KR20160028983A - Developing method, developing apparatus and storage medium - Google Patents

Abstract

A problem of the present invention, in terms of performing development of a substrate by a developing solution after exposure to light, is to provide a development method capable of contributing to the enhancement of in-plane uniformity with respect to the progression of development of the surface of the substrate. With respect to the substrate (W) after the exposure to light which is horizontally held and supported in a rotatable substrate holding and supporting unit (12), the development is carried out by forming a liquid underrunning unit in a portion of the surface of the substrate (W) using a first developing solution nozzle (3) having a contact unit (32) installed to face the surface of the substrate (W), moving the first developing solution nozzle (3) from an upper part of the rotating substrate (W), and diffusing the liquid underrunning unit (30) to the entire surface of the substrate. In addition, before or after the development, the developing solution is supplied to the surface of the substrate by a second developing solution nozzle (61) while rotating the substrate to evenly proceed the progression of development of the surface of the substrate (W). Additionally, the supply of the developing solution from the first and the second developing solution nozzles (3, 61) is carried out after the supplied developing solution is removed from the surface of the substrate (W).

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention [0001] The present invention relates to a developing method, a developing apparatus,

The present invention relates to a method for performing development by supplying a developer to a substrate after exposure.

In a photolithography step in the manufacturing process of a semiconductor device, a resist film is formed, and a developing process is performed for developing a resist pattern using a developing solution for a substrate exposed along a predetermined pattern. As a development processing method, a liquid film of a developer is formed on a substrate by rotating the substrate one revolution by using a long developer nozzle parallel to the surface of the substrate, or by scanning the developer nozzle from one end of the substrate to the other end, Is known. Further, for example, as disclosed in Patent Document 1, there is known a method of moving the developer nozzle in the radial direction of the substrate while rotating the substrate. In this method, since the developer supplied on the substrate flows and agitates by the centrifugal force, there is an advantage that the line width of the pattern and the in-plane uniformity of the hole diameter can be improved as compared with the stationary developing method.

However, due to the development of semiconductor devices and the like, a narrower dimension is required for the line width and the hole diameter of the pattern. In view of such a request, considering a method of diffusing a developer by centrifugal force, since the developer is locally supplied onto the substrate while rotating the substrate at a relatively high speed, the developer is diffused while being rotated by the centrifugal force from the supply position .

As a result, the concentration of the developer is changed by reacting with the resist while the developer is swirling. This phenomenon is one of the factors preventing the improvement in the in-plane uniformity of progress of development.

On the other hand, in Patent Document 2, after a liquid film formation of a developer is performed on the entire surface of a substrate, a gas is discharged from the head member facing the substrate toward the developer to change the temperature, thickness, And a phenomenon in which the development is locally slowed and the degree of progress of development is controlled in this manner. This method can be said to correct the progress of development by post-processing for a stop phenomenon, but there is also a problem that it is difficult to apply to a method other than the stop phenomenon in addition to the problem that the apparatus becomes large-scale.

Japanese Patent No. 4893799, paragraphs 0026 and 8 Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H11-260718: paragraphs 0043 and 7

An object of the present invention is to provide a developing method capable of contributing to the improvement of in-plane uniformity with respect to progress of developing in a surface of a substrate in developing a substrate with a developing solution after exposure .

The developing method of the present invention includes a step of holding a post-exposure substrate horizontally on a rotatable substrate holding portion,

And a contact portion provided so as to face the surface of the substrate so as to be smaller than a surface of the substrate and to eject the developer from a discharge port of the first developer nozzle, Forming a liquid reservoir portion on a part of the surface of the substrate on which the contact portion is formed, and supplying the liquid to the liquid reservoir portion while the contact portion is in contact with the liquid reservoir portion, And a step of diffusing the liquid storage portion over the entire surface of the substrate by moving the first developer nozzle to the other side;

A developer supply step of supplying a developer to the surface of the substrate by the second developer nozzle while rotating the substrate in order to even out the distribution of progress of development in the surface of the substrate by the developer developing step;

And a step of removing the developer on the surface of the substrate, which is performed between the developer developing step and the developer supplying step.

The above developing method may have the following configuration.

(a) The developer supplying step is a developing and adjusting step of supplying a developing solution to advance a phenomenon related to a region in which development is insufficient compared to other areas.

(b) In (a), the developer developing step is performed before the development adjusting step.

(c) In the step (a), the step of diffusing the liquid storage portion onto the substrate is a step of moving the first developer nozzle from the central portion of the rotating substrate to the peripheral portion side, And the step of moving the supply position of the developer from one side of the periphery and the center of the substrate to the other side while discharging the developer from the nozzle.

(d) In the step (a), the development adjusting step is a step of locally discharging the developer at a position in the radial direction of the substrate from the second developer nozzle. At this time, the step of locally discharging the developer is performed while the second developer nozzle is stopped. The development adjustment step is a step in which the position where the developer is discharged from the second developer nozzle in the radial direction of the substrate is discontinuous and a plurality of positions are set. Wherein the step of locally discharging the developer is performed in a state in which the second developer nozzle is stopped and one of the plurality of positions from which the developer is discharged from the second developer nozzle is determined by comparing the discharge flow rate of the developer, At least one of the number of revolutions per unit time of the substrate and the supply time of the developer from the second developer nozzle is different.

(e) The developer supplying step is a developing preparation step for preparing the developer developing step by supplying a developer to form a liquid film on the surface of the substrate before the developer developing step.

(f) In the step (e), the step of diffusing the liquid storage portion onto the substrate is a step of moving the first developer nozzle from the periphery of the rotating substrate to the central portion side.

(g) the second developer nozzle is constituted by a nozzle having the contact portion. At this time, the first developer nozzle and the second developer nozzle are formed by common nozzles.

(h) The step of removing the developer on the substrate is a step of removing the developer from the substrate by rotating the substrate.

The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus comprising a liquid storage portion formed on a part of a surface of a substrate and a nozzle provided with a developer discharge port and a contact portion on a rotating substrate while supplying a developer to a liquid storage portion between the contact portion and the substrate, And the liquid storage portion is diffused over the entire surface of the substrate by moving the first developer nozzle. As a result, the uniformity of progress of the development in the surface of the substrate becomes good. The supply of the developer with the second developer nozzle is combined with the developing process using the first developer nozzle and the developing solution on the surface of the substrate supplied previously is removed in order to perform these processes, Can be made uniform. As a result, the uniformity of progress of the development becomes better and the in-plane uniformity with respect to the line width and the hole diameter of the pattern is obtained.

1 is a longitudinal side view of a developing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a plan view of the developing apparatus.
3 is a longitudinal side view of the main developer nozzle installed in the developing apparatus.
4 is a first operational view of the developing apparatus.
5 is a second operational view of the developing apparatus.
6 is a third operational view of the developing apparatus.
7 is a fourth operational view of the developing apparatus.
8 is a fifth operational view of the developing apparatus.
Fig. 9 is a first explanatory diagram showing the distribution of progress of development using the main developer nozzle; Fig.
10 is a second explanatory diagram showing the distribution of the progress of development.
Fig. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing the distribution of progress of development of wafers in the developing process according to the second embodiment; Fig.
12 is a first operational view of the developing apparatus according to the second embodiment;
13 is a second operational view of the developing apparatus according to the second embodiment.
FIG. 14 is a third operational view of the developing apparatus according to the second embodiment; FIG.
15 is a first structural example of a main developer nozzle having a stirring mechanism.
16 is a second example of a main developer nozzle having a stirring mechanism.
17 is a first operational view of the developing apparatus according to the third embodiment;
18 is a second operational view of the developing apparatus according to the third embodiment.
19 is a third operational view of the developing apparatus according to the third embodiment.
20 is a fourth operational view of the developing apparatus according to the third embodiment.
21 is a fifth operational view of the developing apparatus according to the third embodiment.
22 is a sixth action diagram of the developing apparatus according to the third embodiment.
23 is a seventh action diagram of the developing apparatus according to the third embodiment.
24 is an eighth working view of the developing apparatus according to the third embodiment.
25 is an in-plane distribution of the pore diameters of CH after the development processing according to Reference Example 1. Fig.
26 is a pore diameter distribution diagram of the wafer in the radial direction according to Reference Example 1. Fig.
27 is an in-plane distribution of the pore diameters of CH after the developing treatment according to Reference Example 2. Fig.
28 is a pore diameter distribution diagram of the wafer in Reference Example 2 in the radial direction.
29 shows the in-plane distribution of the pore diameters of CH after the developing treatment according to Reference Example 3. Fig.
30 is a pore diameter distribution diagram of the wafer in Reference Example 3 in the radial direction.
31 is an in-plane distribution of the pore diameters of CH after the developing treatment according to Reference Example 4. Fig.
32 is a distribution diagram of line widths of LS before and after adjustment according to the embodiment;
Fig. 33 is a distribution diagram of line widths of the LS according to the embodiment combining the development preparation and the phenomenon using the main developer nozzle. Fig.

(First Embodiment)

1 to 3, the configuration of the developing apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment will be described. The developing apparatus 1 includes a spin chuck 12 serving as a substrate holding portion, a cup 2 for receiving liquid, a main developer nozzle (first developer nozzle) 3, an adjusting developer nozzle (61).

The spin chuck 12 is configured to hold the wafer W in the horizontal direction by adsorbing the central portion of the back surface of the wafer W and to be rotatable around the vertical axis by the rotary mechanism 13 via the rotary shaft 131 .

The cup 2 is provided so as to surround the wafer W held by the spin chuck 12. The cup 2 is substantially cylindrical in shape, and its upper side is inclined inward. The cup 2 is moved up and down by the lifting mechanism 21 with respect to the transfer position (the position shown by the solid line in Fig. 1) at the time of transferring the wafer W to and from the spin chuck 12, (A position indicated by a broken line in Fig. 1).

A circular plate 22 is provided on the lower side of the wafer W held by the spin chuck 12 and a guide member 23 having a vertical profile is formed on the outer side of the circular plate 22 in a ring shape . The guide member 23 is configured to guide a developer or a cleaning liquid flowing from the wafer W to a liquid containing portion 24 provided outside the circular plate 22. [ The liquid receiving portion 24 is formed as an annular concave portion and connected to a waste liquid portion (not shown) through a drain pipe 25. [ On the lower side of the wafer W held by the spin chuck 12, a transfer pin 14 for transferring the wafer W to and from a not-shown substrate transfer mechanism is provided. The receiving pin 14 is configured to be able to move up and down by the lifting mechanism 15. The receiving pin 14 has a position protruded up to the upper side of the spin chuck 12 for carrying the wafer W, And moves up and down between the retracted positions on the lower side.

3, the main developer nozzle 3 has a discharge port 31 for discharging a developer to form a liquid storage portion 30 on the surface of the wafer W, And a contact portion 32 which is formed so as to be smaller than the surface and which is provided so as to face the surface of the wafer W and to which the discharge port 31 is opened. The main developer nozzle 3 is formed, for example, in a columnar shape, and its bottom surface is the contact portion 32. [ A vertical through hole 33 is formed at the center of the main developer nozzle 3 and the lower end of the through hole 33 is the ejection opening 31 already described. The discharge port 31 is opened, for example, on the center axis of the main developer nozzle 3, that is, at the center of the contact portion 32. A developer supply pipe 36 is inserted into the upper side of the through hole 33 and the developer supply pipe 36 is in communication with the discharge port 31 through the through hole 33.

The developer supply tube 36 has an introductory tube 341 inserted into the through hole 33 and a resin tube 342 connected to the proximal end side of the straight tube 341. On the other hand, the lower side of the through hole 33 into which the straight pipe 341 is inserted is reduced in diameter and the tip end of the straight pipe 341 inserted into the upper side of the through hole 33 collides with the step of the upper end of the diameter- So that the connection position of the developer supply pipe 36 with respect to the main developer nozzle 3 is determined. The method of connecting the main developer nozzle 3 and the developer supply tube 36 is not limited to this example but may be a method in which a plug provided at the distal end of the developer supply tube 36 is provided on the upper surface of the main developer nozzle 3 A configuration in which the developer is inserted into the socket or a configuration in which a flange provided at the distal end of the developer supply pipe 36 is connected to the upper surface of the main developer nozzle 3 may be employed.

The contact portion 32 is provided so as to face the surface of the wafer W loaded on the spin chuck 12. When the diameter of the wafer W is, for example, 300 mm, the diameter d1 of the contact portion 32 is 30 mm to 200 mm, and in this example, it is set to 100 mm. As the material of the main developer nozzle 3, for example, a resin is used so that the developer can be stirred by surface tension as described later. As this resin, for example, PFA (tetrafluoroethylene / perfluoroalkyl vinyl ether copolymer), PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene) and the like are used.

The upper surface of the main developer nozzle 3 is fixed to the tip of the arm 41 through the support member 35 and the proximal end side of the arm 41 is fixed to the moving mechanism 42 as shown in Figures 2 and 3 Respectively. The moving mechanism 42 has a function of moving along the horizontally extending guide rails 43 and has a function of moving the main developer nozzle 3 along the radial direction of the wafer W held by the spin chuck 12, Can be moved. The moving mechanism 42 also has a function of raising and lowering the arm 41 and has a processing position for supplying developer to the wafer W held by the spin chuck 12 and a processing position for supplying the developing solution to the guide rail 43 The height of the main developer nozzle 3 can be raised or lowered between the height positions of the main developer nozzle 3 and the height position. Further, on the outer side of the cup 2, there is provided a standby portion 5 which is configured to be fittable with the distal end portion of the main developer nozzle 3 and which is formed of a nozzle bus provided with a liquid drain port.

The developer supply pipe 36 connected to the main developer nozzle 3 is fixed to the arm 41 and the support member 35 which have already been described. As shown in Figs. 1 and 3, a supply source 361 of a developing solution of, for example, a negative type resist is connected to the upstream end of the developer supply pipe 36. [ The developer supply source 361 includes a pump, a valve, and the like, and supplies the developer to the main developer nozzle 3 in accordance with a control signal from the control unit 10, which will be described later.

The developer supplied from the supply source 361 is discharged from the developer supply pipe 36 to the wafer W through the discharge port 31. [ Here, the configuration of the discharge port 31 is not limited to the example in which the lower end of the through hole 33 is opened toward the wafer W. For example, a flat space for developing developer is formed on the lower side of the through hole 33 along the contact portion 32, and a plurality of discharge ports communicating with the flow passage space are formed in the contact portion 32 Or the like.

Further, the developing apparatus 1 is provided with a nozzle unit 6. 1 and 2, the nozzle unit 6 includes a developer nozzle 61 for adjustment and a nozzle 61 made of a material such as DIW (Deionized Water) or MIBC (4-methyl-2-pentanol) And a gas nozzle 63 for jetting a gas onto the surface of the wafer W are provided on the distal end side of a common arm 641, respectively.

The adjusting developer nozzle 61 is provided for the wafer W again so as to equalize the distribution of the degree of development in the surface of the wafer W after the development processing in the main developer nozzle 3, . The adjusting developer nozzle 61 of this embodiment is constituted by a single tube extending vertically downward and has an opening (not shown) of, for example, 0.5 mm to 3 mm at its lower end, And the developer is supplied to the wafer W. The cleaning liquid nozzle 62 and the gas nozzle 63 are also made up of a single end whose lower end is open like the above-described adjusting developer nozzle 61.

1, the adjustment developer nozzle 61, the cleaning liquid nozzle 62 and the gas nozzle 63 are connected to the supply source 361 of the developer, the supply source of the cleaning liquid, For example, a nitrogen gas supply source 363 for drying the wafer W, as shown in FIG. Each of the supply sources 361 to 363 is provided with a pump or a valve and supplies the developer, the cleaning liquid, and the nitrogen gas to the adjusting developer nozzle 61, the cleaning liquid nozzle 62, (63).

The arm 641 is supported by a moving mechanism 651 so as to be movable up and down. The moving mechanism 651 is configured to be movable along a guide rail 661 that extends horizontally. As a result, the adjusting developer nozzle 61, the cleaning liquid nozzle 62 and the gas nozzle 63 are positioned at the processing position, which is a position for supplying developer or the like to the wafer W on the spin chuck 12, 61 to 63) in a standby state. The moving mechanisms 42 and 651 can move the primary developer nozzle 3 and the nozzle unit 6 between the standby position and the processing position without interfering with each other.

2, the standby positions of the nozzles 61 to 63 are set such that when viewed along the moving direction of the arm 641, (5). In this standby position, a nozzle bus 671 for waiting the nozzles 61 to 63 is provided.

In the developing apparatus 1 having the above-described configuration, a control unit 10 composed of a computer is provided. The control unit 10 has a program storage unit (not shown), and the program storage unit stores a program in which steps are executed to execute the development process described in the action to be described later. The control unit 10 outputs control signals to the respective units of the developing apparatus 1 based on the program and controls the movement of the main developer nozzle 3 and the nozzle unit 6 by the respective moving mechanisms 42 and 651, A cleaning liquid and a cleaning liquid are supplied from the respective sources 361 to 363 to the main developer nozzle 3, the adjusting developer nozzle 61, the cleaning liquid nozzle 62 and the gas nozzle 63, The rotation of the wafer W by the rotation of the wafer W, and the movement of the transfer pin 14 are controlled. The program storage unit is configured as a storage medium such as a hard disk, a compact disk, a magneto-optical disk, or a memory card, for example.

Examples of various design parameters related to the main developer nozzle 3 provided in the developing apparatus 1 described above are as follows. The main developer nozzle 3, which moves above the wafer W held by the spin chuck 12, For example, 10 mm / sec to 100 mm / sec, and more preferably 10 mm / sec to 50 mm / sec. The diameter of the contact portion 32 is, for example, 50 mm to 200 mm. The rotational speed (the number of rotations per unit time) of the wafer W is preferably 100 rpm or less, more preferably 10 rpm to 100 rpm, in order to suppress splashing of liquid when the developer is discharged onto the wafer W.

The operation of the developing apparatus 1 having the above-described structure will be described with reference to Figs. 4 to 10. Fig.

First, a resist film is formed on the surface, and the exposed wafer W is carried into the developing apparatus 1 by a substrate transport mechanism (not shown). When the wafer W is held on the spin chuck 12, the main developer nozzle 3 moves from the standby portion 5 to a position above the center portion of the wafer W. [ 4, the main developer nozzle 3 is lowered so that the contact portion 32 is located on the side of several millimeters from the upper surface of the wafer W. [ Subsequently, in a state where the wafer W is stopped, or when the wafer W is rotated at a rotational speed of 10 rpm or less, for example, in the clockwise direction when viewed from the upper surface side, the developer is supplied from the discharge port 31 do. As a result, the liquid storage portion 30 is formed between the contact portion 32 of the main liquid developer nozzle 3 and the wafer W so as to contact the contact portion 32 (FIGS. 3 and 4). The discharge flow rate of the developer at this time depends on the area of the contact portion 32, but is, for example, 60 to 600 ml / min.

The main developer nozzle 3 is moved from the center side toward the periphery side of the wafer W while the rotational speed of the wafer W is adjusted to 30 to 100 rpm and the developer is continuously discharged, (FIG. 5). The main liquid developer nozzle 3 is moved for a period of, for example, 2 to 15 seconds until the end of the contact portion 32 reaches the periphery of the wafer W, (30).

The operation described with reference to Figs. 4 and 5 corresponds to the developer developing step.

When the liquid storage portion 30 is formed on the entire surface of the wafer W, the supply of the developer from the main developer nozzle 3 and the rotation of the wafer W are stopped and the main developer nozzle 3 is moved to the standby portion 5). Then, in a state where the wafer W is stopped, a stop phenomenon by the liquid storage portion 30 formed on the wafer W is performed (Fig. 6). The period of the stop phenomenon varies depending on the time for forming the liquid storage portion 30 and the total development time, but is set to, for example, 1 to 20 seconds.

As shown in the experimental results to be described later, the inventors of the present invention have found that when the developer is applied using the main developer nozzle 3 having the contact portion 32 provided so as to face the surface of the wafer W, And the degree of progress of the phenomenon changes along the radial direction of the surface. As a result, on the surface of the post-development wafer W, the progress of development is approximately the same as around the center of rotation of the wafer W, while a distribution having a different degree of progress in the radial direction is formed.

When a pattern is developed in the degree of development and the pattern developed on the resist film is a line and space (hereinafter also referred to as " LS "), the line width of the line On the other hand, in a region where the development is insufficient, the line width of the line is widened (the width of the space is narrowed). When the pattern to be developed is a contact hole (hereinafter also referred to as " CH "), the hole diameter of the CH is increased in the region where development is progressing, while the hole diameter of CH is decreased in the region where development is inadequate .

The reason for the distribution of the progression degree of such phenomenon may be the difference in contact time between the resist film and the developer and the influence of the concentration distribution of the dissolved component dissolved in the developer film from the resist film. 4 and 5, when the main developer nozzle 3 is moved from the central portion side toward the peripheral portion side of the wafer W (hereinafter, referred to as " wafer W " The operation of moving the nozzle 3 or the adjusting developer nozzle 61 is also referred to as " scan-out "), the contact time between the wafer W and the developer until supply of developer, Longer, shorter on the periphery. Further, the longer the contact time with the developing solution becomes, the greater the progress of development.

On the other hand, in the developer for forming the liquid storage portion 30, the polymer of the resist film is dissolved in the developer as a developing component with the progress of the development, and this component becomes a factor for inhibiting the development of the development. Considering the concentration of the dissolution component, the longer the contact time between the resist film and the developing solution becomes, the higher the concentration of the dissolution component becomes. Therefore, the concentration of the dissolution component increases at the central portion side of the wafer W, . However, on the surface of the rotating wafer W, a flow of the developer from the center side toward the peripheral side is formed, so that the concentration of the dissolved component in the developer is also influenced by the flow of the developer.

The distribution of the progress of the development is formed under the influence of the contact time between the resist film and developer, the concentration of the dissolution component in the solution reservoir 30, the flow formed in the solution reservoir 30, and the like.

In the developing apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, the developer is supplied again to the surface of the wafer W by using the adjusting developer nozzle 61, and the distribution of the progress of the development in the wafer W surface is made even Adjustment is performed.

However, as already described, since the liquid storage portion 30 after the stoppage includes a dissolving component that inhibits the progress of development, even if a new developer is supplied to the liquid storage portion 30 containing the dissolvable component, There is a possibility that the progress of the development can not be sufficiently adjusted.

Therefore, as shown in Fig. 7, the stationary wafer W is rotated at a rotation speed of, for example, 100 to 1000 rpm, and the developer containing the dissolution component is ejected from the surface of the wafer W and discharged. As a result, the surface of the wafer W is in a state in which the liquid film 30a of the developer is thinner than the liquid reservoir 30 at the time of stoppage, or in a dried state (Figs. 7 to 8, 12 to 14 A state in which the liquid film 30a is formed is shown. The time for which the operation of dispensing the developer is performed is, for example, 1 second or less. Further, after this shaking operation is performed, a rinsing liquid may be supplied to the surface of the wafer W to perform rinsing.

The rotation speed of the wafer W is adjusted to be in the range of 100 to 2000 rpm and the developer is supplied from the nozzle bus 671 toward the wafer W side for the adjustment developer nozzle 61 )]. When the adjustment developer nozzle 61 reaches the position above the position 5 mm inside the periphery of the wafer W while moving the adjustment developer nozzle 61 toward the radial direction and the center side of the wafer W, And starts discharging the developer from the developer nozzle 61 to the wafer W (Fig. 8). By supplying the developing solution again after the developing solution containing the dissolving component is dispensed, the development proceeds in the area where the developing solution is replenished, thereby making up for the lack of developing so as to make the distribution of the degree of development progress even .

The adjusting developer nozzle 61 is provided with a developing solution supply nozzle 61 for supplying the developing solution from the peripheral portion side in the radial direction of the wafer W toward the center portion side at a moving speed of 10 to 100 mm / sec while discharging the developing solution at a discharge flow rate of 10 to 600 ml / The operation of moving the main developer nozzle 3 or the adjusting developer nozzle 61 from the periphery side to the center side of the wafer W is also referred to as " scan in "). In this manner, the developing solution is discharged while the adjusting developer nozzle 61 is moved above the area where the progress of the development is required, thereby advancing the development of the area in which the development is insufficient, The distribution of the degree of progress can be made even.

The above-described operation described with reference to Fig. 8 is a developer supply step of supplying a developer to the surface of the rotating wafer W, and in particular, the supply of the developer to advance the phenomenon of the developer- Which corresponds to the development adjustment process.

Here, the region where the development progression degree is adjusted by using the adjustment developer nozzle 61 can be determined, for example, by distributing the distribution of the progression degree of development when the development process is performed using the primary developer nozzle 3 alone, And the like. In the graphs of Figs. 9 and 10, the distribution of the progress of the phenomenon in the radial direction of the wafer W is schematically shown.

For example, attention is paid to the LS formed on the wafer W, and it is assumed that the line width of LS indicates the distribution shown in the graph of Fig. 9, the line width w of the LS at the point b on the peripheral edge side of the wafer W is smaller than the line width w 'at the point a at the center side, as shown in the lower part of the graph of Fig. And it can be understood that the phenomenon on the periphery side is insufficient.

On the other hand, when the development on the periphery side of the wafer W is insufficient, the hole diameter of the CH becomes small. Therefore, the hole diameter of the CH is set so that the hole diameter d 'of the CH at the point b on the peripheral edge side of the wafer W is smaller than the hole diameter d at the point a at the center side Distribution.

Therefore, in the developing process using the adjusting developer nozzle 61, the scan is performed to start the supply of the developer from the region on the periphery where the development is insufficient, and the contact time between the resist film and the developer on the periphery side is longer do. Thereby, the development in the region where the development is insufficient can be advanced, and the distribution of the degree of progress of the development in the plane of the wafer W can be made even.

Next, contrary to the above-mentioned example, it is assumed that the line width of LS indicates the distribution shown in the graph of Fig. 10, the line width w of the LS at the point a on the center side of the wafer W is smaller than the line width w 'at the point b on the peripheral edge side, And it can be interpreted that the phenomenon of the central part side is insufficient.

When the development on the center side of the wafer W is insufficient, when the CH is considered, the hole diameter d 'of the CH at the point a on the center side of the wafer W becomes equal to the diameter d' 9, which is smaller than the hole diameter d of the hole.

In this case, a scan-out for starting the supply of the developer by the adjustment developer nozzle 61 is performed from the center-side area where the development is insufficient, and the contact time between the resist film and the developer at the center side is made longer than that at the periphery. Thereby, the development in the region where the development is insufficient can be advanced, and the distribution of the degree of progress of the development in the plane of the wafer W can be made even.

The supply of the developer by the adjustment developer nozzle 61 may not be performed with respect to the entire surface of the wafer W and may be performed only in the region where the development is insufficient. In addition, as the parameters for adjusting the progress of the development, the number of repetitions of the operation of supplying the developer while moving the adjustment developer nozzle 61, the speed at which the adjustment developer nozzle 61 is moved, And the rotation speed of the wafer W. [0064] For each parameter, as the number of repetition times of the developer supply operation is increased, the moving speed of the adjusting developer nozzle 61 is smaller, the discharging flow rate of the developing solution is larger and the rotational speed of the wafer W is smaller, The progress of the phenomenon per hour can be promoted. Further, it is also possible to change the moving speed during the movement of the adjusting developer nozzle 61 or to change the supply amount of the developing solution by temporarily stopping the movement.

Here, in the conventional developing process in which development is performed using the same single-tube nozzle for the adjusting developer nozzle 61 with respect to the wafer W after exposure, in order to diffuse a small amount of developing solution onto the entire surface of the wafer W, It is necessary to increase the rotational speed of the wafer W to 1000 rpm or more. However, in this conventional method, the progress of the phenomenon is fluctuated when viewed in the circumferential direction of the wafer W, and the distribution in which the regions of different development progresses radially from the central portion to the peripheral portion of the wafer W (See FIG. 31 to be described later). Particularly, this phenomenon becomes conspicuous at the initial stage of development processing, in which the progress of development per unit time is large.

On the other hand, in the case of adjusting the development progress using the adjustment developer nozzle 61, the approximate development process is completed by the supply of the developer from the main developer nozzle 3 which is performed in advance. The developing process using the adjusting developer nozzle 61 is performed as a complement to the developing process using the main developer nozzle 3 and the width of the change in the line width of LS or the diameter of CH in the adjustment As compared with the variation widths in these cases. It is also known that, even in the latter stage of development processing in which the progress of development per unit time is small, even when the wafer W is rotated at a relatively high speed to perform development, the above-described radial distribution (Fig. 31) . Thus, even if the rotation speed of the wafer W is raised by, for example, 1000 rpm or more, the radial distribution generated by the conventional method does not appear to be a problem.

Returning to the description of the processing of the wafer W by the developing apparatus 1, when the developer is supplied while the adjusting developer nozzle 61 is moved and the adjustment of the progress of the developing is finished, Thereby stopping the supply of the developer. Subsequently, the cleaning liquid nozzle 62 is moved upward to the center of the wafer W to supply the cleaning liquid, and the wafer W is rotated at a rotation speed of 1000 to 2000 rpm. In this manner, the cleaning liquid is diffused over the entire surface of the wafer W, and a cleaning process for removing the developer on the surface of the wafer W is performed.

The supply of the cleaning liquid is stopped and the supply of the nitrogen gas is started by moving the gas nozzle 63 above the central portion of the wafer W while the rotation of the wafer W is continued. By the rotation of the wafer W and the supply of the nitrogen gas, the cleaning liquid is removed from the surface of the wafer W, and the wafer W is dried. The cleaning process by the cleaning liquid and the supply of the gas for drying the wafer W may be omitted as necessary. Thereafter, the nozzle unit 6 is retracted toward the nozzle bus 671, and the wafer W is transferred to an external substrate transport mechanism in a reverse procedure to that at the time of loading, and is taken out of the developing apparatus 1.

The developing device 1 according to the present embodiment has the following effects. A liquid reservoir portion is formed on a part of the surface of the wafer W and a developing liquid is supplied to the liquid storage portion 30 between the contact portion 32 opposed to the surface of the wafer W and the wafer W, The liquid storage portion 30 is diffused over the entire surface of the wafer W by moving the discharge port 31 and the contact portion 32 of the developer on the wafer W. [ As a result, the uniformity of progress of the development in the surface of the wafer W is improved. When the main developer nozzle 3 is used, a distribution in which the development progresses in the radial direction of the wafer W is formed. Therefore, by continuously using the adjustment developer nozzle 61, The distribution can be made even. As a result, the uniformity of progress of the development becomes better and the in-plane uniformity with respect to the line width and the hole diameter of the pattern is obtained.

(Second Embodiment)

Next, the developing process according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to Figs. 11 to 14. Fig. Since the developing apparatus 1 used in this developing process is common to the developing apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment described with reference to Figs. 1 to 3, the explanation will be omitted again. 12 to 14, components common to those shown in Figs. 1 to 6 are denoted by the same reference numerals as those used in these drawings.

As a result of the development processing using the main developer nozzle 3, for example, as shown in the graph in Fig. 11, the line width of LS at two points, that is, the central region of the wafer W and the region near the P point on the peripheral edge side, And a region in which the phenomenon is insufficient occurs locally and discontinuously at a plurality of locations. In this case, rather than moving the adjusting developer nozzle 61 while discharging the developer from the central portion of the wafer W to the vicinity of the point P, it is more effective to adjust the supply of the developer locally to each region .

Therefore, after the development processing by the main developer nozzle 3 described with reference to Figs. 4 to 7, the stopping phenomenon, and the dispensing operation of the liquid storage portion 30 including the dissolving component are carried out, The adjustment developer nozzle 61 is moved to a position above the central portion of the wafer W that is under development. Then, the wafer W is rotated at a rotation speed of 100 to 2000 rpm and the developing solution is discharged at a discharge flow rate of 10 to 600 ml / min, for example, in the state where the adjustment developer nozzle 61 is stopped, Adjust the progress of the development of the area.

Subsequently, while the rotation of the wafer W is continued, the supply of the developer from the adjusting developer nozzle 61 is stopped, and thereafter, the adjusting developer nozzle 61 is moved toward the position above the point P in Fig. 11 ( 13). When the adjusting developer nozzle 61 reaches the position above the point P, the developer is discharged while the adjusting developer nozzle 61 is stopped, and the progress of development in the region near the point P is adjusted (Fig. 14).

11, in the case where the degree of development progresses between the central region of the wafer W and the vicinity of the point P is different (in the example shown in Fig. 11, the region near the point P is short of the phenomenon At least one of these parameters is set as a parameter, the flow rate of the developing solution, the rotational speed of the wafer W, and the supply time of the developing solution. For each parameter, as the discharge flow rate of the developing solution becomes larger, the rotational speed of the wafer W becomes shorter, and the supply time of the developer is longer, the progress of the phenomenon in the other area is promoted .

It is also possible to carry out an operation of locally moving the adjusting developer nozzle 61 in each of the central region of the wafer W and the vicinity of the P point on the peripheral edge side to scan the respective regions. In this case, the number of repetitions of the scan described above and the moving speed of the adjusting developer nozzle 61 are added as parameters for adjusting the progress of development.

As described above, in the main developer nozzle 3 used in the developing process described in the first and second embodiments, the abutting portion 32 of the main developer nozzle 3 is made to contact the wafer W And has a function of stirring the developer in the liquid storage portion 30 formed between the contact portions 32 (see the description of FIG. 3). When the nozzle having the contact portion 32 is referred to as a " pad type nozzle ", a stirring mechanism for further promoting stirring of the developer in the liquid storage portion 30 may be provided in the pad type nozzle.

Hereinafter, a configuration example of a stirring mechanism of a developer will be described. In the pad type nozzles 3a and 3b shown in Figs. 15 and 16, the components common to those shown in Fig. 3 are given the same reference numerals as those used in Fig. The pad type nozzle having the structure shown in Fig. 3 may be described as " pad type nozzle 3 ".

The pad type nozzle 3a shown in Fig. 15 is provided with a plurality of branched flow paths 341 and 342 in the main body of the pad type nozzle 3a so that the developer supplied through the straight pipe 341 branches and flows in the pad type nozzle 3a. (331) are formed. The direction of the branching flow path 331 on the outlet side and the position of the discharge port 31 are adjusted so that the branch flow path 331 flows toward the merging direction of the developer discharged from each discharge port 31.

When the developer is supplied by using the pad type nozzle 3a having the above-described configuration, the developer stored in the liquid storage portion 30 between the wafer W and the pad- Is formed. As described above, since the branch flow path 331 is set so that the flows of the developer are merged, the flow of the developer in the branch flow path 331 collides with the flow at the merging position, thereby accelerating the stirring of the liquid storage section 30.

Here, the branch passage 331 may be formed so that the total cross sectional area of each branch passage 331 is smaller than the cross sectional area of the straight pipe 341 for supplying the developer to the pad type nozzle 3a. By raising the flow velocity of the developer discharged from the discharge port 31, the energy of the flow of the developer can be increased and the stirring effect at the time of impact can be improved.

The pad type nozzle 3b shown in Fig. 16 incorporates an air flow nozzle for making the developer supplied to the wafer W into a droplet state. As a specific example of the structure of the air nozzle, the pad-shaped nozzle 3b is provided with a through hole 33 (see FIG. 3), which is a liquid passage through which the developer supplied from the straight pipe 341 flows, Is formed. Around the straight tube 341, there is formed a tubular gas flow path 333 through which gas flows to disperse the developer to make droplets. On the upstream side of the gas flow path 333, a gas supply pipe 332 for supplying a gas such as clean air to the gas flow path 333 is connected.

The lower portion of the gas flow path 333 has a conical shape narrowed toward the center as it goes downward and the lower end portion of the gas flow path 333 joins with the lower end portion of the through hole 33. The developing solution and the gas are intensely mixed in the merging portion to form a droplet of the developing solution, and the gas-liquid mixed flow containing the droplet is discharged from the discharge port 31. The liquid droplets in the vapor-liquid mixed flow discharged from the discharge port 31 collide with and join the surface of the wafer W arranged so as to face the discharge port 31, and a liquid-like liquid storage portion 30 is formed. A plurality of bubbles originating from the gas in the gas-liquid mixed flow are contained in the liquid reservoir 30. When the bubbles pass through the liquid reservoir 30 and are discharged to the outside, Is accelerated.

As another stirring mechanism, the stirring of the liquid storage portion 30 may be promoted by using the relative movement of the pad type nozzle 3 and the wafer W. [ As a specific example, there is an example in which a vibrator or an air-driven vibrator made of a piezo element is provided in the pad-type nozzle 3 and the agitation of the liquid storage portion 30 is promoted by vibrating the pad- .

As another method using the relative movement between the pad type nozzle 3 and the wafer W, the wafer W is alternately rotated in the forward rotation direction and the reverse rotation direction by the spin chuck 12, A method of promoting the agitation of the agitator 30 may be employed. In adopting this method, as in the case where the pad type nozzle (main developer nozzle) 3 is moved without performing the alternate rotation, the liquid storage portion 30 is formed on the entire surface of the wafer W, It is necessary to stir the portion 30 as uniformly as possible within the plane of the wafer W.

For example, when a scan-out in which the pad-type nozzle 3 is moved from the center side toward the periphery side is employed, the number of rotations of the wafer W when the pad type nozzle 3 is moved without performing the alternate rotation The rotation amount and the rotation speed of the wafer W in the normal rotation direction and the reverse rotation direction are set so that the total amount and the rotation amount of the wafer W at the time of accelerating the stirring by the alternate rotation become the same per unit time do. More specifically, for example, when the ratio of the rotation amount in the normal rotation direction to the rotation amount in the reverse rotation direction is set to 3: 2, the wafer W is rotated at a rotation speed five times that in the case where the alternation rotation is not performed The spin chuck 12 is driven to rotate. Similarly, when the ratio of the amount of rotation is set to 2: 1, the spin chuck 12 is driven so as to rotate the wafer W at a rotation speed three times that in the case where the rotation is not alternately performed.

Here, in each of the embodiments described with reference to Figs. 1 to 14, the description has been given of the case where a nozzle on a single tube is used as the adjusting developer nozzle 61 used for adjusting the progress of development. However, the shape of the nozzle constituting the adjusting developer nozzle 61 is not limited to this example. For example, adjustment may be performed using the pad type nozzles 3, 3a, 3b shown in Figs. 3, 15, 16, and the like. Even in this case, the developing solution is discharged from the discharge port 31 at the position to be adjusted to form the liquid storage portion 30, and development processing is performed in a state in which the contact portion is in contact with the liquid storage portion 30. [ When the adjusting developer nozzle 61 is formed by using the pad type nozzles 3, 3a and 3b, the main developer nozzle (first developer nozzle) 3 and the adjusting developer nozzle 61 (second And developer nozzles) may be constituted by common pad-type nozzles 3, 3a, and 3b. As another example, a nozzle provided with a discharge port that extends in a slit shape toward the radial direction of the wafer W may be used as the adjusting developer nozzle 61.

It goes without saying that the developer supplied from each of the developer nozzles 3 and 61 may be supplied not only to the developer of the negative resist film but also the developer of the positive resist film depending on the type of the resist film to be developed.

4 and 5, the operation of forming the liquid storage portion 30 by using the main developer nozzle 3 and performing the developing process is the same as the above- The present invention is not limited to the case of adopting the scan-out method in which the main developer nozzle 3 is moved to the side of the main scanning direction. A scan-in method may be adopted in which the main developer nozzle 3 is positioned at a position above the peripheral portion of the wafer W and the main developer nozzle 3 is moved toward the center portion after the developer is discharged.

The order of the development processing using the main developer nozzle 3 and the development processing for adjustment using the adjustment developer nozzle 61 is not limited to the above example. For example, the developing process for adjustment using the adjusting developer nozzle 61 may be performed first, and then the developing process using the main developer nozzle 3 may be performed. However, in this case, scanning is performed by a preliminary experiment or the like so that the degree of progress of the development becomes uniform within the plane of the wafer W as a result of carrying out processing in the order of development processing for adjustment → development processing using the main developer nozzle 3 And sets the area and various parameters to be performed.

In addition to these, various types of operations such as a scan in the adjustment by the adjustment developer nozzle 61, a scan-out selection, a scan-in start position and an end position of the scan-in, The parameters do not have to be fixed and used in accordance with the predefined settings based on the results of the preliminary experiments. For example, a measuring instrument is provided in the coating apparatus, the developing apparatus, the coating apparatus, and the developing apparatus provided with the developing apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, and the developing apparatus 1, after the developing process using the main developing liquid nozzle 3 and the adjusting developing liquid nozzle 61 The line width of the LS and the hole diameter of the CH may be measured for the predetermined number of wafers W, and various settings may be changed based on the measurement results.

In this case, the influences on the distribution of the degree of progress of the phenomenon in the case of changing various settings are grasped in advance, and based on the measurement result by the above-described measuring instrument, (W) may be reflected in the condition setting when adjustment using the adjusting developer nozzle 61 is performed. In the wafer W to be processed later, the feedforward control is performed in which the condition setting is performed in advance so that the distribution of the progress of the development becomes more uniform.

(Third Embodiment)

Next, by preparing for development for supplying the developer to the entire surface of the wafer W only for a short period of time, and thereafter removing the developer, the surface of the wafer W in the development processing by the main developer nozzle 3 A description will be given of a method for reducing the difference in progress of the development (variation in the progress of the development).

As described above, the dissolution component generated by supplying the developer to the resist film is one element that inhibits the progress of development by the developer. As a result, the distribution of the development progress varies depending on the concentration distribution of the dissolution component in the surface of the wafer W, the time during which the dissolution component remains, the flow of the developer including the dissolution component, and the like .

Since most of the dissolved components are generated immediately after the developer comes into contact with the resist film, the dissolved components generated in the initial stage of development are removed from the surface of the wafer W, and the dissolved components are removed from the surface of the wafer W If the dissolved components present can be reduced, the difference in progress of the phenomenon accompanying each of the above-mentioned factors can be reduced.

When the main developer nozzle 3 is disposed on the wafer W to which no developer is supplied yet and development processing is started, developer or dissolution is performed between the area below the main developer nozzle 3 and the area outside the main developer nozzle 3 The abundance and concentration of the components vary greatly. As described above, most of the dissolved components are generated at the initial stage of the development. Therefore, when the main developer nozzle 3 moves to a region and the developing process is started, the lower side of the main developer nozzle 3 The concentration of the dissolution component previously contained in the liquid reservoir 30 of the main liquid developer nozzle 3 and the dissolution component newly generated by the movement of the main developer nozzle 3 are different for each position of the main developer nozzle 3, The result of the processing may vary. As a result, as shown in Fig. 26 and Fig. 28 to be described later, a distribution in which the development progresses in the radial direction of the wafer W is generated along the moving direction (locus) of the main developer nozzle 3 effect).

On the other hand, if the dissolved components generated in the initial stage of development are removed from the surface of the wafer W, the difference in development conditions (difference in dissolved component concentration, etc.) between before and after the main developer nozzle 3 has moved to each region is reduced .

On the other hand, as described above, when the supply time of the developer by the conventional method without using the main developer nozzle 3 is prolonged, it is also considered that a distribution in which radially scattered regions of different development progresses are formed 31). In addition, if the dissolving component remains on the surface of the wafer W, development defects may occur which are inhibited by the dissolved components and the development of the resist film is not sufficiently advanced.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, for example, a conventional developer nozzle (hereinafter, referred to as " developer nozzle 61 " in the third embodiment) is applied to a wafer W rotating at a rotational speed in the range of 100 to 2000 rpm Is supplied with a developing solution for a short time within a range of 1 to 5 seconds at a flow rate sufficient to supply the developer without causing liquid slippage in the peripheral direction of the wafer W. After stopping supply of the developer, the rotation of the wafer W is continued to remove the developer, whereby the dissolved components generated in the initial stage are discharged, and in the state in which development defects are hard to occur, the development processing by the main developer nozzle 3 .

The supply of the developing solution by the developing solution nozzle (second developing solution nozzle) 61 is a developing solution supplying step. In particular, the developing solution supplying step (developing solution supplying step) This corresponds to the preparation process.

Hereinafter, an example of a method of performing development processing of the wafer W by using the main developer nozzle 3 after preparation for development will be described with reference to Figs. 17 to 24. Fig. 17 to 24, components common to those shown in Figs. 1 to 6 are given the same reference numerals as those used in these figures.

First, when the wafer W is held on the spin chuck 12, the wafer W is rotated at a rotational speed of, for example, 1500 rpm within a range of 100 to 2000 rpm, and the wafer W is moved to a position above the center of the wafer W The developer nozzle 61 is moved. Thereafter, the developing solution is supplied from the developer nozzle 61 to the developing solution only for one second within the time range of 1 to 5 seconds at a flow rate of 60 ml / sec to such an extent that the liquid film 30a can be formed in the peripheral direction of the wafer W without causing liquid- (Fig. 17). If the liquid film 30a covers the entire surface of the wafer W at any point of time when the liquid film 30a does not have a liquid breakage in the peripheral direction of the wafer W with respect to the supply flow rate of the developer, It is not an essential requirement. For example, the developer supply flow rate may be such that the annular liquid film 30a is enlarged on the surface of the wafer W. [

In this development preparation, development is also carried out in the resist film in contact with the developer, and a dissolution component is generated. However, in the case of a short time such as the above-described time range, since progress of development is suppressed to an initial stage, the radial distribution of the other regions of the phenomenon progressed as a conventional problem does not remarkably appear.

Subsequently, when supply is performed for a predetermined time, supply of the developer from the developer nozzle 61 is stopped, and the rotation speed of the wafer W is reduced from 1500 rpm to 30 rpm (Fig. 18). When supply of the developing solution is stopped, a developing solution containing a relatively large amount of dissolved components generated in the initial stage of development is removed from the surface of the rotating wafer W during the decelerating operation. During the execution of the operation, the developer nozzle 61 is retracted from the upper side of the wafer W while the main developer nozzle 3 is moved to the upper position of the periphery of the wafer W.

When the rotational speed reaches 30 rpm, the surface of the wafer W is maintained in a state of being coated with the developer, though most of the developer containing the dissolved component is removed. In this state, the main developer nozzle 3 moved to the periphery of the wafer W is lowered to the height position where the developer is supplied, the developer is supplied from the ejection opening 31, Thereby forming a liquid storage portion 30 of the developer (Fig. 19). The supply flow rate of the developer is adjusted to a value within a range of, for example, 60 to 600 ml / min.

Thereafter, while the main developer nozzle 3 is moved from the periphery side to the center side of the wafer W at a moving speed of 22 mm / sec in the range of 10 to 100 mm / sec, the rotation speed of the wafer W is reduced to 30 rpm And the liquid storage portion 30 of the developer is spread on the wafer W (Fig. 20). Thus, in this embodiment, the liquid storage portion 30 is diffused on the wafer W by the scan-in method. The developing solution in the liquid storage portion 30 includes dissolved components as the development progresses by the developer supplied from the main developer nozzle 3, even in the developing process after the preparation for development in advance.

At this time, when the liquid storage portion 30 is diffused by the method of scan-out, the developer containing the dissolving component sometimes flows out from the liquid storage portion 30 so as to be performed before the position of the main developer nozzle 3. As a result, even if the main developer nozzle 3 constituted by the pad type nozzle is used, there is a possibility that the progress of the development due to the fresh developer is hindered by the dissolved components. In this way, when the influence of the developer outflow from the liquid storage portion 30 is large, by adopting the method of diffusing the liquid storage portion 30 by scanning the wafer W while rotating the wafer W, It is possible to suppress the occurrence of the preceding application of the developer containing the dissolving component by using the centrifugal force acting on the developer 30. Needless to say, in the case where the influence of the developer outflow from the liquid storage section 30 is small, the liquid storage section 30 may be diffused by scan-out as in the example described with reference to Figs. 4 to 6 .

When the entire surface of the wafer W is covered with the liquid storage portion 30 by the developer supplied from the main developer nozzle 3, the rotation of the wafer W is stopped, For example, for 20 seconds (Fig. 21).

Thereafter, the wafer W is rotated at a rotational speed of, for example, 1000 rpm, the liquid storage portion 30 is removed, and the back side cleaning nozzle 68 disposed on the side of the spin chuck 12 is used , And the lower side peripheral region of the wafer W is cleaned (Fig. 22).

The cleaning liquid nozzle 62 is moved to a position above the central portion of the wafer W and the rotation speed of the wafer W is adjusted to about 2000 rpm at the timing at which the liquid storage portion 30 on the wafer W is shaken . Then, a cleaning liquid is supplied from the cleaning liquid nozzle 62 to diffuse the cleaning liquid 301 on the entire surface of the wafer W, thereby performing cleaning processing for removing the developer remaining on the surface of the wafer W (FIG. 23).

When the cleaning process is performed for a preset time, the supply of the cleaning liquid from the cleaning liquid nozzle 62 is stopped, and the rotation speed of the wafer W is increased to 3000 rpm to perform the shaking drying of the wafer W (Fig. 24). When the cleaning liquid is removed from the surface of the wafer W and becomes dry, the rotation of the wafer W is stopped, and the wafer W after the development process is taken out.

According to the developing process according to the third embodiment, the developing process can be performed in a state in which a relatively large amount of dissolved components are removed in the initial stage of development by preparing the developing process and removing the developing solution thereafter. As a result, the concentration of the dissolved component in the liquid storage portion 30 diffused by the main developer nozzle 3 is small, and the developing process can be advanced in a more uniform state in the plane of the wafer W, The deviation of the degree of progression can be made small and the distribution of the degree of progression can be made even.

The present invention is not limited to the case of using the developer nozzle 61 on the single-walled nozzle for the nozzle (second developer nozzle) for supplying the developing solution for the development preparation, May be used to prepare for development. In this case, the pad type nozzles 3, 3a and 3b are arranged above the central portion of the wafer W, and the developer is supplied from the discharge port 31 for a time period within the time range described above. At this time, the liquid storage portion 30 may be formed between the pad type nozzles 3, 3a, 3b and the wafer W, or may not be formed.

3 and the developer nozzle 61 (the second developer nozzle) when the pad nozzles 3, 3a and 3b are used to constitute the developer nozzle 61. The main developer nozzle (first developer nozzle) Like nozzles 3, 3a and 3b may be constituted by the common pad-type nozzles 3, 3a and 3b, as in the first and second embodiments.

It goes without saying that various stirring accelerations may be performed to vibrate these pad-type nozzles 3, 3a and 3b, or to alternately rotate the wafer W in the forward rotation direction and the reverse rotation direction.

The method of removing the liquid storage portion 30 containing the dissolving component from the wafer W in each of the developing processes according to the first to third embodiments described above is the same as the method of removing the wafer W) by the rotation. For example, the liquid storage portion 30 may be discharged using a tube hose that sucks developer, or the liquid storage portion 30 on the surface of the wafer W may be flowed using a speculator or the like.

[Example]

(Preliminary experiment)

The development process of the wafer W was carried out using the main developer nozzle 3 shown in Figs. 1 to 3, and the distribution of the degree of development in the plane of the wafer W was confirmed. In addition, an experiment was conducted to confirm the distribution in the case where development processing was performed using a conventional single-tube nozzle.

A. Experimental conditions

(Referential Example 1) A main developer nozzle 3 having a diameter of 40 mm was used to start the discharge of the developer from the center of the wafer W having a diameter of 300 mm and to scan out the main developer nozzle 3 to the periphery The liquid storage portion 30 was formed on the entire surface of the wafer W to perform development. The rotation speed of the wafer W during the ejection period of the developer is 30 rpm, the ejection flow rate of the developer is 60 ml / min, and the moving speed of the main developer nozzle 3 is 20 mm / sec.

(Referential Example 2) A liquid storage portion 30 was formed by a scan-in method in which the main developer nozzle 3 was moved from the periphery side to the center side of the wafer W under the same conditions as in Reference Example 1, .

(Reference Example 3) A second developing treatment was performed on the wafer W after the developing treatment was carried out by the scan-out method under the same conditions as in Reference Example 1 by the method of scan-in under the same conditions as in Reference Example 2 .

(Reference Example 4) Using the developer nozzle on the single-tube, the development of the developer was started at the center of the wafer W having a diameter of 300 mm, and the development nozzle was moved to the periphery to perform development. The rotation speed of the wafer W during the ejection period of the developer is 100 rpm, the ejection flow rate of the developer is 20 ml / min, and the moving speed of the developer nozzle is 20 mm / second.

B. Experimental Results

Test results of Reference Example 1 are shown in Figs. 25 and 26, results of Reference Example 2 are shown in Figs. 27 and 28, and results of Reference Example 3 are shown in Figs. 29 and 30, respectively. The results of Reference Example 4 are shown in Fig. 25, 27, 29 and 31 illustrate a case where a resist pattern formed on a wafer W is exposed to CH patterns having the same pore diameter at each position in the plane of the wafer W, In-plane distribution of the pore diameter in the case of Fig. The actual in-plane distribution diagram is a color diagram in which different colors are assigned according to the pore diameters of CH, but in the present embodiment, the in-plane distribution diagram is represented by a monochrome pattern. 26, 28, and 30 show the distribution of the pore diameters of the CH viewed in the radial direction of the wafer W. As shown in Fig. In these drawings, the abscissa indicates the distance from the center of the wafer W, and the ordinate indicates the hole diameter of CH.

According to Fig. 26, in Reference Example 1 in which development processing is performed by the method of scan-out, the degree of progress of development processing is large at the central portion side of the wafer W, and the hole diameter of CH is large. On the other hand, the degree of progress of the developing treatment on the periphery side is small, and the pore diameter distribution in which the pore diameter of CH is relatively small is observed. 25, it can be seen that the pore diameter distribution of CH is formed to be almost rotationally symmetrical about the central portion of the wafer W. [ From these contents, it can be seen that when the developing process is carried out by the method of the scan-out, the distribution of the shape of the development of the developer is formed on the surface of the wafer W with the cup reversed upside down.

On the other hand, referring to FIG. 28, in reference example 2 in which the development process is performed by the scan-in method, the degree of progress of development processing is large on the periphery side of the wafer W, and the hole diameter of CH is large. In addition, the progress of development processing is small at the center side, and the pore diameter of CH is relatively small. 27, it can be seen that the pore diameter distribution of CH is formed almost in rotational symmetry about the center of the wafer W. [ From these contents, it can be seen that, when the developing process is carried out by the scan-in method, a cup-shaped distribution of development progression is formed on the surface of the wafer W.

Referring to FIG. 30, in Reference Example 3 in which the development processing is performed twice by combining scan-in and scan-out, the distribution of the progress of the observed phenomenon is solved when the development processing is performed by scan- The distribution of the pore diameter is almost uniform. Further, even in the in-plane distribution of the pore diameters of CH in Fig. 29, no particular symmetrical pattern is formed.

From these contents, when a distribution of the degree of development progressing in the radial direction of the wafer W is formed by the development processing using the main developer nozzle 3, by supplying the developer so as to cancel out this distribution, It was confirmed that adjustment can be made to even out the distribution of the degree of progress.

On the other hand, according to the results of the development processing using the developer nozzle of the conventional single-tube image, as shown in Fig. 31, a distribution in which the regions of different development progress are radially scattered from the central portion of the wafer W toward the peripheral portion is formed . It is also confirmed that when the rotational speed of the wafer W is increased to 1000 rpm and the same developing process is carried out, the difference in the degree of progression between the regions radiated in different degrees of development is greater. Even if the progress of development is fluctuated in the peripheral direction of the wafer W and the wafer W is rotated and the developer is supplied again, it is difficult to even out these deviations .

The adjustment to feed the developer to the wafer W after the development has been carried out so that the progress of the development can be made more uniform is achieved by the provision of the main developer nozzle 32 having the contact portion 32 provided so as to face the surface of the wafer W, It can be said that this method is particularly effective in the case of carrying out the development using the developing roller 3.

(Experiment 1)

The development processing of the LS and the subsequent adjustment were performed by the method described with reference to Figs. 4 to 8, and the line width distribution of the LS after each processing was measured.

A. Experimental conditions

Example 1 A main developer nozzle 3 having a diameter of 40 mm was used to start the ejection of the developer from the center of the wafer W having a diameter of 300 mm and to scan out the main developer nozzle 3 to the periphery The liquid storage portion 30 was formed on the entire surface of the wafer W to carry out development processing. The rotation speed of the wafer W during the ejection period of the developer is 30 rpm, the ejection flow rate of the developer is 60 ml / min, and the moving speed of the main developer nozzle 3 is 20 mm / sec.

Subsequently, the developing solution is supplied to the area from the position 5 mm inside from the periphery of the wafer W to the position 20 mm inside by the scan-in method using the adjusting developer nozzle 61, . The rotation speed of the wafer W during the adjustment period is 100 rpm, the discharge flow rate of the developer is 20 ml / min, and the movement speed of the adjustment developer nozzle 61 is 20 mm / sec.

B. Experimental Results

The results of the experiment of Example 1 are shown in Fig. The abscissa of FIG. 32 shows the distance [mm] in the radial direction from the center of the wafer W, and the ordinate shows the line width [nm] of LS. The gray plot shows the measurement result of the line width of LS before correction by the adjustment developer nozzle 61 and the black plot shows the measurement result of the line width of LS after correction by the adjustment developer nozzle 61.

32, after development by the main developer nozzle 3, the linewidth of the LS in the region on the peripheral side of the wafer W becomes thick, and the distribution in which the degree of development progress becomes small is confirmed . By supplying the developing solution from the adjusting developer nozzle 61 to the region where the progress of this phenomenon is small, the progression degree of the development is adjusted, and the linewidth distribution of the LS that is adjusted in the diametrical direction is obtained. From this result, even when a development process using the main developer nozzle 3 has a distribution in which the development progresses in the radial direction, a developer is supplied to cancel the distribution using the adjustment developer nozzle 61 , It is confirmed that adjustment can be made to even out the distribution of the progress of the development.

(Experiment 2)

The preparation for development and the development processing for LS were carried out on the basis of the method according to the third embodiment, and the line width distribution of LS was measured.

A. Experimental conditions

(Example 2-1) The main developer nozzle 3 having a diameter of 40 mm was used to carry out development processing on a wafer W having a diameter of 300 mm by a method of scan-in at a moving speed of 10 mm / second. Other experimental conditions are similar to those described with reference to Figs. 17 to 24.

(Example 2-2) The scan of the main developer nozzle 3 was started at a moving speed of 20 mm / sec. At a position of 75 mm from the center of the wafer W, the moving speed gradually moved to 10 mm / The development was carried out under the same conditions as in Example 2-1 except that the speed was lowered and thereafter the movement speed was maintained.

(Example 2-3) The scan of the main developer nozzle 3 was started at a moving speed of 5 mm / sec. At a position of 75 mm from the center of the wafer W, the moving speed gradually moved to 10 mm / The developing process was carried out under the same conditions as in Example 2-1 except that the speed was increased and then the moving speed was maintained.

B. Experimental Results

The results of the experiments of Examples 2-1 to 2-3 are shown in Fig. 33, the axis of abscissas represents the distance in the radial direction (mm) from the center of the wafer W, and the axis of ordinates represents the average line width of the LS in each of the examples minus the measurement result of the line width of LS at each position And the difference value [nm]. In FIG. 33, the experimental results of Example 2-1 are shown by a square plot, the experimental results of Example 2-2 are shown by diamond plots, the experimental results of Examples 2-3 are shown by triangular plots have.

According to the result of Example 2-1 shown in Fig. 33, when the developing process is performed after the preparation for development and the subsequent removal of the developing solution, and the developing process using the main developer nozzle 3 is performed, the variation width of the line width of LS with respect to the average value is , And is suppressed within a range of about 0 nm to + 1 nm. The results of Example 2-1 are such that the distribution of the degree of progress of development can be made uniform so as to become substantially constant in the radial direction as compared with the results of Reference Examples 1 and 2 shown in Figs. 26 and 28 Can be evaluated.

In addition, as shown in the experimental results of Examples 2-2 and 2-3, by advancing the moving speed of the main developer nozzle 3, the progress of the development is slowed and the line width of the line becomes thick (Example 2-2 (The peripheral region of the wafer W in the example 2-3), the progress of the development became faster and the line width of the line became narrower by slowing the moving speed.

The results of the experiments of Examples 2-2 and 2-3 described above show that even when the preparation for development is carried out in advance, the movement speed of the main developer nozzle 3 (the phenomenon supplied to each region of the surface of the wafer W per unit time Which can be interpreted as a liquid amount), it is possible to adjust the progress speed of development. Using this knowledge, it was confirmed that it is possible to further improve the experimental results of Example 2-1.

W: Wafer
1: developing device
12: Spin chuck
3: Main developer nozzle (pad type nozzle)
3a, 3b: Pad-type nozzle
30:
31:
32:
61: Developer nozzle for adjustment

Claims (17)

A step of holding the exposed substrate horizontally on a rotatable substrate holding portion,
And a contact portion provided so as to face the surface of the substrate so as to be smaller than a surface of the substrate and to eject the developer from a discharge port of the first developer nozzle, Forming a liquid reservoir portion on a part of the surface of the substrate on which the contact portion is formed, and supplying the liquid to the liquid reservoir portion while the contact portion is in contact with the liquid reservoir portion, And a step of diffusing the liquid storage portion over the entire surface of the substrate by moving the first developer nozzle to the other side;
A developer supply step of supplying a developer to the surface of the substrate by the second developer nozzle while rotating the substrate in order to even out the distribution of progress of development in the surface of the substrate by the developer developing step;
And a step of removing the developer on the surface of the substrate, which is performed between the developer developing step and the developer supplying step. The developing method according to claim 1, characterized in that the developer supplying step is a developing adjusting step for supplying the developing solution to advance the development of a region in which development is insufficient as compared with other areas. The developing method according to claim 2, wherein the developer developing step is performed before the development adjusting step. The method according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the step of diffusing the liquid storage portion onto the substrate is a step of moving the first developer nozzle from the central portion of the rotating substrate to the peripheral portion side,
Wherein the development adjusting step is a step of moving the supply position of the developer from one side of the periphery of the substrate to the other side of the substrate while discharging the developer from the second developer nozzle. The developing method according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the development adjusting step is a step of locally discharging the developer at a position in the radial direction of the substrate from the second developer nozzle. The developing method according to claim 5, wherein the step of locally discharging the developer is performed while the second developer nozzle is stopped. 6. The developing method according to claim 5, wherein the development adjustment step is performed such that a plurality of positions at which the developer is discharged from the second developer nozzle in a radial direction of the substrate are discontinuous and set. The method according to claim 7, wherein the step of locally discharging the developer is performed while the second developer nozzle is stopped,
At least one of a plurality of positions from which the developer is ejected from the second developer nozzle is different from at least one of the other one in that at least one of the ejection flow rate of the developer, the number of revolutions per unit time of the substrate and the supply time of the developer from the second developer nozzle ≪ / RTI > The developing method according to claim 1, wherein the developing solution supplying step is a developing preparing step of supplying the developing solution to form a liquid film on the surface of the substrate before the developing solution developing step to prepare the developing solution developing step. The developing method according to claim 9, wherein the step of diffusing the liquid storage portion onto the substrate is a step of moving the first developer nozzle from the peripheral portion of the rotating substrate to the center portion side. The developing method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the second developer nozzle is constituted by a nozzle having the contact portion. The developing method according to claim 11, characterized in that the first developer nozzle and the second developer nozzle are constituted by a common nozzle. The developing method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the step of removing the developer on the substrate is a step of removing the developer from the substrate by rotating the substrate. A rotatable substrate holder for holding the exposed substrate horizontally,
A contact portion formed to be smaller than a surface of the substrate and provided so as to face the surface of the substrate, and a nozzle having a discharge port for the developer, wherein a developer is discharged from the discharge port to form a liquid The liquid reservoir portion is moved from the central portion and the peripheral portion of the rotating substrate to the other side while supplying the developer to the liquid reservoir portion while the contact portion is in contact with the liquid reservoir portion, A first developer nozzle for diffusing the developer on the entire surface to perform development processing of the substrate,
The developing solution is supplied to the surface of the substrate before the developing process by the first developing solution nozzle or after the developing process is performed by rotating the substrate so that the surface of the substrate by the developing process using the first developing solution nozzle And a second developer nozzle for supplying a developing solution to evenly distribute the progress of the development in the plane of the developer,
Wherein the developing process using the first developing solution nozzle and the supplying of the developing solution using the second developing solution nozzle are performed after the developing solution on the surface of the supplied substrate is removed first. 15. The image forming apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the second developer nozzle is constituted by a nozzle having the contact portion, and the contact portion is brought into contact with a liquid storage portion formed on the surface of the substrate on the substrate holding portion by ejecting the developer from the ejection opening , And the development processing is performed in the state that the development processing is performed. 16. The developing apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the first developer nozzle and the second developer nozzle are constituted by a common nozzle. A computer readable storage medium storing a computer program for use in a developing apparatus for supplying a developer to a surface of a substrate on which a resist film after exposure has been formed,
The computer program product according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that steps are executed to execute the developing method.

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