KR20090110632A - Substrate treating apparatus having two fluid nozzle - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A substrate treating apparatus is provided to enhance a cleaning effect by preventing generation of a droplet when a first gas and a mixture of liquid are collided with a substrate. CONSTITUTION: A substrate treating apparatus includes a dual fluid nozzle(120). The dual fluid nozzle forms a droplet by colliding a gas supplied from a gas supply part and a liquid supplied from a liquid supply part. The substrate treating apparatus cleans a substrate by colliding the droplet with a surface of the substrate. The dual fluid nozzle comprises an inner cylinder(121) and an outer cylinder(125). A liquid path is formed inside the inner cylinder.

Description

Substrate treatment apparatus equipped with an airflow nozzle {SUBSTRATE TREATING APPARATUS HAVING TWO FLUID NOZZLE}

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention [0001] The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus having an air nozzle, and more particularly, to a substrate processing apparatus for cleaning a surface of a substrate by including an air nozzle mixing and spraying a gas and a liquid onto a semiconductor substrate.

In recent years, as semiconductor devices become more dense, highly integrated, and higher in performance, micronization of circuit patterns proceeds rapidly, and contaminants such as particles, organic contaminants, and metal contaminants remaining on the substrate surface have a great influence on device characteristics and production yield.

The cleaning process for removing various contaminants adhering to the surface of the substrate is very important in the semiconductor manufacturing process due to this reason, and the process for cleaning the substrate is performed at the front and rear stages of each unit process for manufacturing the semiconductor.

As described above, the substrate treating apparatus for cleaning the surface of the substrate includes an airflow nozzle for cleaning the substrate by colliding droplets formed when the liquid and gas are mixed and sprayed on the surface of the substrate. Since the reduced force range that the substrate surface can physically withstand than the conventional size is reduced, the air nozzle is being researched to obtain a high cleaning effect by using a smaller mist.

1 and 2 are shown as an example of such a device.

1 is a side view schematically showing a conventional substrate processing apparatus, which is disclosed in Korean Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 10-2004-100865.

Referring to FIG. 1, the substrate processing apparatus 1 includes a plurality of chuck pins provided in a circumferential direction between a rotational shaft 11 and a disk-shaped spin base 12 and a spin base 12 arranged perpendicularly to the upper end thereof. A spin chuck 10 composed of a 13) and a double-fluid nozzle 52 for supplying droplets of deionized water to the substrate W supported by the spin chuck 10, wherein the rotary shaft 11 is driven to rotate. The mechanism 14 is coupled so that the substrate W supported by the spin chuck 10 can be rotated.

The valves 24V and 25V and the pressure gauge 25P are provided in the pipes 24 and 25 of the deionized water and nitrogen gas supplied to the airflow nozzle 52.

The airflow nozzle 52 is coupled to the nozzle movement mechanism 23 through the arm 21, and the nozzle movement mechanism 23 receives the airflow nozzle 52 connected to the arm 21 by the substrate (W). Can be moved from above. The opening and closing of the valves 24V and 25V, and the operation of the rotary driving mechanism 14 and the nozzle moving mechanism 23 are controlled by the controller 53.

FIG. 2 is a side cross-sectional view showing the dual nozzle shown in FIG. 1. FIG.

The two-fluid nozzle 52 shown in FIG. 2 is an externally mixed type to generate droplets of deionized water by colliding nitrogen gas with a treatment liquid (deionized water) outside the casing. At this time, the droplets have a volume center diameter of 5 μm to 40 μm, and the droplets collide with the surface of the substrate W to remove particles attached to the surface of the substrate.

Reference numeral 54 denotes an external cylinder, 55 denotes an internal cylinder, 56 denotes a treatment liquid flow path, 57 denotes a treatment liquid inlet, 58 denotes a treatment liquid discharge port, 59 denotes a cylindrical oil passage, 60 denotes a gas introduction port, and 61, 62, 63 denotes a gas. The flow path 64 represents a gas discharge port.

Meanwhile, Korean Patent Application Publication No. 10-2007-78373 discloses a method of controlling the density of sprayed droplets by controlling the flow rate of gas and liquid, the distance between the substrate and the airflow nozzle, and controlling the particles by spraying the droplets having the density on the substrate. The technology is open to the public.

In addition, Korean Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 10-2006-87580 discloses a technique for uniformizing the particle diameter and velocity of droplets by defining the ratio between the internal structure of the air nozzle and the diameter and length of the orifice.

However, in the conventional substrate processing apparatus, the droplet size is controlled by controlling the flow rates of gas and liquid, but it is unknown how much damage such droplets cause to the pattern of the substrate. If no larger force is applied to the substrate, the substrate pattern is damaged, resulting in a defect.

In addition, when the gas and the liquid is injected through the two-fluid nozzle disclosed in the Republic of Korea Patent Publication Nos. 10-2004-100865 and 10-2007-78373, droplets hit the substrate to form a water fog shape and scattered to the top Water droplets are formed around the orifice, which is the end of the nozzle, and when the water droplets fall on the substrate, water spots are generated and the substrate is defective.

In addition, since the air nozzle shown in Korean Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-2006-87580 is injected through an orifice after gas and liquid are mixed inside the air nozzle, particle size re-aggregates when the orifice passes, and thus the particle size is constant. There is a problem in that it causes damage to the substrate pattern by such irregular particles resulting in a substrate failure.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object thereof is to provide a substrate processing apparatus having a nozzle structure that can prevent water condensation from occurring in an orifice of an airflow nozzle.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a substrate processing apparatus which can prevent the droplets collided with the substrate from scattering and enhance the cleaning effect.

The present invention for achieving the above object is provided with a double-fluid nozzle for colliding the gas supplied from the gas supply unit and the liquid supplied from the liquid supply unit to form a droplet, the liquid is impinged on the surface of the substrate to clean the substrate A substrate processing apparatus for performing the above, the air nozzle comprises: an inner cylinder having a liquid flow path formed therein, and an outer cylinder having a gas flow path formed between the inner cylinder and the outer circumferential surface of the inner cylinder; The outer cylinder includes a first orifice defining a gas flow path between the outer cylinder and an outer circumferential surface of the inner cylinder, and a second orifice extending from an end of the first orifice and having a smaller diameter than the first orifice. It is characterized by.

In this case, the diameter ratio of the second orifice and the first orifice may be 1: 1.5 to 2.5.

In addition, the mixing point of the gas and liquid may be configured to be formed within 10mm from the lower end of the outer cylinder which is the outer space of the second orifice.

In addition, the second orifice may be configured to have an inclined surface that is enlarged outward from the end of the orifice.

On the other hand, a second outer cylinder is formed outside the outer cylinder to form a second gas flow path between the outer cylinder outer peripheral surface, the second gas flowing through the second gas flow path is a gas and liquid injected to the substrate It may be configured to be sprayed to surround the outer periphery of the.

According to the present invention, there is an advantage in that water droplets fall on the substrate to prevent substrate defects by preventing water condensation in the orifice of the air nozzle.

In addition, by providing a second outer cylinder in which the second gas is injected outside the outer cylinder in which the first gas is injected, the cleaning effect can be enhanced by preventing droplets from scattering when the mixture of the first gas and the liquid collides with the substrate. There is an advantage.

Hereinafter, the configuration and operation of the preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Figure 3 is a schematic diagram showing the overall configuration of a substrate processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The substrate processing apparatus 100 supports the substrate W and simultaneously rotates the substrate support and rotation mechanism 110 for rotating the substrate, and injects gas and liquid to remove particles on the surface of the substrate W. Nozzle drive for moving the airflow nozzle 120, the nozzle up and down drive mechanism 130 for varying the vertical position of the airflow nozzle 120, and the airflow nozzle 120 to the central portion and the peripheral portion of the substrate (W) Mechanism 140, gas control unit 151 for controlling the flow rate and pressure of the gas supplied to the air nozzle 120, liquid control unit for controlling the flow rate and pressure of the liquid supplied to the air nozzle (120) 152, an impact sensing unit 160 for measuring a force applied to the substrate W when the droplets formed in the airflow nozzle 120 collide with the substrate W, and the shock sensing unit 160 detects the force. Screen display unit 170 for displaying the force so that the user can see, the gas control Detecting the vertical position of the main control unit 180, the substrate (W) for controlling the entire system, including the 151 and the liquid controller 152, the vertical position of the substrate (W) and the impact detection unit (160) equally It consists of a substrate position sensor 190 for holding.

Before the cleaning of the substrate W is performed, the airflow nozzle 120 is positioned above the impact sensing unit 160 shown in FIG. 3 (this position is referred to as an origin position). ) To the cleaning position for cleaning, to the region where the substrate W of FIG. 3 is placed by the nozzle driving mechanism 140 (that is, the upper region of the substrate supporting and rotating mechanism 110, hereinafter referred to as 'cleaning position'). Is moved.

The gas control unit 151 and the liquid control unit 152 are provided with a flow meter for measuring the flow rate of the gas and liquid, a pressure gauge for measuring the pressure supplied, a valve, a controller, etc. for controlling the supply of gas and liquid It is possible to adjust the flow rate and pressure of the gas and liquid to be supplied.

The gas control unit 151 and the liquid control unit 152 are respectively provided with a gas supply unit (not shown) and a liquid supply unit (not shown).

The impact detection unit 160 is installed at the home position where the air nozzle 120 is located before the cleaning process is performed. The shock detection unit 160 is configured of a shock sensor for detecting the impact when the droplets sprayed from the airflow nozzle 120 collides.

For example, the shock sensor is a load cell capable of measuring the force by compressing or stretching when a force is generated, such that the deformation is detected as an electrical signal and then converted into a digital signal by a computer device. load cell) can be used.

Here, when the droplets are injected onto the substrate W by the air nozzle 120, the impact (force) applied to the substrate W may be the flow rate and pressure of the gas / liquid, the air nozzle 120 and the substrate W. Determined by the distance between.

In the present embodiment, the distance between the lower end of the airflow nozzle 120 and the upper surface of the substrate W, and the lower end of the airflow nozzle 120 and the impact sensing unit when the airflow nozzle 120 is in the origin position. It set to the same distance as (160).

Therefore, the force applied by the airflow nozzle 120 at the origin position to the impact sensing unit 160 is the same as the force applied by the airflow nozzle 120 at the cleaning position on the substrate W. In this way, the impact detection unit 160 can detect the same shock as the actual impact received by the substrate (W).

The shock detection unit 160 is provided with a shock detection unit positioning mechanism (not shown) to adjust its position.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view illustrating an airflow nozzle of the substrate processing apparatus illustrated in FIG. 3, and FIG. 5 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of an orifice portion of the airflow nozzle illustrated in FIG. 4.

The airflow nozzle 120 has an outer cylinder in which a gas flow path is formed between an inner cylinder 121 having a liquid flow path formed therein and the inner cylinder 121 inserted therein and an outer circumferential surface of the inner cylinder 121. Consists of 125.

The inner cylinder 121 moves downward while forming a first step portion 121a for forming an outer body of the gas flow path on the side of the liquid inlet 122a and a step in which the thickness is reduced in the first body portion 121a. The second body portion 121b that extends, the first end portion 121c and the first end portion 121c having a smaller diameter are formed while forming a step from the end of the second body portion 121b to the inside thereof. The second end 121d extends downward while forming a step. The outer peripheral surface of the lower end of the second end 121d is formed of a tapered inclined surface 121e.

The liquid flow path is formed inside the inner cylinder 121, and is configured as an inner space from the liquid introduction port 122a into which the liquid is introduced to the liquid discharge port 122b from which the liquid is discharged. It is supplied in a direction perpendicular to the substrate W.

The outer cylinder 125 has a space formed therein so that the inner cylinder 121 is inserted inward, and a gas introduction hole 126a formed in a horizontal direction with respect to the substrate W is formed at a side surface thereof.

Inside the outer cylinder 125, a first inner circumferential surface 125a for forming a gas flow path between an outer circumferential surface of the first end 121c of the inner cylinder 121, and a second of the inner cylinder 121. A gas flow path is formed between the end 121d and the outer circumferential surface and extends below the second inner circumferential surface 125b and the second inner circumferential surface 125b having a diameter smaller than that of the first inner circumferential surface 125a. The first inclined surface 125c tapered inwardly to correspond to the inclined surface 121e, the third inner circumferential surface 125d extending vertically from the lower end of the first inclined surface 125c, and the third inner circumferential surface 125d. The second inclined surface 125e is formed to extend from the lower end of the tapered shape and taper outward.

Accordingly, the gas flow path is a space formed between the outer cylinder surface of the inner cylinder 121 as the inner space of the outer cylinder 125 from the gas inlet 126a into which gas is introduced to the gas discharge port 126b from which gas is discharged.

As shown in FIG. 5, since the diameter of the second inner circumferential surface 125b is smaller than that of the first inner circumferential surface 125a (B), the second inner circumferential surface 125b is defined as a first orifice.

In addition, since the third inner circumferential surface 125d has a smaller diameter than the second inner circumferential surface 125b (A), the third inner circumferential surface 125d is defined as a second orifice, and the second orifice has a diameter larger than that of the first orifice. It is small.

The liquid supplied along the liquid flow path and the gas supplied along the gas flow path form a mixing point at the lower side of the second orifice, as shown in FIG. 4. In the vicinity of the mixing point, a region (C region in FIG. 5) in which pressure decreases when gas and liquid are mixed and sprayed is formed with an arc around the lower side of the second orifice.

In this case, since the gas flow direction is formed in the direction of the arrow as shown in FIG. 5 near the pressure drop zone C, the air near the pressure drop zone C collides with the substrate W when the gas and the liquid are injected. It is sucked into the pressure drop zone (C) with the droplets that are scattered.

In this way, when the droplets colliding with the substrate W are sucked into the pressure reducing region C, the droplets are prevented from being agglomerated by the flow of the gas passing through the second orifice. It is possible to prevent the occurrence of a substrate defect by falling to W).

In this case, the mixing point of the gas and the liquid is preferably formed within 10mm from the lower end 125f of the outer cylinder 125, which is an outer space of the second orifice.

As such, when the mixing point of the gas and the liquid is formed outside the second orifice, re-aggregation of particles is prevented.

In addition, by adopting the orifice structure as described above, it is possible to minimize the loss of the gas supplied through the gas flow path, it is possible to implement a smaller average droplet size.

In the airflow nozzle 120 structure as described above, the diameter ratio of the second orifice A and the first orifice B is preferably 1: 1.5 to 2.5, wherein the average droplet size is 20 μm or less.

6 is a cross-sectional view showing an airflow nozzle according to another embodiment of the present invention.

The air nozzle shown in FIG. 6 adopts the structure of the air nozzle shown in FIG. 4 as it is, and the second gas is used as the substrate W so that the droplets colliding with the substrate W can be concentrated on the substrate. The structure is sprayed on.

That is, the internal structure of forming the liquid flow path and the gas flow path of the inner cylinder 121 and the outer cylinder 125 is the same as the structure shown in Figures 4 and 5, the outer cylinder (125) outside the outer cylinder ( 125) A second outer cylinder 127 is formed between the outer circumferential surface to form the second gas flow path 128b.

A second gas introduction hole 128a through which the second gas is introduced in the horizontal direction with respect to the substrate W is formed at the side of the second outer cylinder 127, and the outer circumferential surface 125g of the outer cylinder 125 is formed. An inclined surface 127a for forming the second gas flow passage 128b is formed between the two sides.

The second gas injected through the second gas passage 128b may be a liquid injected through the inner cylinder 121 and a gas injected through the outer cylinder 125 (hereinafter, referred to as a “first gas”). It is sprayed to surround the outer periphery of the first gas, and the liquid is impinged on the substrate W to prevent the droplets from scattering to increase the cleaning effect.

In the present invention, the gas supplied to the two-fluid nozzle is generally nitrogen gas, but not limited thereto, and any inert gas may be used.

In addition to the deionized water (DIW), the liquid may be used in general cleaning liquids (SC-1, SC-2, SPM, DHF, BOE, etc.) used in the semiconductor process.

On the other hand, the air nozzle 120 may be used in plurality in order to reduce the substrate cleaning time (Through-put).

Hereinafter, a control method using the substrate processing apparatus of the present invention will be described.

7 is a flowchart showing a method of processing a substrate using the substrate processing apparatus of the present invention.

First, the vertical position of the substrate W is detected by the substrate position sensor 190 (S201).

At this time, the air nozzle 120 is located at the 'home position', the lower portion of the air nozzle 120 is provided with an impact sensing unit 160.

As a result of detecting the vertical position of the substrate W, it is determined whether or not the vertical position of the substrate W and the impact sensing unit 160 coincides with each other (S202). If the vertical position does not match, the impact sensing unit ( The vertical position of 160 is corrected (S203).

As a result of the detection, when the vertical position of the substrate W and the shock detection unit 160 coincide with each other, the gas and the liquid are controlled at a predetermined pressure and flow rate and injected into the impact detection unit 160 (S204).

As such, when the gas and the liquid are injected, the impact (force) is sensed by the impact detecting unit 160 (S205), and the injection of the gas and the liquid is stopped (S206).

At this time, the main controller 180 determines whether the detected shock is within a preset setting range (S207). Here, the 'setting range' is a preset range in which the pattern of the substrate W is not damaged when the substrate W is impacted.

As a result of the determination, when the detected shock is out of the setting range (ie, above or below the setting range), the main controller 180 generates an alarm indicating that the abnormal state is generated, and the flow rate or pressure of the gas, or the flow rate or pressure of the liquid. After adjusting one or more of these or using the nozzle up and down drive mechanism 130 to adjust the vertical position of the airflow nozzle 120 (S208), by spraying the gas and liquid again so that the impact is within the set range.

If the detected shock is within the set range, the air nozzle 120 is moved to the cleaning position in which the substrate W is placed by using the nozzle driving mechanism 140 (S209).

Thereafter, the nozzle driving mechanism 140 cleans the substrate W by spraying gas and liquid while moving the airflow nozzle 120 to the center portion and the periphery of the substrate W, and when the substrate W cleaning is completed, After stopping the injection of the liquid, the cleaning process is completed by moving the air nozzle 120 back to the home position (S210).

According to the present invention, it is possible to directly or indirectly determine how much impact is actually applied to the substrate by the impact sensing unit 160, and the gas and liquid in the range that does not damage the pattern of the substrate. The flow rate, pressure, and position of the airflow nozzle can be controlled to prevent substrate defects.

In addition, it is possible to improve the problem of preventing the droplets from scattering and dropping the substrate by dropping water droplets on the nozzle end portion, thereby causing substrate defects.

The table below shows the results of experiments by differently setting the impact (IMPACT) applied to the substrate in the substrate processing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

In this case, a substrate having a line width of 100 nm or less was used.

division Experimental Example 1 Experimental Example 2 Experimental Example 3 Impact 20-30gf 20gf or less 20gf or less Cleaning effect over 90 over 90 over 90 Damage has exist none none Average droplet size 30㎛ or less 20㎛ or less 20㎛ or less

Experimental Example 1 controls the flow rate and pressure of the gas and liquid injected from the two-fluid nozzle to set the impact of the substrate to 20 to 30 gf, the structure of the two-fluid nozzle does not adopt the double orifice structure of the present invention. . At this time, the particle cleaning effect on the surface of the substrate was 90% or more, but damage to the pattern of the substrate occurred. The average droplet size is 30 μm or less.

Experimental Example 2 controls the flow rate and pressure of the gas and liquid injected from the airflow nozzle to set the impact received by the substrate to 20gf or less, and the airflow nozzle uses the structure shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. At this time, the particle cleaning effect on the substrate surface was 90% or more, there was no pattern damage of the substrate, and the average droplet size was 20 µm or less.

Experimental Example 3 controls the flow rate and pressure of the gas and liquid injected from the two-fluid nozzle to set the impact received by the substrate to 20gf or less, and the two-fluid nozzle uses the structure shown in FIG. At this time, the particle cleaning effect on the substrate surface was 90% or more, there was no pattern damage of the substrate, and the average droplet size was 20 µm or less.

As described above, the embodiments of the present invention have been described by way of example only, and those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains may make various modifications and changes without departing from the spirit of the present invention. I can understand that.

1 is a side view schematically showing a conventional substrate processing apparatus;

Figure 2 is a side cross-sectional view showing the air nozzle shown in Figure 1,

Figure 3 is a schematic diagram showing the overall configuration of a substrate processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention,

4 is a cross-sectional view showing an air nozzle of the substrate processing apparatus shown in FIG. 3;

5 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of an orifice portion of the dual-fluid nozzle shown in FIG. 4;

Figure 6 is a cross-sectional view showing an air nozzle according to another embodiment of the present invention,

7 is a flowchart illustrating a method of processing a substrate using the substrate processing apparatus of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols on the main parts of the drawings

100: substrate processing apparatus 110: substrate support and rotation mechanism

120: air flow nozzle 121: inner cylinder

121a: first body portion 121b: second body portion

121c: first end 121d: second end

121e: slope 122a: liquid inlet

122b: liquid discharge port 125: external cylinder

125a: first inner peripheral surface 125b: second inner peripheral surface

125c: first sloped surface 125d: third inner circumferential surface

125e: second slope 126a: gas inlet

126b: gas discharge port 130: nozzle up and down drive mechanism

140: nozzle drive mechanism 151: gas control unit

152: liquid control unit 160: impact detection unit

170: screen display 180: main control

190: substrate position sensor

Claims (5)

A substrate processing apparatus comprising a two-fluid nozzle for colliding a gas supplied from a gas supply part with a liquid supplied from a liquid supply part to form droplets, and impinging the droplets on the surface of the substrate to clean the substrate. The air flow nozzle may include an inner cylinder having a liquid flow path formed therein and an outer cylinder having a gas flow path formed between the inner cylinder and the outer circumferential surface of the inner cylinder; The outer cylinder includes a first orifice defining a gas flow path between the outer cylinder and an outer circumferential surface of the inner cylinder, and a second orifice extending from an end of the first orifice and having a smaller diameter than the first orifice. that; Substrate processing apparatus, characterized in that. The method of claim 1, And a diameter ratio of the second orifice and the first orifice is 1: 1.5 to 2.5. The method of claim 2, And a mixing point of the gas and the liquid is formed within 10 mm from a lower end of the outer cylinder, which is an outer space of the second orifice. The method of claim 3, Substrate processing apparatus, characterized in that the inclined surface is formed to extend the diameter from the end of the second orifice to the outside. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, A second outer cylinder is formed outside the outer cylinder to form a second gas flow path between the outer cylinder outer peripheral surface, and the second gas flowing through the second gas flow path is an outer side of the gas and liquid injected into the substrate. Substrate treatment apparatus characterized in that the injection is wrapped so as to surround the circumference.

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