KR20080059519A - Substrate processing method and resist surface processing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

A method for processing a substrate and an apparatus for processing the surface of resist are provided to form a deformed layer on the surface of resist right after the resist is coated on a substrate without using a vacuum dry method to prevent thickness ununiformity of a resist film efficiently. A method for processing a substrate includes a step of coating resist on a to-be-processed substrate(S6), a step of spraying gas containing a chemical solution which reacts on the resist to form a deformed layer to the surface of the resist coated on the substrate, and a pre-baking step for evaporating a solvent left in the resist and improving the adhesiveness of the resist and the substrate(S7).

Description

Substrate Processing Method and Resist Surface Treatment Apparatus {SUBSTRATE PROCESSING METHOD AND RESIST SURFACE PROCESSING APPARATUS}

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a substrate processing method for applying a resist on a substrate to be processed by photolithography to dry it, and a resist surface treatment apparatus for performing a predetermined surface treatment on the resist applied on the substrate prior to prebaking. .

In the manufacture of liquid crystal displays (LCDs), if a resist is applied on a substrate to be processed (glass substrate) in a photolithography step, a heat treatment for evaporating the remaining solvent (generally thinner) in the resist, that is, prebaking is performed immediately. There is a problem that the evaporation of the solvent becomes uneven due to thermal effects from a lift pin, a support pin, or a dent groove that is in contact with the substrate in the heat treatment unit, resulting in unevenness in the film thickness of the resist. Therefore, prior to prebaking, the reduced-pressure drying process which forms the deterioration layer (hard layer) on the resist surface is volatilized by volatilizing the residual solvent in the resist on a board | substrate in a reduced pressure atmosphere to a predetermined | prescribed stage. Such a deteriorated layer on the surface of the resist has a function of preventing or reducing occurrence of nonuniformity by suppressing the flow of the bulk resist during prebaking.

A typical vacuum drying apparatus is, for example, as described in Patent Literature 1, which is configured such that a tray having a top surface is opened or a bottom chamber of a shallow bottom container type is hermetically adhered or fitted to the top surface of the bottom chamber. It has a lid-shaped upper chamber. In the lower chamber, a stage is arranged, the substrate on which the resist coating process is completed is horizontally loaded on the stage, the chamber is closed (the upper chamber is in close contact with the lower chamber), and the room is evacuated to a reduced pressure. When loading and unloading a substrate into the chamber, the upper chamber is lifted by a crane or the like to open the chamber, and the stage is appropriately raised by a cylinder or the like for loading / unloading of the substrate. And the loading / unloading of a board | substrate or loading / unloading is performed by the handling of the external conveyance robot which conveys a board | substrate around a pressure reduction drying apparatus. Moreover, many support pins protrude and are provided in the upper surface of a stage, and a board | substrate is made to mount on those support pins.

[Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-181079

As described above, the reduced pressure drying device needs to increase the chamber strength in order to increase the degree of decompression to approximately absolute vacuum, and the cost is set very high on a large scale. In addition, since the upper chamber is raised and lowered (opened and closed) every time the substrate is taken in and out of the chamber, various problems are caused with the increase in size of the substrate. That is, when the size of the substrate becomes larger than 2 m on one side like the LCD substrate, the chamber is also remarkably enlarged, and the weight of the upper chamber alone is 2 tons or more, requiring a large lifting mechanism. The problem of oscillation and the safety of the worker are present. Moreover, although the conveyance robot is also becoming larger in size, it becomes difficult to hold and convey a large board | substrate horizontally, and conveys the board | substrate immediately after application | coating of a resist like a large fan to the chamber of a pressure reduction drying apparatus by carrying out. Errors such as misalignment, collision, or breakage of the substrate during loading and unloading or loading / unloading of the substrate tend to occur. In addition, since the substrate is subjected to a reduced pressure drying process on the fin protruding from the upper surface of the stage in the chamber, traces of the fin may be transferred to the resist film on the substrate in the step of reduced pressure drying, which is a problem of this viscosity.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the problems of the prior art as described above, and a suitable altered layer is formed on the surface of the resist immediately after it is applied on the substrate to be processed without using a method of drying under reduced pressure, thereby preventing film thickness irregularities of the resist. An object of the present invention is to provide a substrate processing method and a resist surface treatment apparatus that can be prevented efficiently at low cost.

In order to achieve the above object, the substrate processing method of the present invention comprises a resist coating step of applying a resist on a substrate to be processed and a gas containing a chemical liquid component that reacts with the resist to form a deteriorated layer. And a pre-baking step of heating the substrate to evaporate the remaining solvent in the resist and to increase the adhesion of the resist to the substrate prior to the exposure treatment.

In addition, the resist surface treatment apparatus of the present invention has a first nozzle disposed to face the substrate to be processed immediately after applying the resist, and includes a gas containing a chemical liquid component that reacts with the resist to form a deteriorated layer. A chemical liquid component-containing gas spraying part sprayed from the nozzle and sprayed onto the resist on the substrate and relative movement between the first nozzle and the substrate such that the chemical liquid component-containing gas is sprayed onto the entire area of the surface of the resist It has a moving mechanism.

According to the present invention, by spraying a chemical component-containing gas (preferably air) onto a resist applied on a substrate to be treated, the chemical component (preferably, developer or vapor of HMDS) is a resist main component in the surface layer of the resist. It reacts chemically with the resin to crosslink the resin. In addition, the gas (air) also touches the resist, and at the same time, the surface of the resist is dried. Thereby, a deterioration layer can be formed in the film thickness equivalent to drying under reduced pressure on the surface of a resist.

In the present invention, before spraying the chemical liquid component-containing gas on the resist on the substrate, it is preferable to spray the drying gas to dry it with a physical force of wind pressure, and to form a very thin deteriorated film or its transposition film on the resist surface. By spraying the chemical liquid component-containing gas from such an electrode film, the altered layer on the surface of the resist can be formed stably and reproducibly.

According to a suitable aspect of the present invention, a chemical liquid component-containing gas or a drying gas is sprayed on a resist on a substrate in a strip-shaped laminar flow from a long spray nozzle. In this case, it is preferable to move the substrate substantially horizontally on the horizontal traveling conveyance path, and to spray gas to every corner of the resist on the substrate from one end to the other end of the substrate. Moreover, it is also preferable to arrange | position a spray nozzle in multiple stages along a conveyance path, and to repeatedly spray a chemical liquid component containing gas to the resist on a board | substrate.

According to the substrate processing method or the resist surface treatment apparatus of the present invention, an appropriate deterioration layer is formed on the surface of the resist immediately after being applied on the substrate by the configuration and action as described above without using a method of drying under reduced pressure. Thus, the film thickness nonuniformity of the resist can be effectively prevented at low cost.

EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION Hereinafter, preferred embodiment of this invention is described with reference to an accompanying drawing.

1 shows a coating and developing treatment system as one configuration example to which the substrate processing method and resist surface treatment apparatus of the present invention can be applied. This coating and developing treatment system 10 is installed in a clean room, for example, using a rectangular glass substrate as a substrate to be treated, and cleaning, resist coating, prebaking, developing and the like during the photolithography process in the LCD manufacturing process. A series of processes, such as post-baking, are performed. An exposure process is performed by the external exposure apparatus 12 provided adjacent to this system.

This coating and developing processing system 10 arranges a horizontally long process station (P / S) 16 at the center, and interfaces with the cassette station (C / S) 14 at both ends thereof in the longitudinal direction (X direction). The station (I / F) 18 is arranged.

The cassette station (C / S) 14 is a cassette loading / exporting port of the system 10. The cassette station (C / S) 14 allows stacking of the substrates G in multiple stages so that four or more cassettes C can be accommodated in one horizontal direction (Y direction). The cassette stage 20 which can arrange | position up to a stack, and the conveyance mechanism 22 which carries out the board | substrate G with respect to the cassette C on this stage are provided. The conveyance mechanism 22 has the conveyance arm 22a which can hold | maintain the board | substrate G by one sheet | seat, is operable in four axes of X, Y, Z, and (theta), and is adjacent to the process station P / S The substrate G can be transferred to the 16 side.

The process station (P / S) 16 arrange | positions each process part in process flow or process order in a pair of parallel and reverse lines A and B extended in the horizontal system longitudinal direction (X direction).

More specifically, on the process line A of the upstream portion from the cassette station (C / S) 14 side to the interface station (I / F) 18 side, an import unit (IN PASS) 24 and a cleaning process unit ( 26), the 1st thermal processing part 28, the application | coating process part 30, and the 2nd thermal processing part 32 are arrange | positioned in this order along the 1st horizontal traveling conveyance path 34 from an upstream side.

More specifically, the carry-in unit (IN PASS) 24 receives the unprocessed board | substrate G from the conveyance mechanism 22 of the cassette station (C / S) 14, and conveys a 1st horizontal advancing with predetermined | prescribed tact. It is comprised so that it may input into the furnace 34. The cleaning process part 26 installs the excimer UV irradiation unit (E-UV) 36 and the scrubber cleaning unit (SCR) 38 sequentially from the upstream along the 1st horizontal traveling conveyance path 34. The first thermal processing unit 28 is provided with an ad unit 40 and a cooling unit COL 42 in order from the upstream side. The application | coating process part 30 has provided the resist coating unit (COT) 44 and the resist surface treatment unit (VD) 46 in order from the upstream side. The second thermal processing unit 32 is provided with a pre-baking unit (PRE-BAKE) 48 and a cooling unit (COL) 50 in order from the upstream side. A pass unit (PASS) 52 is provided at the end point of the first horizontal traveling conveyance path 34 located near the downstream side of the second thermal processing unit 32. The board | substrate G conveyed on the 1st horizontal traveling conveyance path 34 by horizontal progress is transmitted to the interface station (I / F) 18 from the pass unit (PASS) 52 of this end point. .

On the other hand, in the process line B downstream from the interface station (I / F) 18 side to the cassette station (C / S) 14 side, the developing unit (DEV) 54 and the post-baking unit (POST-BAKE) 56, a cooling unit (COL) 58, an inspection unit (AP) 60 and an export unit (OUT PASS) 62 line up in this order from the upstream side along the second horizontal traveling conveying path 64 It is arranged. Here, the post-baking unit (POST-BAKE) 56 and the cooling unit (COL) 58 constitute the third thermal processing unit 66. The carrying out unit (OUT PASS) 62 receives the processed substrate G one by one from the second horizontal traveling conveying path 64, and transfers it to the conveying mechanism 22 of the cassette station (C / S) 14. It is configured to deliver.

The auxiliary conveyance space 68 is provided between both process lines A and B, and the process line direction (X direction) is provided by the drive mechanism which is not shown by the shuttle 70 which can load the board | substrate G horizontally by one unit. ) Can move in both directions.

The interface station (I / F) 18 is a conveying apparatus 72 for transferring the substrate G to the first and second horizontal traveling conveying paths 34 and 64 or the adjacent exposure apparatus 12. ), The rotary stage (R / S) 74 and the peripheral device 76 are disposed around the conveying device 72. The rotary stage (R / S) 74 is a stage which rotates the board | substrate G in a horizontal plane, and is used for converting the direction of the rectangular board | substrate G at the time of delivery to the exposure apparatus 12. As shown in FIG. The peripheral device 76 connects, for example, a titler TITLER, a peripheral exposure device EE, and the like to the second horizontal traveling conveyance path 64.

Fig. 2 shows a processing procedure of all the steps with respect to one substrate G in this coating and developing processing system. First, in the cassette station (C / S) 14, the conveyance mechanism 22 takes out one board | substrate G from any cassette C on the stage 20, and removes the board | substrate ( G) is carried into the loading unit (IN PASS) 24 on the process line A side of the process station (P / S) 16 (step S1). The board | substrate G moves or mounts on the 1st horizontal traveling conveyance path 34 from the loading unit IN PASS 24.

The board | substrate G put into the 1st horizontal traveling conveyance path 34 is initially carried out to the excimer UV irradiation unit (E-UV) 36 and the scrubber cleaning unit (SCR) 38 in the washing | cleaning process part 26. Ultraviolet light washing process and scrubbing washing process are performed in turn (step S2, S3). The scrubber cleaning unit (SCR) 38 removes particulate contamination from the substrate surface by performing brushing or blow cleaning on the substrate G that moves horizontally on the horizontal traveling conveyance path 34. After that, a rinse treatment is performed, and finally, the substrate G is dried using an air knife or the like. When a series of cleaning processes in the scrubber cleaning unit (SCR) 38 are complete | finished, the board | substrate G descends the 1st horizontal traveling conveyance path 34 in that state, and passes through the 1st thermal processing part 28. FIG.

In the first thermal processing unit 28, the substrate G is first subjected to an adjuvant treatment using a vaporous HMDS in the advance unit AD 40 to hydrophobize the surface to be treated (step S4). After the completion of this advice processing, the substrate G is cooled to the predetermined substrate temperature in the cooling unit COL 42 (step S5). Subsequently, the board | substrate G descends the 1st horizontal traveling conveyance path 34, and is carried in to the application | coating process part 30. FIG.

In the coating process section 30, the substrate G is first applied with a resist liquid on the upper surface of the substrate (to-be-processed surface) by a spinless method using a slit nozzle in a horizontally advancing state in the resist coating unit (COT) 44. Immediately after this, the altered layer forming process described later is subjected to a resist surface treatment unit (VD) 46 near the downstream side (step S6).

The board | substrate G which exited the application | coating process part 30 descends the 1st horizontal traveling conveyance path 34, and passes through the 2nd thermal processing part 32. As shown in FIG. In the second thermal processing unit 32, the substrate G is first subjected to prebaking as a heat treatment after application of a resist or a heat treatment before exposure in a pre-baking unit (PRE-BAKE) 48 (step S7). By this prebaking, the solvent remaining in the resist film on the substrate G is removed by evaporation, thereby enhancing the adhesion of the resist film to the substrate. Next, the substrate G is cooled to a predetermined substrate temperature in the cooling unit (COL) 50 (step S8). Then, the board | substrate G is transmitted to the conveyance apparatus 72 of the interface station (I / F) 18 from the pass unit (PASS) 52 of the end point of the 1st horizontal traveling conveyance path 34.

In the interface station (I / F) 18, the substrate G is brought into the peripheral exposure apparatus EE of the peripheral device 76 after receiving a 90 degree direction change in the rotary stage 74, for example. Then, after receiving the exposure for removing at the time of image development the resist adhering to the periphery of the board | substrate G, it is sent to the adjacent exposure apparatus 12 (step S9).

In the exposure apparatus 12, a predetermined circuit pattern is exposed to the resist on the substrate G. Subsequently, when the substrate G, which has finished the pattern exposure, is returned from the exposure apparatus 12 to the interface station (I / F) 18 (step S9), the substrate G is first moved to the titler TITLER of the peripheral apparatus 76. It is carried in and predetermined information is recorded there in a predetermined part on a board | substrate (step S10). Then, the board | substrate G is the developing unit of the 2nd horizontal traveling conveyance path 64 attached to the process line B side of the process station (P / S) 16 by the conveying apparatus 72 ( DEV) is carried in to the point in time 54.

Thus, the board | substrate G is conveyed to the downstream side of the process line B on the 2nd horizontal traveling conveyance path 64 next. In the first developing unit (DEV) 54, a series of developing processes of developing, rinsing and drying are performed while the substrate G is conveyed in a horizontal progression (step S11).

The board | substrate G which completed the series of image development processing in the image development unit (DEV) 54 is the 3rd thermal processing part 66 and a test | inspection unit AP with the state mounted on the 2nd horizontal traveling conveyance path 64 in that state. Pass through (60). In the third thermal processing unit 66, the substrate G is first subjected to post-baking as a heat treatment after the development treatment in the post-baking unit (POST-BAKE) 56 (step S12). By this post-baking, the developer or cleaning solution remaining in the resist film on the substrate G is removed by evaporation, thereby enhancing the adhesion of the resist pattern to the substrate. Next, the substrate G is cooled to a predetermined substrate temperature in the cooling unit (COL) 58 (step S13). In the inspection unit (AP) 60, non-contact line width inspection, film quality, film thickness inspection, etc. are performed with respect to the resist pattern on the board | substrate G (step S14).

The carrying out unit (OUT PASS) 62 receives the on-board G after finishing the processing of all processes from the second horizontal traveling conveying path 64, and carries the conveyance mechanism of the cassette station (C / S) 14 ( 22). On the cassette station (C / S) 14 side, the cassette C of any one (usually original) of the processed substrate G received by the transfer mechanism 22 from the export unit (OUT PASS) 62. (Step S1).

In this coating and developing processing system 10, the present invention can be applied to a resist surface treatment unit (VD) 46 in the coating process unit 30. 3-5, the structure and operation | movement of the resist surface treatment unit (VD) 46 in the application | coating process part 30 in suitable embodiment of this invention are demonstrated in detail.

3 is a plan view showing the overall configuration of the coating process unit 30 in the present embodiment. FIG. 4 is a side view showing the structure of the resist surface treatment unit (VD) 46, and FIG. 5 is a partial cross-sectional side view showing the operation of the main part in the resist surface treatment unit (VD) 46. FIG.

In Fig. 3, the resist coating unit (COT) 44 includes a floating stage 80 that constitutes a part or a section of the first horizontal traveling conveying path 34 (Fig. 1), and The resist liquid on the substrate conveyance mechanism 82 which conveys the board | substrate G floating in the air on the stage 80 to the stage longitudinal direction (X direction), and the upper surface of the board | substrate G which conveys the stage 80 image. It has a resist nozzle 84 which supplies a, and the nozzle refresh part 86 which refreshes the resist nozzle 84 between application | coating processes.

The upper surface of the stage 80 is provided with a plurality of gas injection holes 88 for injecting a predetermined gas (for example, air) upwards, and the substrate is formed by the pressure of the gas injected from the gas injection holes 88. (G) is comprised so that it may float to a fixed height from a stage upper surface.

The substrate conveyance mechanism 82 includes a pair of guide rails 90A and 90B extending in the X direction with the stage 80 interposed therebetween, a slider 92 that can reciprocate along these guide rails 90A and 90B, and And a substrate holding member (not shown) such as an adsorption pad provided on the slider 92 so as to detachably hold both side ends of the substrate G on the stage 80. It is configured to carry out floating conveyance of the board | substrate G on the stage 80 by moving the slider 92 to a conveyance direction (X direction).

The resist nozzle 84 is a long nozzle extending across the stage 80 in the horizontal direction (Y direction) orthogonal to the conveying direction (X direction), and passes directly below it at a predetermined coating position. The resist liquid is discharged in a band form from the slit-shaped discharge port with respect to the upper surface of the substrate G. Moreover, the resist nozzle 84 is comprised so that it may move to a X direction integrally with the nozzle support member 94 which supports this nozzle, and can raise / lower in a Z direction, The said application position and the nozzle refresh part 86 It is possible to move between.

The nozzle refresh unit 86 is held by the support pillar member 96 at a predetermined position above the stage 80, and is a priming processing unit for discharging the resist liquid to the resist nozzle 84 as a preparation for the coating process. (98), the nozzle bus 100 for maintaining the resist discharge port of the resist nozzle 84 in the atmosphere of solvent vapor from the purpose of drying prevention, and removing the resist adhering to the resist discharge port vicinity of the resist nozzle 84 For nozzle cleaning mechanism 102 is provided.

Here, the main action in the resist coating unit (COT) 44 will be described. First, the board | substrate G sent, for example by the cloud conveyance from the 1st thermal processing part 28 (FIG. 1) of the front end is carried in to the carrying-in part set in the front end side on the stage 80, and the slider which waited there ( 92 holds and receives the board | substrate G. On the stage 80, the substrate G is kept in a floating state in a substantially horizontal posture under the pressure of the gas (air) injected from the gas injection port 88.

Then, the slider 92 moves in the conveying direction (X direction) toward the resist surface treatment unit (VD) 46 while holding the substrate, and the substrate G passes under the resist nozzle 84. At this time, the resist nozzle 84 discharges the liquid resist R in a band shape toward the upper surface of the substrate G, thereby spreading the carpet on the substrate G from the front end portion to the rear end portion of the substrate G. A liquid film of R) is formed on one surface. Thus, the board | substrate G to which the resist R was apply | coated was floated and conveyed on the stage 80 by the slider 92 after that, to the rolling conveyance path 104 mentioned later beyond the rear end of the stage 80. The holding and the holding by the slider 92 are released therefrom. The board | substrate G which moved to the rolling conveyance path 104 from the front to the rolling conveyance path 104 on the rolling conveyance path 104, and to the resist surface treatment unit (VD) 46 of the rear end as mentioned later. It is brought in.

After sending out the substrate G on which the coating process is completed, to the resist surface treatment unit (VD) 46 side as described above, the slider 92 is the front end side of the stage 80 to receive the next substrate G. Return to the fetch of. When the resist nozzle 84 finishes the coating process once or a plurality of times, the resist nozzle 84 moves from the coating position (resist discharge position) to the nozzle refresh unit 86, where the refresh or preliminary preparation such as nozzle cleaning or priming treatment is performed. Then, it returns to an application position.

As shown in Fig. 3, a portion or a section of the first horizontal traveling conveying path 34 (Fig. 1) is disposed on the extension line (downstream side) of the stage 80 of the resist coating unit (COT) 44. The rolling conveyance path 104 which comprises is provided. This rolling conveyance path 104 terminates or exits the resist surface processing unit (VD) 46, and is continued to the 2nd thermal processing part 32 (FIG. 1).

In the resist surface treatment unit (VD) 46, various kinds of resist surface treatments according to the present invention are performed on the upper surface (to-be-processed surface) of the substrate G which is conveyed on the rolling conveyance path 104 in a horizontal direction. The gas spraying parts 106, 108, 110 are arranged in multiple stages (in the example shown in the third stage) in the conveying direction (X direction) along the rolling conveyance path 104.

More specifically, as shown in Fig. 4, in the housing 112 of the resist surface treatment unit (VD) 46, a drying gas spraying portion 106 is disposed near the inlet, and the first portion is placed in the middle portion. The chemical liquid component-containing gas spraying unit 108 is disposed, and the second chemical liquid component-containing gas spraying unit 110 is disposed near the outlet.

The drying gas spraying part 106 arrange | positions the long injection nozzle 114 and the long suction port 116 in one set through the gas guide plate 118 above the rolling conveyance path 104. As shown in FIG. Here, the injection nozzle 114 is arrange | positioned downstream of the conveyance direction (X direction) rather than the suction port 116. As shown in FIG. The discharge port of the injection nozzle 114 traverses the rolling conveyance path 104 with the gap | interval of the board | substrate G on the rolling conveyance path 104 and predetermined distance (for example, 5-15 mm) (Y direction). Extending in a slit shape. The suction port 116 also extends in a slit shape in parallel with the discharge port of the injection nozzle 114. The spray nozzle 114 and the suction port 116 operate when the substrate G passes directly below each on the rolling carrier path 104. That is, the injection nozzle 114 introduces the drying air A sent from the air supply part 120 and the blower 122 through the supply pipe 124, and introduces the introduced drying air A into the porous plate in a nozzle. It is made to pass through 114a, and it is ejected by predetermined pressure (wind pressure) and uniform laminar flow from the slit-shaped discharge port toward the board | substrate G directly below. The inlet 116 is connected to the exhaust part 126 of the exhaust pump or the exhaust fan through the exhaust pipe 128, and touches the upper surface of the substrate G to stay in the gap below the gas guide plate 118. (A) is sucked and recovered.

Similarly, the first chemical component-containing gas spraying unit 108 also has a long spray nozzle 130 and a long suction port 132 provided in one set above the rolling carrier path 104 through the gas guide plate 134. I am placing it. Here, the injection nozzle 130 is arrange | positioned downstream of the conveyance direction (X direction) rather than the suction port 132, and the discharge port of the injection nozzle 130 is predetermined distance (the board | substrate G on the rolling conveyance path 104). For example, it extends in the slit shape in the direction (Y direction) which traverses the rolling conveyance path 104 with the gap of 5-15 mm). The suction port 132 also extends in a slit shape in parallel (Y direction).

Also in the 1st chemical liquid component containing gas spraying part 108, the injection nozzle 130 and the suction port 132 operate | move when the board | substrate G passes directly under each on the rolling conveyance path 104. As shown in FIG. More specifically, the injection nozzle 130 introduces the chemical liquid component-containing air B ₁ sent from the air supply unit 120, the chemical liquid vapor generation unit 136, and the blower 138 through the gas supply pipe 140. The introduced chemical liquid component-containing air B ₁ is passed through the porous plate 130a in the nozzle and jetted at a predetermined pressure (wind pressure) and uniform laminar flow from the slit-shaped discharge port toward the substrate G directly below. . The inlet 132 is connected to the exhaust unit 142 in the exhaust pump or the exhaust fan through the exhaust pipe 144, and contains the chemical liquid component that contacts the upper surface of the substrate G and stays in the gap under the gas guide plate 134. The air B ₁ is sucked and recovered.

Similarly, the 2nd chemical | medical agent component containing gas spraying part 110 also sets the long injection nozzle 146 and the long suction port 148 into one set above the cloud conveyance path 104 via the gas guide plate 150. I am placing it. In addition, the injection nozzle 146 is arrange | positioned downstream of the conveyance direction (X direction) rather than the suction port 148, and the discharge port of the injection nozzle 146 has a predetermined distance from the board | substrate G on the rolling conveyance path 104. It extends in the slit shape in the direction (Y direction) which traverses the rolling conveyance path 104 across a gap. The suction port 148 also extends in a slit shape in parallel (Y direction).

Also in the 2nd chemical liquid component containing gas spraying part 110, the injection nozzle 146 and the suction port 148 are made to operate when the board | substrate G passes directly under both nozzles on the rolling conveyance path 104. As shown in FIG. . The injection nozzle 146 introduces the chemical liquid component-containing air B ₂ sent from the air supply unit 120, the chemical liquid vapor generating unit 136, the heater 152, and the blower 154 through the gas supply pipe 156. The introduced chemical liquid component-containing air B ₂ is passed through the porous plate 146a in the nozzle and blown out at a predetermined pressure (wind pressure) and uniform laminar flow from the slit-shaped discharge port toward the substrate G directly below. . The inlet 148 is connected to the exhaust part 142 through the exhaust pipe 158 and contacts the upper surface of the substrate G to retain the chemical liquid component-containing air B ₂ remaining in the gap below the gas guide plate 150. It is designed to inhale and recover.

The air supply part 120 has a filter, a pump, etc., Preferably, it supplies dry clean air. Although not shown, the chemical vapor generating unit 136 stores a chemical liquid (for example, developer, HMDS (hexamethyldisilazane)) having a property of reacting with a resist to form a deteriorated layer (hard layer); The bubbler provided in the bottom part of this chemical tank is provided with the nitrogen gas supply part which supplies nitrogen gas as a carrier gas, The chemical liquid vaporizes and inject | pours into the bubble of nitrogen gas produced from the said bubbler, and vapor of chemical liquid is carried out. It is supposed to occur. The heater 152 is mounted to the gas supply pipe 156 to heat the chemical liquid component-containing air B ₂ supplied to the injection nozzle 146 of the second chemical liquid component-containing gas sprayer 110 to a predetermined temperature. The blowers 138 and 154 consist of, for example, a blower or a fan, blow the air from the air supply unit 120 and the chemical liquid vapor from the chemical liquid vapor generating unit 136 to the inlet side, and pressurize the chemical liquid from the outlet side. and discharging the air-containing component (B _1, B _2), respectively.

On the ceiling of the housing 112, a fan filter unit (FFU) 160 for supplying clean air in a downflow is mounted in place. Moreover, the exhaust port 162 is provided in one place or several places in the bottom wall or bottom which extends below the rolling conveyance path 104, and each exhaust port 162 is the exhaust pipe 164 Is connected to the exhaust part 166 of the exhaust pump or the exhaust fan. The gas leaked from each of the gas spraying units 106, 108, 110 is allowed to dry in the clean air of the downflow from the ceiling, and is discharged to the outside from the exhaust port 162 at the bottom.

Near the inlet of the housing 112, a proximity switch or position sensor 168 is provided for detecting the timing at which the substrate G enters into the resist surface treatment unit (VD) 46 on the rolling carrier path 104. have. The output signal of this position sensor 168 is sent to the controller (not shown) which controls the operation | movement of each part and whole in the resist surface processing unit (VD) 46. As shown in FIG.

The rolling conveyance path 104 arranges the rod-shaped rolling device 170 horizontally by a fixed pitch in a conveyance direction (X direction). Although not shown, each rolling device 170 is rotatably supported, for example, by a bearing fixed to a frame or the like, and is connected to a conveying drive source such as an electric motor through a transmission mechanism such as a gear mechanism or a belt mechanism. have.

Next, the operation in the resist surface treatment unit (VD) 46 will be described.

As mentioned above, the board | substrate G by which the resist R was apply | coated in the resist application unit (COT) 44 of the upstream vicinity moves to the rolling conveyance path 104 from the floating conveyance path on the stage 80, and is carried out. And into the housing 112 of the resist surface treatment unit (VD) 46 by the rolling conveyance of horizontal progression. In the housing 112, the board | substrate G which moves on the rolling conveyance path 104 by rolling conveyance of a fixed speed | rate is stripped from the injection nozzle 114 at the time of passing through the drying gas spraying part 106 at the beginning. Drying air A is sprayed by laminar flow of shape. Thus, when the laminar flow of drying air A touches the board | substrate G from upper direction, the wind pressure of the drying air A acts as a physical force on the resist R which is the uppermost layer of the board | substrate G, and FIG. As shown in Fig. 5, a very thin (several hundreds of micrometers or less) of a deteriorated layer or its transposition film (hard layer) RA is formed on the surface of the resist R from the front end to the rear end of the substrate G. In Fig. 5, the underlying film 172 on the substrate G is a film to be processed (film to be subjected to circuit pattern formation) of photolithography.

And when it exits the drying gas spraying part 106, the board | substrate G will pass through the 1st chemical liquid component containing gas spraying part 108 on the cloud conveyance path 104, and here, the upper injection nozzle 130 here, The chemical liquid component-containing air B ₁ is sprayed with a strip-shaped laminar flow from As such, the laminar flow of the chemical liquid component-containing air B ₁ contacts the resist R on the substrate G, whereby the chemical liquid component chemically reacts with the resin, which is the main component of the resist, at the surface layer of the resist R, thereby crosslinking the resin. . At the same time, the air flow also touches the resist R on the substrate G, so that an appropriate pressure is applied to the surface of the resist R to promote the crosslinking reaction and to exhibit a drying effect. In this manner, as shown in FIG. 5, the deteriorated layer RB ₁ having a film thickness that is substantially meaningful (thousands of kPa or more) on the surface of the resist R from the front end portion to the rear end portion of the substrate G is formed. It is formed.

Immediately afterwards, even when the substrate G passes through the second chemical liquid component-containing gas spraying unit 110 at the rear end, the chemical liquid component-containing air B ₂ is sprayed by a band-shaped laminar flow from the upper injection nozzle 146. do. As described above, the laminar flow of the chemical liquid component-containing air (B ₂ ) repeatedly touches the resist (R) on the substrate (G), whereby the chemical liquid component exiting the existing altered layer (RB ₁ ) from the surface layer of the resist (R) becomes a resist. It reacts chemically with resin which is a main component, and crosslinks resin. In this manner, as shown in FIG. 5, the deteriorated layer on the surface of the resist R is grown from RB ₁ to RB ₂ by one step from the front end to the rear end of the substrate G. FIG. In the second chemical liquid component-containing gas spraying unit 110, the chemical liquid component-containing air B ₂ is heated by the heater 152 as described above in order to effectively promote the growth of the deteriorated layer RB. have. In addition, it is also preferable to further raise the wind pressure of the chemical liquid component-containing air B ₂ .

In this way, while the substrate G passes through the resist surface treatment unit (VD) 46 on the rolling conveyance path 104, the multi-stage gas spray units 106, 108, 110 as described above are used. By receiving the resist surface treatment, the deteriorated layer RB having a film thickness (for example, about 3000 kPa) equivalent to that when the vacuum drying is carried out on the entire surface of the resist R on the substrate G is formed. Thereby, in the 2nd thermal processing part 32, when the board | substrate G is subjected to the heat processing of prebaking in the pre-baking unit (PRE-BAKE) 48, it thermally influences from the member which contacts the board | substrate G. Even if the movement of the bulk portion of the resist R is uneven, the non-uniform effect is suppressed by the rigid deteriorated layer RB ₂ . As a result, unevenness of the film thickness hardly occurs in the resist (R). This improves the line width accuracy of the circuit pattern.

As described above, the resist surface treatment unit (VD) 46 of the present embodiment sprays the air A in a laminar flow in the air with respect to the resist R coated on the substrate G, thereby forming a surface of the resist. Drying to some extent, and then spraying the chemical liquid component-containing air (B ₁ , B ₂ ) repeatedly in a laminar flow to form a deteriorated layer (RB) on the resist surface, thereby greatly simplifying and reducing the cost of the device configuration. Can be planned. In addition, both the carrying in and out of the board | substrate G in the resist surface treatment unit (VD) 46 and the scan of the resist surface treatment are performed by cloud conveyance. As a result, the transfer robot is unnecessary, and the substrate is bent like a fan so that errors such as misalignment, collision and damage are not caused during loading and unloading. In addition, since the support pin is not used, there is no fear that transfer marks may occur in the resist on the substrate G in the resist surface treatment unit (VD) 46.

As mentioned above, although preferred embodiment was described, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, A various deformation | transformation is possible within the scope of the technical idea.

For example, although it accompanies a certain fall in terms of an effect (deformation layer formation), the structure which abbreviate | omits the drying gas spraying part 106 of the first stage is also possible. Moreover, the structure which abbreviate | omits one of the chemical liquid component containing gas spraying parts 108 and 110, and provides only one stage of a chemical liquid component containing gas spraying part is also possible, of course. Or the structure provided with three or more steps of a chemical liquid component containing gas spraying part is also possible. In addition, it is also possible to substitute the air used by each gas spraying part 106,108,110 with nitrogen gas. It is also possible to use the chemical liquid mist as a chemical liquid component by using an apparatus for generating chemical liquid mist instead of the chemical liquid vapor generator 136.

Although not shown in figure, the structure which replaces the rolling conveyance path 104 with other horizontal traveling conveyance paths, such as a belt conveyance path or a floating conveyance path, is also possible. In particular, in the case of using the floating conveying path, the floating surface stage 80 and the substrate conveying mechanism 82 in the resist coating unit (COT) 44 in the vicinity of the upstream side are formed on the resist surface treatment unit (VD) 46. It can also be used for the internal substrate moving mechanism. In addition, although not shown in figure, the structure which moves or displaces the nozzle of the gas spraying part 106, 108, 110 in a conveyance direction (X direction) or a vertical direction (Z direction) is also possible.

Although the resist surface treatment method of this invention is generally suitable for application to a positive resist, it is applicable also to a negative resist.

The to-be-processed substrate in this invention is not limited to the glass substrate for LCD, Another flat panel display board | substrate, a semiconductor wafer, a CD board | substrate, a photomask, a printed board, etc. are also possible. The coating liquid to be subjected to the vacuum drying treatment is not limited to the resist liquid, and for example, a processing liquid such as an interlayer insulating material, a dielectric material, and a wiring material may be used.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Fig. 1 is a plan view showing the configuration of an applicable coating and developing treatment system of the present invention.

2 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure in the coating and developing processing system.

3 is a plan view showing the overall configuration of an application process portion in the embodiment;

4 is a side view showing the configuration of a resist surface treatment unit according to the embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a partial cross-sectional side view showing the operation of the main part in the resist surface treatment unit of the embodiment; FIG.

<Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

10: coating and developing treatment system

30: coating process part

46: resist surface treatment unit (VD)

104: cloud carrier

106: drying gas spraying unit

108: first chemical liquid component-containing gas spraying unit

110: second chemical liquid component-containing gas spraying unit

120: air supply

122, 138, 154: blower

114, 130, 146: injection nozzle

116, 132, 148: inlet

118, 134, 150: gas guide plate

126, 142: exhaust

136: chemical vapor generation unit

170: cloud device

Claims (12)

A resist coating step of applying a resist on the substrate to be processed, A resist surface treatment process of spraying a gas containing a chemical liquid component reacting with the resist to form a deteriorated layer on the surface of the resist applied on the substrate; And a pre-baking step of heating the substrate in order to evaporate the remaining solvent in the resist and to increase the adhesion of the resist to the substrate. A resist coating step of applying a resist on the substrate to be processed, A first resist surface treatment step of spraying a first gas for drying onto a surface of the resist on the substrate; A second resist surface treatment process of spraying a second gas containing a chemical liquid component reacting with the resist to form a deteriorated layer on the surface of the resist applied on the substrate; And a pre-baking step of heating the substrate in order to evaporate the remaining solvent in the resist and to increase the adhesion of the resist to the substrate. The substrate treating method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the chemical liquid component is a vapor of a developing solution. The method of claim 1, wherein the chemical liquid component is vapor of HMDS. The method of claim 1, wherein the gas is air. The substrate processing method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the gas is sprayed on the surface of the resist on the substrate in a strip-shaped laminar flow. A first nozzle disposed opposite the substrate to be processed immediately after applying the resist, and spraying a gas containing a chemical liquid component reacting with the resist to form a deterioration layer from the first nozzle to spray the resist on the substrate; Chemical liquid component-containing gas spraying part, The resist surface treatment apparatus which has a movement mechanism which makes relative movement between the said 1st nozzle and the said board | substrate so that the said chemical liquid component containing gas may be sprayed to the whole area | region of the surface of the said resist. 10. The method of claim 7, further comprising a drying gas sprayer having a second nozzle disposed to face the substrate, spraying a drying gas from the second nozzle, and spraying the resist onto the substrate; Relative between the second nozzle and the substrate by the moving mechanism such that the drying gas is sprayed onto the surface of each portion of the resist on the substrate prior to the spraying of the chemical liquid component-containing gas by the first nozzle. A resist surface treatment apparatus for moving. The resist surface treatment apparatus of Claim 7 or 8 which has a conveyance path for the said moving mechanism to support the said board | substrate substantially horizontally, and to convey it to a horizontal progression in a predetermined conveyance direction. 10. The resist surface treatment apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the chemical liquid component-containing gas sprayer arranges the first nozzle in multiple stages along the conveyance path. The resist surface treatment apparatus according to claim 7 or 8, wherein the first nozzle is a long nozzle having a slit discharge port extending in a direction crossing the conveying path. The resist surface treatment apparatus according to claim 8 or 10, wherein the second nozzle is a long nozzle having a slit discharge port extending in a direction crossing the conveying path.

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