KR20110100136A - Liquid processing apparatus and liquid processing method - Google Patents

Abstract

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a technique capable of suppressing the outflow of mist and particles and suppressing the exhaust flow rate for exhausting from the exhaust port in a liquid processing apparatus that performs liquid treatment while rotating the substrate.
When the liquid on the substrate is shaken off by the rotation of the substrate, the lower edge portion of the outer cup is positioned at the first height position above the base portion, and when the apparatus is in the standby state, the outer edge of the outer cup is lowered from the lower side of the lower edge portion of the outer cup. An elevating portion for positioning the lower edge portion at a second height position higher than the first height position for introducing gas into the exhaust space; and inclined downward from the lower edge portion of the outer cup to guide the processing liquid; The liquid treatment apparatus is configured to have an inclined surface portion extending while being built. When the spin chuck is rotating, the gas in the exhaust space returns to the lower rim of the outer cup and the mist and particles are prevented from flowing out of the outer cup from the base body.

Description

Liquid treatment device and liquid treatment method {LIQUID PROCESSING APPARATUS AND LIQUID PROCESSING METHOD}

The present invention relates to a liquid processing apparatus and a liquid processing method for supplying a processing liquid to a substrate to perform processing.

Conventionally, in a developing apparatus used for a system for forming a resist pattern on a substrate, a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter referred to as a wafer), which is a substrate holding portion provided in a cylindrical body (cup), for example, a substrate on a spin chuck, is adsorbed and held. Then, the developer is supplied to the surface of the wafer from the developing nozzle, and thereafter, a series of steps are performed in which the cleaning solution is supplied and cleaned by the cleaning nozzle while the wafer is rotated, followed by diffusion drying.

The exhaust port is opened in the cup, and mist and particles generated during the treatment are adhered to the wafer to prevent development defects. Even in the standby state in which the wafer is not processed, the air is exhausted from the exhaust port to discharge mist and particles inside the cup and outside the cup. In this standby state, in order to efficiently exhaust the atmosphere outside the cup, the developing apparatus may be configured as follows. The lifting mechanism which covers the lower part of a cup, and raises and lowers a cup with respect to the base part in which a discharge port is provided is provided. In the standby state, the distance between the cup and the base portion is made larger than that during wafer processing, so that the air is easily discharged from between the cup and the base portion. The developing apparatus provided with such a cup lifting mechanism is described in patent document 1, for example.

By the way, from the viewpoint of promoting energy saving of the apparatus, there is a request to suppress the exhaust flow rate from the exhaust port. Moreover, in order to speed up the process at the time of washing | cleaning and drying, raising the rotation speed of a wafer rather than the conventional rotation speed is examined. However, when the wafer is rotated, the outside air is attracted to the inside of the cup by being attracted to the rotation of the wafer. However, when the number of rotations of the wafer is increased, the amount of intake air becomes large. At this time, if the exhaust flow rate is low, the internal pressure of the cup rises. In the above-described developing apparatus, since the cup and the base portion are divided, gaps are formed between them, and mist may leak from these gaps, reattach to the processed wafer, and cause development defects.

Patent Document 1 describes a developing apparatus having a base portion having an inclined surface for discharging liquid, but does not describe a method for solving the above-described problem caused by the division of the base portion and the cup. In addition, although Patent Document 2 describes a developing apparatus in which a used treatment liquid is stored in a liquid storage portion provided with a base portion, and the gap between the cup and the base portion is sealed by the treatment liquid, the lower end of the cup to be lifted and lowered. Is vertical and is different from the configuration of the cup of the present invention.

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2002-305134 Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2001-35828

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made under such circumstances, and its object is to provide a liquid treatment apparatus which performs liquid treatment while rotating a substrate in a cup that can be lifted and lowered. It is to provide a technology that can be suppressed.

In the liquid processing apparatus of the present invention, in the liquid processing apparatus for supplying the processing liquid from the nozzle to the substrate to perform the processing,

A substrate holding portion for holding and rotating the substrate horizontally;

An outer cup whose upper edge portion is provided so as to surround the substrate on the substrate holding portion, and the lower edge portion is liftable;

A cylindrical portion provided to surround the lower region of the substrate holding portion along the circumferential direction of the substrate holding portion;

It extends from the upper edge of this cylindrical part to the outer side of a board | substrate, and it curves downward, forms the space which the gas drawn from the upper side of the outer cup flows between the inner peripheral surface of an outer cup, and Between the guide member for forming an exhaust space for exhausting the drawn gas,

An exhaust port opening to the exhaust space;

A base portion provided below the outer cup and having a discharge port formed thereon;

When shaking off the liquid on the substrate by the rotation of the substrate, the lower edge portion of the outer cup is positioned at a first height position above the base portion, and when the device is in the standby state, the lower edge portion of the outer cup An elevating portion for placing the lower edge portion at a second height position higher than the first height position so as to introduce external gas from the lower side into the exhaust space;

In order to guide the processing liquid toward the cylindrical portion, it extends while inclining downward from the lower edge portion of the outer cup toward the cylindrical portion, and is installed along the circumferential direction of the outer cup and avoiding the exhaust port, It is characterized by including an inclined surface portion having a separation distance between the tubular portion and its leading edge within 20 mm.

On the lower side of the inclined surface portion, for example, a discharge fan for receiving the treatment liquid flowing through the inclined surface portion extends while being inclined downward toward the radially outer side of the outer cup. Further, for example, the gap between the inclined surface portion and the upper edge portion of the discharge fan is narrowly configured to be blocked by the surface tension of the processing liquid flowing from above. The gap between the leading edge of the inclined surface portion and the outer circumferential surface of the cylindrical portion may be blocked by the surface tension of the processing liquid flowing from above. In addition, the outer cup may be separated into an upper cup and a lower cup, and a labyrinth structure may be formed between both cups, and the upper cup and the lower cup may be lifted independently by the first lifting unit and the second lifting unit, respectively.

The liquid treatment method of the present invention comprises a substrate holding portion for holding and rotating a substrate horizontally, an outer cup having an upper edge portion surrounding the substrate on the substrate holding portion, and having a lower edge portion liftable; A base portion provided at a lower side of the substrate portion, a cylindrical portion provided to surround the lower region of the substrate holding portion along the circumferential direction of the substrate holding portion, and an upper edge of the cylindrical portion. It extends outwardly and bends downward to form a space in which gas drawn from above the outer cup flows between the inner circumferential surface of the outer cup, and the drawn gas between the outer circumferential surface of the tubular portion. In the liquid processing method provided with the guide member which forms the exhaust space for exhausting,

Supplying the processing liquid from the nozzle to the substrate while rotating the substrate holding portion, and performing the processing;

Exhausting from an exhaust port opened to the exhaust space;

The lower edge portion of the outer cup is positioned at a first height above the base portion, extends while inclining downward from the lower edge portion of the outer cup toward the cylindrical portion, and further along the circumferential direction of the outer cup. A step of guiding the processing liquid downward along an inclined surface portion provided to avoid a port and having a separation distance between the tubular portion and its tip edge within 20 mm;

And placing the lower edge portion at a second height position higher than the first height position to introduce external gas from the lower side of the lower edge portion of the outer cup into the exhaust space when the apparatus is in the standby state. It features.

The discharge fan for receiving the process liquid which flowed in the said inclined surface part may extend in the downward side inclined downward toward the radial direction outer side of an outer cup, and the clearance gap between the inclined surface part and the upper edge part of the said discharge pan may be extended below the inclined surface part. May be blocked by the surface tension of the processing liquid flowing from above. The gap between the leading edge of the inclined surface portion and the outer circumferential surface of the cylindrical portion may be blocked by the surface tension of the processing liquid flowing from above. The outer cup is separated into an upper cup and a lower cup, and a labyrinth structure is formed between both cups, and the upper cup and the lower cup may be lifted independently by the first lifting unit and the second lifting unit, respectively.

The present invention is a device for holding a substrate on a spin chuck surrounded by an outer cup, and processing the substrate with a processing liquid from a nozzle, wherein the outer cup is raised to raise the lower edge when the apparatus is in the standby state. A gap is formed between the part and the base body so that external gas flows into the exhaust space where the exhaust port is open, thereby keeping the exhaust space clean. Since the inclined surface portion extends from the lower edge portion of the outer cup to the vicinity of the inner cylindrical portion, the gas in the exhaust space returns to the lower edge portion of the outer cup when the substrate holding portion rotates. It is suppressed that the mist and the particle outflow from the outer cup from between. As a result, it is possible to reduce the exhaust flow rate for exhausting from the exhaust port while maintaining the situation of suppressing the outflow of mist and particles, which is a very advantageous method in a situation where the exhaust flow rate assigned in the factory is strict. to be.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The longitudinal side view of the developing apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention.
2 is a plan view of the developing apparatus.
3 is a longitudinal perspective view of the developing apparatus;
4 is an upper perspective view and a lower perspective view of an upper cup of the developing apparatus.
5 is a longitudinal side view of the developing apparatus.
6 is a longitudinal perspective view of the developing apparatus with the upper cup removed.
7 is an upper perspective view and a lower perspective view of the lower cup of the developing apparatus.
8 is an explanatory diagram showing the positional relationship between the parts of the developing apparatus.
9 is a process chart showing a developing procedure by the developing apparatus.
10 is a process chart showing a developing procedure by the developing apparatus.
11 is a process chart showing a developing procedure by the developing apparatus.
12 is a process chart showing a developing procedure by the developing apparatus.
13 is a longitudinal side view illustrating another example of the developing apparatus.

The developing apparatus 1 which concerns on this invention is demonstrated, referring FIGS. 1 and 2 which are the longitudinal side view and the top view, respectively. This developing apparatus 1 is provided with a spin chuck 11, which is a substrate holding part for attracting and holding in the horizontal posture the central portion of the back side of the wafer W serving as the substrate. The spin chuck 11 is connected to the rotation drive mechanism 13 via the shaft 12, and is set such that the center of the wafer W is located on the rotation axis of the spin chuck 11. Moreover, the spin chuck 11 is comprised so that it may rotate around a vertical axis | shaft in the state which hold | maintained the wafer W via the rotation drive mechanism 13, The rotation speed in the developing process is the control part 100 mentioned later. It is controlled based on the control signal output from the.

This developing apparatus 1 includes a developing nozzle 21 and a cleaning nozzle 14. The developing nozzle 21 is provided with the long discharge port 22 opened downward, and is connected to the supply mechanism 24 in which the developing solution which is a process liquid was stored through the supply path 23. The supply mechanism 24 is provided with a means for conveying the developing solution to the developing nozzle 21, a valve for controlling the flow rate of the developing solution, and a mass flow controller. In addition, the developing nozzle 21 is connected to the moving mechanism 25, and the developing nozzle 21 is mounted on the wafer W mounted on the spin chuck 11 by the moving mechanism 25 in the radial direction of the wafer W. Go to. The developing nozzle 21 discharges the developing solution supplied from the supply mechanism 24 of the developing solution to the wafer W while moving as described above, and performs liquid swelling of the developing solution over the entire wafer W. As shown in FIG. When the developing nozzle 21 does not process the wafer W, the developing nozzle 21 waits in the standby region 26 formed outside the upper cup 41 to be described later.

The cleaning nozzle 14 has a pore-shaped discharge port 15 opened downward, and is supplied to the supply mechanism 17 of the cleaning liquid, which is a processing liquid for performing the cleaning process through the supply passage 16. Connected. The said washing | cleaning liquid is pure water, for example. The supply mechanism 17 is provided with a means for pumping the cleaning liquid into the cleaning nozzle 14, a valve for controlling the flow rate of the cleaning liquid, and a mass flow controller. The cleaning nozzle 14 is connected to the moving mechanism 18. When the cleaning process is not performed on the wafer W, the cleaning nozzle 14 waits in the waiting area 19 formed outside the upper cup 41. When the cleaning process is performed on the wafer W, it moves from the standby region 19 along the radial direction of the wafer W to the center portion of the wafer W to supply pure water to the center portion of the wafer W. .

The cover 31 is provided below the spin chuck 11. The cover 31 is fixed to the base portion 71 which will be described later, and the horizontal plate 32 surrounding the shaft 12 and a cylindrical downward wall extending downward from the edge portion of the horizontal plate 32 ( 33). The horizontal plate 32 is formed with three holes 34 drilled in the vertical direction (only two are shown in the figure), and the lifting pins that are lifted by the lifting unit 35 in each hole 34 ( 36) is installed. By the cooperative action of the lifting pin 36 and the substrate conveying means (not shown), the wafer W conveyed to the developing apparatus 1 is transferred to the spin chuck 11.

The outer cup 4 is provided so as to surround the side of the wafer W loaded on the spin chuck 11. Subsequently, description is continued, referring also to FIG. 3 which is the longitudinal perspective view which cut | disconnected the developing apparatus 1 to fan shape. The outer cup 4 is constituted by an upper cup 41 and a lower cup 51. 4 (a) and 4 (b) are an upper perspective view and a lower perspective view of the upper cup 41, respectively, and the upper cup 41 will be described with reference to FIG. 4. The upper cup 41 is provided with the cylindrical part 42 which stood up, and the inclined part 43 which extends obliquely over the whole circumference toward the inner side upward from the upper edge of this cylindrical part 42. As shown in FIG.

A ring-shaped groove 44 is formed upward from the lower end of the cylindrical portion 42. In the cylindrical portion 42, when the inner side of the groove 44 is the inner wall 45 and the outer side is the outer wall 46, a part of the outer wall 46 is spaced outward from the inner wall 45, and the housing portion ( 47). The storage part 47 accommodates the below-mentioned connection part 58 provided in the said lower cup 51 when the lower cup 51 raises, so that the said connection part 58 may not interfere with the upper cup 41. FIG. Consists of. The upper cup 41 is taken out from the inner circumferential surface of the developer so that the developer or cleaning liquid that is separated from the wafer W is not scattered to the outside.

Reference numeral 48 in FIG. 1 denotes a lift mechanism connected to the upper cup 41. Although the upper cup 41 is located in the elevated position shown in FIG. 1 at the time of cleaning and drying the wafer W, the developing nozzle 21 and the cleaning nozzle 14 have respective atmospheric regions 26 and 19. When moving between and on the wafer W, the lifting mechanism 48 moves to the lowering position shown in FIG. 5. By setting it as such a structure, the moving path of each nozzle is made low and the developing apparatus 1 is reduced in space.

FIG. 6 shows a longitudinal perspective view of the developing apparatus 1 in which the upper cup 41 is removed and cut into a fan shape, and FIGS. 7A and 7B respectively show an upper side of the lower cup 51. It is a perspective view and a lower perspective view. The description will continue with reference to these drawings. The lower cup 51 is provided with the cylindrical part 52 which stood up, and the guide part 53 extended inward from the lower end part of the cylindrical part 52 to the whole perimeter. The upper edge of the cylindrical portion 52 enters the groove 44 of the upper cup 41 and forms a labyrinth structure. With such a structure, mist and particles are prevented from leaking between the upper cup 41 and the lower cup 51 during the cleaning and drying of the wafer W described later.

The upper surface of the guide portion 53 is configured as an inclined surface 54 inclined downward inward, and guides the developed developer and the cleaning liquid to the tip side of the guide portion 53. Moreover, this guide part 53 has a role which makes the opening area of the lower side of the lower cup 51 small, and raises an air resistance, and prevents exhaust flow from leaking out from the lower side of the lower cup 51 to the outside. have. The tip portion 55 of the guide portion 53 is bent downward to form a seal with the processing liquid as described later. Reference numeral 57 in FIG. 7 denotes a cutout for avoiding interference with the exhaust pipe 81 described later. The lower cup 51 is connected to the lifting mechanism 59 via the connecting portion 58 provided on the side of the cylindrical portion 52. The lifting mechanism 59 raises and lowers the lower cup 51 between the lowered position shown in FIG. 1 and the raised position shown in FIG. 5.

In the standby state in which no processing is performed on the wafer W, the upper cup 41 and the lower cup 51 are located at the lowered position and the raised position shown in FIG. 5, respectively. Since the wafer W is not rotated by the spin chuck 11 in this standby state, since the pressure in the outer cup 4 is low, not only the inside of the outer cup 4 but also the outside of the outer cup 4. Atmosphere flows into the exhaust port 82 described later. The arrow in FIG. 5 shows the exhaust flow formed by the exhaust by this exhaust pipe 81. By forming the exhaust flow in this manner, particles and mist scattered into and out of the outer cup 4 are removed, and the atmosphere around the outer cup 4 is kept clean.

Subsequently, the inner cup 61 will be described. The inner cup 61 has a ring portion 62 provided to surround the shaft 12. The ring portion 62 is provided with a protruding portion 63 for preventing the return of mist to the inside of the wafer W, close to the circumferential end of the back side of the wafer W loaded on the spin chuck 11. The inclined surface 64 which rises toward the protrusion part 63 from the inner peripheral end side of the said ring part 62 on the upper side of the ring part 62, and the inclined surface 65 which descends toward the outer peripheral end of the ring part 63 from the protrusion 63 Is formed. Moreover, the inclined surface 66 which extends obliquely toward the outer upper side of the said ring part 62 and the inclined surface 64 is provided in the lower side of the ring part 62, and is continuous to the inclined surface 66 toward the outer downward direction. An inclined surface 67 extending at an angle is provided. These inclined surfaces 66 and 67 are formed to restrict the flow of the exhaust stream inside the inner cup 61 and to prevent the pressure from rising. Moreover, the inner cup 61 is provided with the cylindrical vertical guide part 68 extended below from the outer edge of the outer side of the ring part 62. As shown in FIG.

The inner cup 61 receives a developing solution and a cleaning solution from the outer peripheral surface thereof, and forms a guide member for guiding the guide portion 53 of the lower cup 51. The outer circumferential surface of the inner cup 61, the inner circumferential surface of the upper cup 41, and the region surrounded by the inner circumferential surface of the lower cup 51 form a space 6A through which air drawn from the outside of the outer cup 4 flows. Doing. The exhaust port 82 is opened in an area surrounded by the inner circumferential surface of the inner cup 61, the outer circumferential surface of the cover 31, and the outer circumferential surface of the inner wall portion 72 of the base portion 71, which will be described later. An exhaust space 6B for exhausting the atmosphere drawn from 6A) is formed.

A groove portion 69 is formed inside the inclined surface 66, and the upper portion of the lower wall 33 of the cover 31 is dug into the groove portion 69. Moreover, inside the groove part 69, the sealing member 60 comprised by the packing etc. is provided between the horizontal board 32 of the cover 31, and the inner peripheral edge part of the ring part 62, for example. The seal member 60 has a role of preventing an exhaust flow from leaking between the inner cup 61 and the cover 31, causing the wafer W to rise, falling from the spin chuck 11, and the like. .

Subsequently, the base portion 71 will be described. This base part 71 is provided so that the bottom part of the outer cup 4 may be closed, and it collects the developing solution and washing | cleaning liquid which flowed out from each said cup 41, 51, 61, and discharges a liquid. The base part 71 is provided with the cylindrical inner wall part 72 which stood up, and the upper end part of this inner wall part 72 is located inside the fall wall 33 of the cover 31. As shown in FIG. Moreover, the cylindrical outer wall part 73 is provided in the outer side of each cup, and between these inner wall parts 72 and 73 is comprised as the liquid accommodating part 74. As shown in FIG.

The liquid receiving portion 74 has a ring-shaped liquid discharge groove 75, which is an outer region of the tip portion 55 of the guide portion 53 constituting the lower cup 51. It is formed in. A discharge port 76 is connected to the liquid discharge groove 75, and the developer and the cleaning liquid introduced into the liquid discharge groove 75 are discharged and removed by liquid discharge.

The liquid container portion 74 has a discharge fan 77 inclined so as to descend from the inner wall portion 72 toward the liquid discharge groove 75, and the discharge liquid 91 flowing down into the discharge fan 77 is a liquid. Guided to the discharge groove (75). Here, the positional relationship of each part around the discharge pan 77 when the lower cup 51 is in the lowered position mentioned above using FIG. 8A is demonstrated. As described above, the guide portion 53 of the lower cup 51 protrudes inward, and the tip portion 55 is close to the inner wall portion 72. By constituting the guide portion 53 in this way, the air resistance of the lower side of the lower cup 51 is increased as described above, the flow of the exhaust flow is regulated, and the exhaust flow returns between the lower cup 51 and the base portion. Prevent entry In order to acquire such an effect, the distance of the outer peripheral surface of the front-end | tip part 55 and inner side wall part 72 shown by W1 to FIG. 8A is 20 mm or less, for example.

In addition, in this embodiment, the surface tension of the discharge liquid 91 which flowed into the said clearance gap 70 into the clearance gap 70 of the front-end | tip part 55 and the discharge pan 77 in addition to the restriction | limiting of the above-mentioned exhaust flow is shown. Using the above, the liquid reservoir 92 is formed as shown in FIG. The liquid reservoir 92 seals the gap 70 to more reliably prevent leakage of the exhaust stream. In order to perform such a seal, the height H1 from the surface of the discharge pan 77 indicated by H1 to the lower end of the tip portion 55 in FIG. For example, it is comprised by 3 mm or less.

Return to FIG. 1 to continue the description. The liquid receiving portion 74 has a discharge fan 77 that descends from the outer wall portion 73 to the liquid discharge groove 75, and the liquid flowing down the discharge fan 77 is guided to the liquid discharge groove 75. . In addition, two upright exhaust pipes 81 are provided in the base portion symmetrically with the spin chuck 11 interposed therebetween, and the exhaust port 82 at the end of the exhaust pipe 81 has an inner cup 61. ) And the cover 31 are open. The downstream side of the exhaust pipe 81 is connected to exhaust means 83 such as a vacuum exhaust pump. In addition, the outer cup 4 and the spin chuck 11 are installed in a housing (not shown). And the fan apparatus 84 for supplying downflow to the outer cup 4 is provided in the ceiling of this housing.

Next, the control part 100 provided in the developing apparatus 1 is demonstrated. The control part 100 consists of a computer, for example, and is equipped with the program etc. which perform development processing other than the data processing part which consists of a memory and a CPU. In this program, the wafer W carried in is held by the spin chuck 11, subjected to development, and then washed and dried, and then the wafer until the wafer W is unloaded from the developing apparatus. Step groups are arranged to control the return schedule of (W) and the operation of each part of the series. These programs (including programs related to input operation and display of processing parameters) are stored in a storage medium such as a hard disk, a compact disk, a magnet optical disk, or a memory card and installed in the control unit 100, for example.

Next, a series of flows of the developing process performed in the developing apparatus 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. 9 to 11. A resist film is formed and the exposed wafer W is conveyed above the spin chuck 11 by the conveying means 93. At this time, as shown in Figure 5, the upper cup 41 of the outer cup 4 is located in the lowered position, the lower cup 51 is located in the raised position, respectively, exhaust gas from the exhaust pipe 81 at a predetermined flow rate It is done. By the cooperative action of the conveying means 93 and the lifting pins 36, the wafer W is transferred to the spin chuck 11 and held by suction (Fig. 9 (a)).

Subsequently, the developing nozzle 21 moves from the standby region 26 onto the periphery of the wafer W, and moves along the radial direction of the wafer W while discharging the developing solution D (FIG. 9B). )]. When the developing solution D accumulates on the entire surface of the wafer W, the developing nozzle 21 returns to the standby area 26, and the cleaning nozzle 14 moves from the standby area 19 onto the center of the wafer W. FIG. Move. Subsequently, the upper cup 41 moves to the rising position and the lower cup 51 moves to the lowering position (Fig. 10 (a)), while the spin chuck 11 rotates, for example, at 500 rpm. The cleaning liquid (pure water) 94 is discharged from the cleaning nozzle 14. The discharged cleaning liquid (pure water) 94 flows from the center of the wafer W toward the periphery by centrifugal force, spreads evenly over the surface of the wafer W, and the developer D is washed off.

Due to the rotation of the wafer W, the amount of air drawn in from the outside of the outer cup 4 to the inside of the outer cup 4 increases, and the pressure in the outer cup 4 rises, but the lower cup 51 By restricting the flow of the guide portion 53, the exhaust flow is prevented from entering between the lower cup 51 and the base portion 71, and the exhaust flow is exhaust pipe 81 as indicated by the arrow in the figure. Inflow (FIG. 10 (b)). In addition, a cleaning liquid (pure water) 94 including a developer is scattered from the peripheral edge of the wafer W, and adhered to the inner circumferential surface of the upper cup 41 and the outer circumferential surface of the inner cup 61, and the action by gravity and the exhaust flow. By being pressed against, these circumferential surfaces flow downward and flow as the discharge liquid 91 to the inclined surface 54 of the guide part 53 of the lower cup 51. And by the gravity, the said discharge liquid 91 faces the inclined surface 54 of this guide part 53 downward, and the clearance gap between the said front end part 55 and the discharge fan 77 of the base part 71 is carried out. Flows into (70).

Since the gap 70 is small, as described above, the discharge liquid 91 forms a liquid storage part 92 in the gap 70 by surface tension, so that the gap 70 is blocked (Fig. 11 (a). )]. Subsequently, when the discharge liquid 91 flows into the guide part 53 and the liquid storage part 92 becomes large, some discharge liquid 91 is separated from the liquid storage part 92 by gravity, and the discharge pan is discharged. 77 flows into the liquid discharge groove 75 to discharge the liquid. By the balance of gravity and surface tension, the liquid reservoir 92 of a certain amount is maintained, and leakage of the exhaust stream from the gap 70 is prevented.

Thereafter, the supply of the cleaning liquid (pure water) 94 is stopped, the wafer W is rotated at a high speed, for example, 2000 rpm, and the cleaning liquid (pure water) 94 remaining on the wafer W is shaken off. The wafer W is dried. At this time, the liquid storage part 92 is held by the discharge liquid 91 formed of the washing liquid (pure water) 94 shaken off, and the outflow of the exhaust flow out of the outer cup 4 from the gap 70 is prevented. (B) of FIG. 11]. When the wafer W is dried, the rotation of the wafer W is stopped, and the upper cup 41 moves to the lowered position, and the lower cup 51 moves to the raised position. The clearance gap 70 becomes large, the surface tension of the liquid storage part 92 falls, and the cleaning liquid discharge liquid 91 which comprises the liquid storage part 92 flows through the discharge pan 77 by gravity, and a liquid discharge groove Removed from 75 (FIG. 12). The cleaning nozzle 14 returns to the standby area 19, and the processing ends.

According to this developing device 1, since the exhaust flow is restricted by the guide portion 53 of the lower cup 51, it is possible to prevent the exhaust flow from entering between the lower cup 51 and the base portion. It is possible to prevent the mist or particles from leaking to the outside of the outer cup 4 by riding the exhaust stream. Moreover, since the clearance gap between the said guide part 53 and the base part 71 is sealed using the discharge liquid 91, the said leakage of mist or particle can be suppressed more reliably.

Since leakage of mist can be suppressed in this way, the exhaust pressure of the exhaust pipe 81 can be reduced, and the amount of energy for driving the developing apparatus 1 can be reduced. Moreover, the rotation speed of the wafer W can be made high at the time of washing | cleaning and drying. Therefore, the rotation speed can be set so that the user can perform more appropriate processing according to the environment or the kind of the wafer W. FIG. By using the developing apparatus of the present invention, the inventors have confirmed that there was no leakage of mist even when the exhaust pressure of the developing treatment, which was conventionally performed at an exhaust pressure of 100 pascals, was changed to 70 pascals. In addition, although the rotation speed of the wafer W was 1200 rpm, for example, at the time of the washing | cleaning and the drying of the wafer W, it confirmed that there was no leakage of mist even if processing was performed at 2500 rpm.

Moreover, in this developing apparatus 1, each part is comprised so that the used process liquid may be guided to the said gap 70 automatically, and the liquid storage part 92 may arise in the said gap 70. After completion of the processing, the liquid is automatically discharged from the gap 70. Therefore, a dedicated supply mechanism for supplying liquid to the gap 70, a sensor for confirming that liquid is stored in the gap, a liquid discharge mechanism for sucking liquid from the gap and discharging the liquid, and controlling each of these mechanisms No mechanism is required. Therefore, the complexity of the structure of the developing apparatus 1 can be prevented.

In the above-described embodiment, instead of forming the liquid storage portion using the surface tension of the liquid between the guide portion 53 and the discharge pan 77, the guide portion 53 as shown in Fig. 13A. Between the tip portion 55 and the outer circumferential surface of the inner wall portion 72 of the base portion 71, the dimensions of the respective portions are set so that the liquid storage portion 92 is formed by using the surface tension, so that leakage of mist or particles is prevented. You may prevent it. Similarly, you may set the dimension of each part so that the liquid storage part 92 may be formed between the falling wall 33 of the cover 31, and the tip part 55 of the guide part 53. As shown in FIG.

In addition, this invention is not limited to what is comprised as a developing apparatus, It is applicable also to the washing | cleaning apparatus which supplies only a washing | cleaning liquid to a board | substrate, or other liquid processing apparatus. In addition, the sealing by a liquid is not limited to what is performed by the front-end | tip part 55 of the guide part 53. FIG. For example, as shown in FIG. 13B, for example, a shutter 95 that can be opened and closed at the discharge port 76 is provided, and the liquid discharge groove 75 is closed when the shutter 95 is closed. To store the discharge liquid 91. Then, a protrusion 96 projecting downward is provided in the lower cup 51 so that the protrusion 96 enters the liquid discharge groove 75 and the seal is performed when the lower cup 51 is positioned at the lowered position. You may also However, the above embodiment is preferable because such a shutter 95 and a mechanism for driving the shutter 95 are unnecessary.

W: Wafer
1: developing device
11: spin chuck
14: cleaning nozzle
21: developing nozzle
31: cover
4: outer cup
41: upper cup
51: lower cup
61: inner cup
71: base part
76: discharge port
77: exhaust fan
81: exhaust pipe
82: exhaust port
100:

Claims (10)

In the liquid processing apparatus which supplies a process liquid from a nozzle to a board | substrate, and performs a process,
A substrate holding portion for holding and rotating the substrate horizontally;
An outer cup whose upper edge portion is provided so as to surround the substrate on the substrate holding portion, and the lower edge portion is liftable;
A cylindrical portion provided to surround the lower region of the substrate holding portion along the circumferential direction of the substrate holding portion;
It extends from the upper edge of this cylindrical part to the outer side of a board | substrate, and it curves downward, forms the space which the gas drawn from the upper side of the outer cup flows between the inner peripheral surface of an outer cup, and Between the guide member for forming an exhaust space for exhausting the drawn gas,
An exhaust port opening to the exhaust space;
A base portion provided below the outer cup and having a discharge port formed thereon;
When the liquid on the substrate is shaken off by the rotation of the substrate, the lower edge portion of the outer cup is positioned at the first height position above the base portion, and when the device is in the standby state, the outer edge is lowered from the lower side of the lower edge portion of the outer cup. An elevating portion for positioning the lower edge portion at a second height position higher than the first height position so as to introduce gas into the exhaust space;
In order to guide the processing liquid toward the cylindrical portion, it extends while inclining downward from the lower edge portion of the outer cup toward the cylindrical portion, and is installed along the circumferential direction of the outer cup and avoiding the exhaust port, And a slanted surface portion having a separation distance between the tubular portion and its leading edge within 20 mm. The liquid treatment apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a discharge pan for receiving a treatment liquid flowing out of the inclined surface portion extends while being inclined downward toward the radially outer side of the outer cup. The liquid processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the gap between the inclined surface portion and the upper edge portion of the discharge fan is narrowly configured to be blocked by the surface tension of the processing liquid flowing from above. The liquid processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the gap between the leading edge of the inclined surface portion and the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical portion is configured to be blocked by the surface tension of the processing liquid flowing from above. . According to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the outer cup is separated into an upper cup and a lower cup, and at the same time between the two cups have a labyrinth structure,
And the upper cup and the lower cup are lifted independently by the first lifter and the second lifter, respectively. A substrate holding portion for holding and rotating the substrate horizontally, and an upper edge portion of the substrate holding portion for enclosing the substrate on the substrate holding portion, the lower edge portion being provided on a lower side of the outer cup; A base portion having a discharge port formed therein, a cylindrical portion provided to surround the lower region of the substrate holding portion along the circumferential direction of the substrate holding portion, and extending outward from the upper edge of the cylindrical portion to the lower side; It bends and forms the space through which the gas drawn from above the outer cup flows between the inner circumferential surface of the outer cup, and forms an exhaust space for exhausting the drawn gas between the outer circumferential surface of the tubular portion. In the liquid treatment method provided with a guide member,
Supplying the processing liquid from the nozzle to the substrate while rotating the substrate holding portion, and performing the processing;
Exhausting from an exhaust port opened to the exhaust space;
The lower edge portion of the outer cup is positioned at a first height above the base portion, extends while inclining downward from the lower edge portion of the outer cup toward the cylindrical portion, and further along the circumferential direction of the outer cup. A step of guiding the processing liquid downward along an inclined surface portion provided to avoid a port and having a separation distance between the tubular portion and its tip edge within 20 mm;
And placing the lower edge portion at a second height position higher than the first height position to introduce external gas from the lower side of the lower edge portion of the outer cup into the exhaust space when the apparatus is in the standby state. The liquid treatment method characterized by the above-mentioned. The liquid treatment method according to claim 6, wherein the discharge pan for receiving the treatment liquid flowing out of the inclined surface portion extends while being inclined downward toward the radially outer side of the outer cup. The liquid treatment method according to claim 7, wherein the gap between the inclined surface portion and the upper edge portion of the discharge pan is blocked by the surface tension of the processing liquid flowing from above. The liquid treatment method according to claim 6 or 7, wherein the gap between the leading edge of the inclined surface portion and the outer circumferential surface of the cylindrical portion is blocked by the surface tension of the processing liquid flowing from above. 9. The outer cup according to any one of claims 6 to 8, wherein the outer cup is separated into an upper cup and a lower cup, and at the same time a labyrinth structure is formed between both cups.
And the upper cup and the lower cup are lifted independently by the first lifter and the second lifter, respectively.

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