source to the nozzle; Spraying a photoresist solution from the nozzle onto a semiconductor substrate; Controlling the seat back valve such that a time point at which injection of the photoresist solution is completed from the nozzle and a point at which completion of recovery of the diaphragm inside the seat back valve coincide; A method for processing a back bag operation of a photoresist coating apparatus, comprising the step of backing it from the nozzle.

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