KR20100046800A - Single type substrate treating apparatus and method of exhausting in the apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A single type substrate processing device and an exhausting method thereof are provided to uniformly process a substrate by constantly maintaining the pressure inside a chamber. CONSTITUTION: A single type substrate processing device(1) includes a substrate support unit(200), a chemical supply unit, a process container(100), a sub exhaust line(410), an exhaust fan(430), and a controller(440). The substrate support unit includes a spin head(210) on which a substrate is loaded. The chemical solution supply unit supplies the chemical solutions to the substrate. The process container surrounds the spin head and includes a plurality of suction ducts(110) which inputs and suctions the air including the fume and the chemical solution scattered on the substrate. A sub exhaust line is connected to a main exhaust line(480) receiving the vacuum pressure from a pump(490). The exhaust fan is installed on the sub exhaust line. The controller controls the exhaust fan.

Description

Single sheet substrate processing apparatus and the exhaust method in the apparatus {SINGLE TYPE SUBSTRATE TREATING APPARATUS AND METHOD OF EXHAUSTING IN THE APPARATUS}

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus and a method, and more particularly, to a sheet type substrate processing apparatus for cleaning a substrate and an exhaust method in the apparatus.

In general, as semiconductor devices become dense, highly integrated, and high-performance, microcirculation of circuit patterns proceeds rapidly, and contaminants such as particles, organic contaminants, and metal contaminants remaining on the surface of the substrate have a great effect on device characteristics and production yield. Will be affected. For this reason, the cleaning process for removing various contaminants and unnecessary films adhering to the substrate surface is very important in the semiconductor manufacturing process, and the process for cleaning the substrate is performed at the front and rear stages of each unit process for manufacturing the semiconductor. .

Currently, the cleaning method used in the semiconductor manufacturing process is roughly divided into dry cleaning and wet cleaning, and wet cleaning is a bath for removing contaminants by chemical dissolution by depositing a substrate in a chemical solution. Type and a sheet type which removes contaminants by supplying a chemical to the surface of the substrate while the substrate is placed on the spin chuck and the substrate is rotated.

In the single-leaf type cleaning apparatus, various kinds of cleaning liquids are used depending on the kind of contaminants and film to be removed on the substrate. Recently, a new sheet type cleaning apparatus capable of recovering and reusing used cleaning liquids has been introduced, and such equipment has been applied to semiconductor manufacturing lines.

US Patent No. 4,903,717 relates to a device for performing a photographic process by spraying a chemical solution or the like on a rotating semiconductor substrate. This patent invention is an invention created so that a support for rotating a semiconductor substrate can move up and down inside a tank to perform a photo process, in particular an etching process. In the present invention, the tank is divided into a plurality of spaces, and each annular duct has a predetermined chemical liquid to be treated, and is configured to vertically transfer the support to a position corresponding to the type of chemical liquid.

However, there are the following problems in applying this patent invention to the field. In other words, the patent invention has a structure in which the ducts of each stage are connected to one common annular space, so that a difference in exhaust pressure occurs for each stage. In particular, when the substrate is moved to the lower end and rotated, suction (exhaust) is performed in all three ducts at the uppermost duct, the lower duct, and the lowermost duct. There is.

That is, the suction force is relatively lower when the substrate is processed at the lowermost stage than when the substrate is processed at the uppermost stage. This non-uniform inhalation can act as a cause of deterioration of the cleaning uniformity of the substrate. In addition, if the pump providing the exhaust pressure stops abruptly, the fumes generated in the chamber will stagnate, causing equipment contamination, and if the subsequent process is carried out again, the substrate particles caused by the fume will increase.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a sheet type substrate processing apparatus capable of rapidly evacuating air including fumes remaining in a chamber even if a pump providing exhaust pressure during a process breaks down, and a method of evacuating the apparatus.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide a sheet type substrate processing apparatus capable of automatically adjusting the pressure when the pressure of the upper part of the substrate changes during the process, and a method of evacuating the apparatus.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide a sheet type substrate processing apparatus capable of uniformly adjusting the suction force in the respective ducts and a method of evacuating the apparatus.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide a sheet type substrate processing apparatus and an exhaust method in the apparatus for effectively evacuating the fumes generated from the treatment liquids used in the process.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide a sheet type substrate processing apparatus and a method of evacuating the apparatus so that the recovery of each of the processing liquids used in the process is made under the same condition as the exhaust pressure.

The objects of the present invention are not limited thereto, and other objects not mentioned can be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the following description.

In order to achieve the above object, a sheet type substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention includes a substrate support member including a spin head on which a substrate is placed; A chemical liquid supply member supplying predetermined chemical liquids to the substrate, respectively; A processing container installed to surround the spin head and having a plurality of annular suction ducts for introducing and sucking air including chemical liquid and fume scattered on a substrate; A sub exhaust line connected to a main exhaust line receiving a vacuum pressure from a pump to exhaust the processing container; An exhaust fan installed in the sub exhaust line; And a controller for controlling the exhaust fan.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the controller controls the exhaust fan so that air containing the fume stagnant in the processing vessel is forced out to the main exhaust line when the pump fails.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the sheet-fed substrate processing apparatus lifts at least one of the spin head and the container to change the relative height of the spin head with respect to the suction ducts in the processing container. It further comprises a unit.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the controller controls the speed of the exhaust fan in accordance with the relative height of the spinhead relative to the suction ducts in the processing vessel.

Exhaust method in a sheet type substrate processing apparatus of the present invention for achieving the above object comprises the steps of checking the operating state of the pump; And forcibly evacuating the air including the fume remaining in the processing vessel by operating the exhaust fan when the pump operation is stopped.

The exhaust method in the sheet type substrate processing apparatus of the present invention for achieving the above object comprises the steps of determining the relative height of the spin head relative to the suction ducts in the processing container; And controlling the speed of the exhaust fan according to the relative height of the spin head.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the speed control of the exhaust fan increases the exhaust fan speed by increasing the speed of the exhaust fan as the relative height of the spin head relative to the suction ducts in the processing container is lower.

According to the present invention, even if a pump providing exhaust pressure during the process breaks down, it has a special effect of rapidly exhausting air including fumes remaining in the chamber.

In addition, the present invention has a special effect that can be uniform substrate processing by maintaining a constant pressure in the chamber.

In addition, according to the present invention, it has a special effect that can effectively exhaust the fumes generated from the treatment liquids.

In addition, according to the present invention, even if the substrate is positioned in any of the suction ducts and the process proceeds, the displacement can be increased to maintain a constant pressure difference inside the chamber.

Hereinafter, a sheet type substrate processing apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. First, in adding reference numerals to the components of each drawing, it should be noted that the same reference numerals are assigned to the same components as much as possible, even if shown on different drawings. In addition, in describing the present invention, when it is determined that the detailed description of the related well-known configuration or function may obscure the gist of the present invention, the detailed description thereof will be omitted.

In the following embodiment, an apparatus for cleaning a substrate using a treatment liquid (including ozone water), a rinse liquid, and a dry gas (gas including IPA) will be described as an example. However, the technical idea of the present invention is not limited thereto, and the present invention may be applied to all kinds of apparatuses that perform a process while rotating a substrate such as an etching process.

(Example)

1 is a plan view showing the configuration of a sheet type substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention. Figure 2 is a side cross-sectional view showing the configuration of a single wafer substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention. 2, the treatment fluid supply member is omitted for convenience of drawing.

In this embodiment, although the semiconductor substrate is illustrated and described as an example of the substrate processed by the sheet type substrate processing apparatus 1, the present invention is not limited thereto, and may be applied to various kinds of substrates such as glass substrates.

1 and 2, the sheet type substrate processing apparatus 1 according to the present invention uses a variety of processing fluids to remove foreign substances and film remaining on the substrate surface, the chamber 10, and the processing container 100. ), A substrate support member 200, a processing fluid supply member 300, and an exhaust member 400.

The chamber 10 provides a sealed inner space, and a fan filter unit 12 is installed at the top. The fan filter unit 12 generates vertical airflow inside the chamber 10.

The fan filter unit 12 is a unit in which the filter and the air supply fan are modularized into one unit, and filter the clean air to supply the inside of the chamber. The clean air passes through the fan filter unit 12 and is supplied into the chamber to form vertical airflow. The vertical airflow of the air provides a uniform airflow over the substrate, and contaminants (fumes) generated in the process of treating the substrate surface by the treatment liquid are exhausted through the suction ducts of the processing vessel 100 together with the air. By being discharged to and removed from the member 400, high cleanliness in the processing container is maintained.

 As shown in FIG. 2, the chamber 10 is partitioned into a process region 16 and a maintenance region 18 by horizontal partitions 14. Although only a portion is shown in the drawing, the maintenance area 18 includes a drive unit of the elevating unit, nozzles of the processing fluid supply member 300, in addition to the discharge lines 141, 143, 145 and the exhaust line 410 connected to the processing container 100. It is preferable that the maintenance area 18 is isolated from the process area where the substrate treatment is performed.

The processing container 100 has a cylindrical shape with an open upper portion, and provides a processing space for processing the substrate w. An open upper surface of the processing container 100 serves as a carrying-out and carrying-in passage of the substrate w. The substrate support member 200 is positioned in the process space. The substrate support member 200 supports the substrate W during the process and rotates the substrate. Details of the configuration of the processing container 100 and the substrate support member 200 will be described later with reference to FIG. 2.

The treatment fluid supply member 300 includes a plurality of nozzles 310 positioned outside the treatment vessel 100. The nozzles 310 supply a processing liquid (chemical liquid, rinse liquid, cleaning liquid) or processing gas (dry gas) for cleaning or etching the substrate w to the substrate w fixed to the substrate support member 200.

The treatment liquid used in the substrate treatment process is hydrofluoric acid (HF), sulfuric acid (H3SO4), nitric acid (HNO3), phosphoric acid (H3PO4), ozone water, and SC-1 solution (ammonium hydroxide (NH ₄ OH), hydrogen peroxide (H ₂ O). ₂ ) and water (mixture of H ₂ O)). Ultra rinse water (DIW: Deionized Water) may be used as the rinse liquid, and isopropyl alcohol gas (IPA: Isopropyl alcohol gas) may be used as the dry gas. In addition, the cleaning liquid used in the cleaning process of the substrate support member 200 may be ultrapure water. Here, the cleaning liquid used to clean the substrate support member 200 may be in a normal temperature state, and the chemical liquid used in the chemical liquid treatment of the substrate may be relatively high in temperature.

Hereinafter, the processing container 100 and the substrate supporting member 200 will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the processing container and the substrate supporting member shown in FIG. 1.

Referring to FIG. 2, the processing container 100 is divided into an upper space 132a in which the spin head 210 is located, and an upper space 132a by the spin head 210, and is provided at a lower end thereof to allow forced exhaust. The exhaust duct 190 provides a lower space 132b to which the exhaust duct 190 is connected. In the upper space 132a of the processing container 100, annular first, second, and third suction ducts 110, 120, and 130 for introducing and inhaling chemical liquid and gas scattered on a rotating substrate are disposed in multiple stages. .

The annular first, second and third suction ducts 110, 120, 130 have exhaust ports H communicating with one common annular space (corresponding to the lower space of the vessel). An exhaust duct 190 connected to the exhaust member 400 is provided in the lower space 132b.

The first to third suction ducts 110, 120, and 130 recover the processing liquid supplied to the substrate w during the processing of the substrate w. That is, the sheet type substrate processing apparatus 1 processes the substrate w using the processing liquid while rotating the substrate w by the substrate supporting member 200. Accordingly, the processing liquid supplied to the substrate w is scattered, and the processing liquid scattered from the substrate w is recovered through the first to third suction ducts 110, 120, and 130.

In detail, the first to third suction ducts 110, 120, and 130 each have a bottom surface having an annular ring shape and a sidewall extending from the bottom surface and having a cylindrical shape. The second suction duct 120 surrounds the first suction duct 110 and is spaced apart from the first suction duct 110. The third suction duct 130 surrounds the second suction duct 120 and is spaced apart from the second suction duct 120.

The first to third suction ducts 110, 120, and 130 provide first to third recovery spaces RS1, RS2, and RS3 into which air flows including the treatment liquid and the fume scattered from the substrate w flow. . The first recovery space RS1 is defined by the first suction duct 110, and recovers the first processing liquid that primarily processes the substrate w. The second recovery space RS2 is defined by the separation space between the first suction duct 110 and the second suction duct 120, and recovers the second processing liquid for secondarily treating the substrate w. The third recovery space RS3 is defined by the separation space between the second suction duct 120 and the third suction duct 130, and recovers the third processing liquid for tertiarily treating the substrate w. The third treatment liquid may be a rinse liquid for rinsing the substrate w.

In the above, the process of recovering each treatment liquid from the first suction duct 110 to the third suction duct 110 in the order of processing of the substrate w is described as an example, but the first to third suction ducts ( The order of recovering the processing liquid of the 110, 120, and 130 may be changed depending on the processing process of the substrate w and its position.

The upper surface of each of the first to third suction ducts 110, 120, and 130 is formed as an inclined surface whose center portion is opened, and the distance from the corresponding bottom surface gradually increases from the connected side wall toward the opening side. Accordingly, the processing liquid scattered from the substrate w flows into the recovery spaces RS1, RS2, and RS3 along the upper surfaces of the first to third suction ducts 110, 120, and 130.

The first treatment liquid introduced into the first recovery space RS1 is discharged to the outside through the first recovery line 141. The second treatment liquid introduced into the second recovery space RS2 is discharged to the outside through the second recovery line 143. The third treatment liquid introduced into the third recovery space RS3 is discharged to the outside through the third recovery line 145.

On the other hand, the processing container 100 is coupled with the lifting unit 600 for changing the vertical position of the processing container 100. The lifting unit 600 linearly moves the processing container 100 in the vertical direction. As the vessel 10 moves up and down, the relative height of the processing vessel 100 relative to the spin head 210 changes. The elevating unit 600 has a bracket 612, a moving shaft 614, and a driver 616. The bracket 612 is fixedly installed on the outer wall of the processing container 100, and the movement shaft 614, which is moved in the vertical direction by the driver 616, is fixedly coupled to the bracket 612. When the substrate W is placed on the spin head 210 or lifted from the spin head 210, the spin head 210 descends so that the spin head 210 protrudes above the processing container 100. In addition, when the process is in progress, the height of the processing container 100 is adjusted to allow the processing liquid to flow into the predetermined suction ducts 110, 120, and 130 according to the type of the processing liquid supplied to the substrate W. Accordingly, the relative vertical position between the processing container 100 and the substrate w is changed. Therefore, the processing container 100 may vary the types of the processing liquid and the contaminated gas recovered for each of the recovery spaces RS1, RS2, and RS3.

In this embodiment, the substrate processing apparatus 1 changes the relative vertical position between the processing container 100 and the substrate supporting member 200 by vertically moving the processing container 100. However, the substrate processing apparatus 1 may change the relative vertical position between the processing container 100 and the substrate supporting member 200 by vertically moving the substrate supporting member 200.

The substrate support member 200 is provided inside the processing container 100. The substrate support member 200 supports the substrate W during the process and may be rotated by the driver 240 to be described later during the process. The substrate support member 200 has a spin head 210 having a circular top surface, and the support pins 212 and chucking pins 214 supporting the substrate W are formed on the top surface of the spin head 210. Have The support pins 212 are disposed in a predetermined arrangement at a predetermined interval spaced apart from the upper surface edge of the spin head 210, and are provided to protrude upward from the spin head 210. The support pins 212 support the bottom surface of the substrate W so that the substrate W is supported while being spaced upward from the spin head 210. The chucking pins 214 are disposed on the outer side of the support pins 212, and the chucking pins 214 are provided to protrude upward. The chucking pins 214 align the substrate W such that the substrate W supported by the plurality of support pins 212 is placed in position on the spinhead 210. During the process, the chucking pins 214 are in contact with the side of the substrate W to prevent the substrate W from being displaced from its position.

A support shaft 220 supporting the spin head 210 is connected to the lower portion of the spin head 210, and the support shaft 220 is rotated by the driving unit 230 connected to the lower end thereof. The driving unit 230 may be provided by a motor or the like. As the support shaft 220 rotates, the spin head 210 and the substrate W rotate.

The exhaust member 400 is to provide the same exhaust pressure (suction pressure) to the suction duct for recovering the processing liquid of the first to third suction ducts (110, 120, 130) during the process. The exhaust member 400 includes a sub exhaust line 410 connected to the exhaust duct 190, a damper 420, an exhaust fan 430, and a controller 440. The sub exhaust line 410 receives the exhaust pressure from the exhaust pump 490 and is connected to the main exhaust line 480 embedded in the bottom space of the semiconductor production line (fab).

The exhaust fan 430 may be used for interlocking in case of failure of the exhaust pump 490. That is, when the exhaust pump 490 is down, the fumes generated during the process treatment in the chamber 10 are stagnant or countercurrent. This causes contamination inside the chamber 10 and leads to an increase in particles by the fume if the subsequent process is carried out again. In particular, in the case of the process using the toxic gas may be a safety problem due to the toxic gas remaining in the chamber 10. Therefore, when the exhaust pump 490 is down, the exhaust member 400 drives the exhaust fan 430 to forcibly exhaust the fumes, the process gas, and the like remaining in the chamber 10. The controller 440 checks the operation of the exhaust pump 490 and the exhaust pump 490 fails due to failure (if exhaust pressure does not occur) or the exhaust fan 430 during the process down of the substrate processing apparatus. ) Can be driven.

In addition, the exhaust member 400 may automatically control the rotation speed of the exhaust fan 430 according to the processing position of the substrate. For example, since the processing container 100 has a structure in which ducts at each stage are connected to one common annular space, a difference in exhaust pressure may occur at each stage. In order to minimize the difference in the exhaust pressure, the exhaust member 400 adjusts the rotational speed of the exhaust fan 430 according to the processing position of the substrate. For example, the exhaust member 400 is sucked (exhaust) is made in all three ducts of the uppermost duct, the lower duct and the lowermost duct when the substrate is moved to the lower end and rotated, the exhaust member 400 is an exhaust fan Increasing the rotational speed of the (430) to ensure that the concentrated suction is also made in the lowermost duct.

3 is a view illustrating a process in which a substrate is processed at a height corresponding to a first suction duct. 4 is a view illustrating a process in which a substrate is processed at a height corresponding to a second suction duct. 5 is a view illustrating a process in which a substrate is processed at a height corresponding to a third suction duct. The dotted line represents the exhaust flow, and the solid line represents the flow of the processing liquid injected from the nozzle onto the substrate.

3 to 5, when the substrate w is moved to the lowermost end (first suction duct 110) and rotated, the uppermost third suction duct 130 and the second suction duct 120 thereunder. In addition, when the suction (exhaust) is performed at all three places of the first suction duct 110 at the lowermost end, and the substrate is moved to the intermediate stage (second suction duct; 120), the third suction duct 130 and the second suction duct 110 are rotated. Suction (exhaust) is made in the suction duct, the suction (exhaust) is made only in the third suction duct 130 when the substrate is moved to the uppermost (third suction duct) is rotated. Exhaust member 400 is the same suction (exhaust) is made even if the substrate is located in any one of the first suction duct 110, the second suction duct 120 or the third suction duct 130, the process proceeds Adjust the rotational speed of the exhaust fan 430. In addition, in the present invention, by controlling the exhaust fan 430 to operate when the exhaust pump 490 is down while substrate processing is in progress, it is possible to quickly exhaust the fumes remaining in the chamber 10.

The above description is merely illustrative of the technical idea of the present invention, and those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains may make various modifications and changes without departing from the essential characteristics of the present invention. Therefore, the embodiments disclosed in the present invention are not intended to limit the technical idea of the present invention but to describe the present invention, and the scope of the technical idea of the present invention is not limited by these embodiments. The protection scope of the present invention should be interpreted by the following claims, and all technical ideas within the equivalent scope should be interpreted as being included in the scope of the present invention.

1 is a plan view showing the configuration of a sheet type substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention.

Figure 2 is a side cross-sectional view showing the configuration of a single wafer substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention.

3 is a view illustrating a process in which a substrate is processed at a height corresponding to a first suction duct.

4 is a view illustrating a process in which a substrate is processed at a height corresponding to a second suction duct.

5 is a view illustrating a process in which a substrate is processed at a height corresponding to a third suction duct.

<Description of Symbols for Main Parts of Drawings>

10 chamber 100 processing container

200 substrate support member 300 processing fluid supply member

400: exhaust member

Claims (7)

In single wafer processing apparatus: A substrate support member including a spin head on which the substrate is placed; A chemical liquid supply member supplying predetermined chemical liquids to the substrate, respectively; A processing container installed to surround the spin head and having a plurality of annular suction ducts for introducing and sucking air including chemical liquid and fume scattered on a substrate; A sub exhaust line connected to a main exhaust line receiving a vacuum pressure from a pump to exhaust the processing container; And An exhaust fan installed in the sub exhaust line; Single sheet substrate processing apparatus comprising a controller for controlling the exhaust fan. The method of claim 1, The controller And the exhaust fan is controlled such that the air including the fume stagnant in the processing container is forced out of the main exhaust line when the pump breaks down. The method of claim 1, The single wafer type substrate processing apparatus And an elevating unit for elevating at least one of the spin head and the vessel to change a relative height of the spin head relative to the suction ducts in the processing vessel. The method of claim 3, wherein The controller The speed of the exhaust fan is controlled in accordance with the relative height of the spin head relative to the suction ducts in the processing vessel. A treatment vessel having multiple suction ducts wrapped around the spin head, and a sub exhaust line connected to a main exhaust line receiving vacuum pressure from a pump for exhausting the processing vessel, and an exhaust fan installed in the sub exhaust line are provided. In the exhaust method in the single wafer processing apparatus having: Checking an operating state of the pump; And Operating the exhaust fan to forcibly evacuate the air including the fumes remaining in the processing container when the pump operation is stopped. A treatment vessel having multiple suction ducts wrapped around the spin head, and a sub exhaust line connected to a main exhaust line receiving vacuum pressure from a pump for exhausting the processing vessel, and an exhaust fan installed in the sub exhaust line are provided. In the exhaust method in the single wafer processing apparatus having: Determining a relative height of the spin head relative to the suction ducts in the processing vessel; And And controlling the speed of the exhaust fan according to the relative height of the spin head. The method of claim 6, Speed control of the exhaust fan The lower the relative height of the spin head relative to the suction ducts in the processing container, the higher the speed of the exhaust fan to increase the displacement, the exhaust method in a sheet type substrate processing apparatus.

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