KR20210126694A - Substrate processing method and substrate processing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

In the substrate processing method according to the present invention, in a first processing unit, after wet processing (step S104) is performed on a substrate having an uneven pattern formed on the surface, the surface of the substrate is covered with a liquid film containing an organic solvent, and at least the surface of the liquid film a step of coagulating to form a coagulated film (step S105), a step of conveying the substrate covered with the coagulated film to the second processing unit (steps S106, S107), and in the second processing unit, supplying a solution to the coagulated film to coagulate and a step of dissolving the film and removing the solution from the surface of the substrate to dry the substrate (step S108). The easiness of conveyance between processing units can be ensured, reliably preventing the collapse of the uneven|corrugated pattern formed on the surface of a board|substrate.

Description

Substrate processing method and substrate processing apparatus

The present invention relates to a substrate processing method including a process of drying a substrate having an uneven pattern on its surface, followed by wet processing, and a substrate processing apparatus for performing the same.

In a substrate processing technique for drying a substrate after wet treatment (eg, cleaning treatment) of a substrate having a fine concavo-convex pattern on its surface with a liquid, it is due to the action of the surface tension of the liquid remaining in the pattern during the drying treatment. There is a known problem that pattern collapse occurs. In order to solve this problem, there is a prior art in which a liquid is replaced with a fluid having a lower surface tension and then dried. As a fluid with very low surface tension, there exists a fluid which used liquid carbon dioxide, for example (for example, refer patent document 1).

Another prior art is sublimation drying technology. In this technique, a liquid film of a liquid sublimable substance is formed on the surface of the substrate after wet processing, and then it is cooled and solidified. Then, by sublimating the solidified sublimable substance, a gas-liquid interface that causes pattern collapse is prevented from occurring (for example, refer to Patent Document 2).

In these prior arts, a processing unit for forming a liquid film on the substrate surface and a processing unit for drying the substrate are separate. Therefore, a conveyance mechanism for conveying a board|substrate between these units is provided.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2013-201302 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2012-243869

In the prior art described in Patent Document 1, it is necessary to convey the substrate while holding the liquid film formed on the surface. For this reason, the board|substrate must always be maintained in a horizontal attitude|position, and also with respect to a conveyance speed, it must become comparatively low speed. However, there is a fear that the surface of the substrate may be exposed due to leakage or evaporation of the liquid due to vibration during transport, which may cause pattern collapse.

On the other hand, in the prior art described in Patent Document 2, since the substrate surface is conveyed in a state covered by the solidified sublimable substance, it can be said that there are fewer restrictions on conveyance. However, due to the further miniaturization of the pattern, there is a fear that a problem that cannot be dealt with by this technique may occur. The reason is as follows.

A property value, generally known as the freezing point of a liquid, is a value when the liquid is in free space or a relatively large space. On the other hand, there is a phenomenon that, for example, in the case of a liquid entering a microscopic space such as a nanometer unit, the solidification point decreases significantly more than the general numerical value described above. For this reason, unless the cooling temperature is sufficiently low and a long cooling time is not provided, the liquid penetrating into the fine pattern does not sufficiently solidify and remains in a liquid state. Thereby, the sublimation drying treatment process after conveyance does not substantially "sublime" but becomes a liquid phase, and there exists a possibility that a gas-liquid interface may arise and the pattern may collapse.

This invention has been made in view of the above problems, and in a substrate processing technique for drying a substrate having an uneven pattern on its surface after performing wet processing, while ensuring easiness of transport between processing units, the pattern collapse is also reliably prevented. The purpose is to provide technology that can prevent it.

In one aspect of the method for processing a substrate according to the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, in the first processing unit, a wet treatment is performed on a substrate having an uneven pattern on the surface, and then the surface of the substrate is formed as a liquid film containing an organic solvent. a step of covering, a step of solidifying at least the surface of the liquid film to form a coagulated film, a step of conveying the substrate covered with the coagulated film to a second processing unit; supplying to dissolve the coagulated film;

Further, in one aspect of the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, a wet treatment for a substrate having an uneven pattern on its surface, a treatment for covering the surface of the substrate with a liquid film, and configuring the liquid film A first processing unit for performing a process of converting the liquid film into a solidified film by cooling it to a lower temperature than the freezing point of the liquid, and the substrate on which the solidified film is formed is received, and a solution is supplied to the solidified film to solidify the liquid film a second processing unit for performing a treatment for dissolving a film, and a treatment for drying the substrate by removing the dissolving solution from the surface of the substrate; A conveying mechanism for conveying is provided.

In the invention constituted as described above, the transfer of the substrate from the first processing unit to the second processing unit is performed in a state in which the surface of the substrate is covered with the solidified film. For this reason, the risk of exposure of the substrate surface due to loss or evaporation of the liquid from the substrate surface during transport is sufficiently low. Therefore, the transport of the substrate is relatively easy.

And in the 2nd processing part to which the board|substrate was conveyed, the board|substrate is dried by dissolving a solidified film with a solution, and then removing the solution. For this reason, unlike the sublimation drying technique in which the solidified film is directly sublimated, the fact that the liquid entering the inside of the pattern is not solidified does not cause the pattern to collapse. That is, according to the present invention, it is possible to prevent the collapse of even a fine pattern.

Rather, considering the ease of substitution with another fluid in the subsequent process, it is preferable that the liquid inside the pattern is not solidified. For the convenience of conveyance, it is sufficient that at least only the surface portion of the liquid film is solidified. Accordingly, the energy and time required for cooling the liquid film are also reduced. That is, it can be said that the present invention has an excellent effect from the viewpoint of energy efficiency and throughput.

As described above, in the present invention, in the substrate processing technique for drying a substrate having an uneven pattern on the surface after performing a wet treatment, it is possible to reliably prevent the collapse of even a fine pattern while ensuring the ease of transport of the substrate. have.

The above and other objects and novel features of the present invention will become more completely clear when the following detailed description is read with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the drawings are for explanation only, and do not limit the scope of the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS It is a figure which shows the schematic structure of one Embodiment of the substrate processing apparatus which concerns on this invention.
1B is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of an embodiment of a substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention.
2 : is a figure which shows the structure of a center robot, and an installation environment.
3A is a diagram illustrating a substrate processing unit that performs wet processing.
3B is a diagram illustrating a substrate processing unit that performs wet processing.
3C is a diagram illustrating a substrate processing unit that performs wet processing.
4 is a diagram illustrating a substrate processing unit that performs a supercritical drying process.
5 is a flowchart showing the operation of this substrate processing apparatus.
6 is a flowchart showing the coagulation process.
7 is a flowchart showing a drying process.
8A is a diagram schematically illustrating a problem that may occur in a coagulated film.
8B is a diagram schematically illustrating a problem that may occur in a coagulated film.
8C is a diagram schematically showing a problem that may occur in the coagulated film.
9 is a flowchart showing another example of the coagulation process.
10 is a diagram schematically showing the state of the liquid film in this modified example.

1A and 1B are diagrams showing a schematic configuration of an embodiment of a substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention. More specifically, FIG. 1A is a plan view illustrating a substrate processing apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1B is a side view illustrating the substrate processing apparatus 1 . In addition, these drawings do not show the external appearance of an apparatus, but are schematic diagrams which showed the internal structure easily by excluding the outer wall panel of an apparatus and some other components. This substrate processing apparatus 1 is, for example, installed in a clean room and is an apparatus for performing predetermined processing on a substrate.

Here, as "substrate" in this embodiment, semiconductor substrate, photomask glass substrate, liquid crystal display glass substrate, plasma display glass substrate, FED (Field Emission Display) substrate, optical disk substrate, magnetic disk use Various substrates such as substrates and substrates for magneto-optical disks are applicable. Hereinafter, a substrate processing apparatus mainly used for processing a semiconductor substrate will be described with reference to the drawings. However, it is equally applicable to the processing of the various board|substrates illustrated above.

As shown in FIG. 1A , the substrate processing apparatus 1 includes a substrate processing unit 10 that processes a substrate S, and an indexer unit 20 coupled to the substrate processing unit 10 . . The indexer unit 20 includes a container holding unit 21 and an indexer robot 22 . The container holding part 21 can hold|maintain a plurality of containers C for accommodating the board|substrate S. The indexer robot 22 accesses the container C held by the container holding unit 21 and takes out the unprocessed substrate S from the container C, or stores the processed substrate in the container C. or you can As the container C, a FOUP (Front Opening Unified Pod), a SMIF (Standard Mechanical Interface) pod, an OC (Open Cassette), etc. that accommodate the plurality of substrates S in a sealed state are applicable. In each container C, several board|substrates S are accommodated in the substantially horizontal attitude|position.

The indexer robot 22 includes a base portion 221 fixed to the device housing, an articulated arm 222 installed rotatably about a vertical axis with respect to the base portion 221 , and an articulated arm 222 . ) and a hand 223 attached to the tip. The hand 223 has a structure capable of placing and holding the substrate S on its upper surface. Since such an indexer robot having such an articulated arm and a hand for holding a substrate is well known, a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The substrate processing unit 10 includes a center robot 15 arranged substantially at the center in plan view, and a plurality of substrate processing units arranged to surround the center robot 15 . Specifically, a plurality of (four in this example) substrate processing units 11A, 12A, 13A, and 14A are disposed facing the space in which the center robot 15 is disposed. Each of these substrate processing units 11A to 14A executes a predetermined process on the substrate S. When these processing units have the same function, parallel processing of a plurality of substrates is possible. It is also possible to combine processing units having different functions to sequentially execute different processing for one substrate.

As will be described later, the substrate processing apparatus 1 of this embodiment is used for a series of processes such as drying the substrate S after wet processing the substrate S with a predetermined processing liquid. For this purpose, two substrate processing units 11A and 12A out of the four substrate processing units are in charge of wet processing for the substrate S, and are provided with a configuration therein for enabling this. In addition, the other two substrate processing units 13A and 14A are configured to take charge of a process (drying process) of removing the residual liquid from the substrate S after the wet process to dry the substrate S, and making this possible. is provided inside.

In each of the substrate processing units 11A to 14A, a substrate processing main body that performs processing on the substrate S is accommodated in a processing chamber provided with a shutter that can be opened and closed on a side surface facing the center robot 15 . That is, the substrate processing unit 11A includes a processing chamber 110 and a shutter 111 provided on a side surface of the processing chamber 110 facing the center robot 15 . The shutter 111 is provided so as to cover an opening (not shown) provided on a side surface of the processing chamber 110 facing the center robot 15 . When the shutter 111 is opened, an opening part is exposed, and carrying in and carrying out of the board|substrate S becomes possible through the said opening part. In addition, when the processing of the substrate S is performed in the processing chamber 110 , the shutter 111 is closed, so that the atmosphere in the processing chamber 110 is blocked from the outside.

Similarly, the substrate processing unit 12A includes a processing chamber 120 and a shutter 121 provided on a side surface of the processing chamber 120 facing the center robot 15 . Further, the substrate processing unit 13A includes a processing chamber 130 and a shutter 131 provided on a side surface of the processing chamber 130 facing the center robot 15 . Further, the substrate processing unit 14A includes a processing chamber 140 and a shutter 141 provided on a side surface of the processing chamber 140 facing the center robot 15 .

And the set of the board|substrate processing units arrange|positioned in the horizontal direction in this way is arrange|positioned at multiple stages (two stages in this example) in an up-down direction. That is, as shown in FIG. 1B , the substrate processing unit 11B is provided below the substrate processing unit 11A. The structure and function of the substrate processing unit 11B are the same as those of the substrate processing unit 11A. Further, below the substrate processing unit 12A, a substrate processing unit 12B having the same configuration and the same function as that of the substrate processing unit 12A is provided. Similarly, a substrate processing unit 13B ( FIG. 2 ) is provided below the substrate processing unit 13A, and a substrate processing unit (not shown) is also provided below the substrate processing unit 14A. In addition, the number of stages of a substrate processing unit is not limited to 2 illustrated here, but it is arbitrary. Moreover, the number of arrangement|positioning of the substrate processing unit per stage is not limited to the above.

2 is a view showing the configuration and installation environment of the center robot. The center robot 15 can receive the unprocessed board|substrate S from the indexer robot 22, and can also transfer the processed board|substrate S to the indexer robot 22. More specifically, the center robot 15 is provided with the base part 151, the raising/lowering base 152, the rotating base 153, the telescopic arm 154, and the hand 155. The base part 151 is being fixed to the bottom frame of the substrate processing part 10, and supports each structure of the center robot 15. As shown in FIG. The elevating base 152 is mounted on the base 151 , and the rotating base 153 is mounted on the elevating base 152 . The lifting base 152 is freely expandable and contracted in the vertical direction, and the rotary base 153 is raised and lowered by this expansion and contraction movement.

The rotary base 153 is rotatable about the vertical axis with respect to the lifting base 152 . A base portion of the telescopic arm 154 is attached to the rotary base 153 , and a hand 155 is attached to the distal end of the telescopic arm 154 . The expansion and contraction arm 154 expands and contracts in a predetermined range in the horizontal direction. The hand 155 has a structure in which the substrate S can be placed and held on its upper surface, and the substrate S can be transferred between the hand 223 of the indexer robot 22 and the hand 155 . Since the hand mechanism of such a structure is well-known, detailed description is abbreviate|omitted.

When the telescopic arm 154 expands and contracts in the horizontal direction, the substrate S held by the hand 155 can be moved in the horizontal direction. Moreover, the direction of the horizontal movement of the board|substrate S can be prescribed|regulated by the rotation base 153 rotating with respect to the raising/lowering base 152. As shown in FIG. Moreover, the height of the board|substrate S, ie, the vertical direction position, can be adjusted by the raising/lowering base 152 raising/lowering the rotation base 153. As shown in FIG.

In the substrate processing apparatus 1 comprised as mentioned above, the process with respect to the board|substrate S is performed as follows. In the initial state, the unprocessed board|substrate S is accommodated in the container C mounted on the container holding part 21. As shown in FIG. The indexer robot 22 takes out one unprocessed substrate S from the container C and transfers it to the center robot 15 . The center robot 15 carries the received board|substrate S into the board|substrate processing unit which processes the said board|substrate S.

For example, when loading the substrate S into the substrate processing unit 11A, as shown in FIG. 2 , the center robot 15 adjusts the height of the rotation base 153 by the lifting base 152 and , the substrate S held by the hand 155 is positioned at the height of the shutter 111 on the side of the processing chamber 110 of the substrate processing unit 11A. The shutter 111 is opened and the telescoping arm 154 extends toward the opening on the side surface of the processing chamber 110 , so that the substrate S is loaded into the processing chamber 110 . After the telescopic arm 154 is retracted, the shutter 111 is closed, and processing on the substrate S is performed in the processing chamber 110 . The carrying in of the board|substrate S to another substrate processing unit can also be carried out similarly.

On the other hand, when the processed substrate S is taken out from the substrate processing unit 11A, the telescopic arm 154 enters the processing chamber 110 in which the shutter 111 is opened, and the processed substrate S is taken out. About the taken out board|substrate S, it may be carried in to another board|substrate processing unit, and a new process may be performed, and you may return it to the container C via the indexer robot 22. As shown in FIG. The specific processing sequence in this embodiment is demonstrated in detail later.

As shown in FIG. 2, the center robot 15 is provided in the conveyance space TS which the side and upper side are spaced apart from the external space by the partition 101. The substrate processing unit 11A is attached to the side of the partition wall 101 so that the side of the processing chamber 110 on which the shutter 111 is installed faces the transfer space TS. The other substrate processing units are the same.

In addition to the above, the substrate processing apparatus 1 is provided with a control unit 90 for controlling the operation of each unit of the apparatus. The control unit 90 includes at least a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 91 and a memory 92 . The CPU 91 causes each unit of the apparatus to execute a predetermined operation by executing a control program prepared in advance. Further, the memory 92 stores a control program to be executed by the CPU 91, data generated by the execution thereof, and the like. Operations related to the operations of the indexer robot 22 and the center robot 15, opening/closing of shutters in each processing chamber, various processing of the substrate S, and the like are performed by the CPU 91 executing a control program. Controlled.

3A to 3C are diagrams illustrating a substrate processing unit for performing wet processing. More specifically, FIG. 3A is a diagram showing the configuration of the substrate processing unit 11A, and FIGS. 3B and 3C are diagrams for explaining the operation of the substrate processing unit 11A. Although the structure of the substrate processing unit 11A is demonstrated here, the structure of other substrate processing units 11B, 12A, etc. which perform wet processing are basically the same.

The substrate processing unit 11A includes a wet processing unit 30 serving as a substrate processing main body in the processing chamber 110 . The wet processing unit 30 supplies a processing liquid to the upper surface of the substrate S to perform surface treatment, cleaning, or the like of the substrate S. Moreover, in order to facilitate conveyance of the board|substrate S after a wet process, the wet process part 30 performs a solidification process together. The coagulation process is a process in which the upper surface of the substrate S is covered with a liquid film and solidified to cover the upper surface of the substrate S with the solidified film.

For this purpose, the wet processing unit 30 includes a substrate holding unit 31 , a splash guard 32 , a processing liquid supply unit 33 , a coagulating liquid supply unit 35 , and a cooling gas supply unit 34 . These operations are controlled by the control unit 90 . The substrate holding part 31 has a disk-shaped spin chuck 311 having a diameter substantially equal to that of the substrate S, and a plurality of chuck pins 312 are provided at the periphery of the spin chuck 311 . Since the chuck pin 312 abuts against the periphery of the substrate S to support the substrate S, the spin chuck 311 can maintain the substrate S in a horizontal posture while being spaced apart from the upper surface thereof.

The spin chuck 311 is supported so that its upper surface becomes horizontal by a rotating shaft 313 extending downward from the central portion of its lower surface. The rotation shaft 313 is rotatably supported by a rotation mechanism 314 mounted on the bottom of the processing chamber 110 . The rotation mechanism 314 incorporates a rotation motor (not shown). When the rotation motor rotates according to a control command from the control unit 90 , the spin chuck 311 directly connected to the rotation support shaft 313 rotates around the vertical axis indicated by the dash-dotted line. In FIG. 3A , the vertical direction is the vertical direction. Thereby, the board|substrate S is rotated about a vertical axis with a horizontal attitude|position.

A splash guard 32 is provided so as to surround the substrate holding part 31 from the side. The splash guard 32 has a substantially cylindrical cup 321 provided so as to cover the periphery of the spin chuck 311 , and a liquid receiving portion 322 provided below the outer periphery of the cup 321 . The cup 321 moves up and down according to a control command from the control unit 90 . The cup 321 has a downward position in which the upper end of the cup 321 is lowered from the periphery of the substrate S held by the spin chuck 311 as shown in FIG. 3A and a downward position shown in FIG. 3B . As shown, the upper end of the cup 321 moves up and down between the upper positions positioned above the periphery of the substrate S.

When the cup 321 is in the downward position, as shown in FIG. 3A , the substrate S held by the spin chuck 311 is exposed outside the cup 321 . For this reason, for example, when the board|substrate S is carried in and carried out to the spin chuck 311, it is prevented that the cup 321 becomes an obstacle.

Moreover, when the cup 321 is in an upper position, as shown in FIG. 3B, it surrounds the periphery of the board|substrate S hold|maintained by the spin chuck 311. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent the processing liquid from scattering in the processing chamber 110 from scattering from the periphery of the substrate S when supplying a liquid, which will be described later, and to reliably collect the processing liquid. That is, when the substrate S is rotated, the droplets of the processing liquid removed from the periphery of the substrate S adhere to the inner wall of the cup 321 and flow downward, and the liquid receiving portion disposed below the cup 321 . (322) collected and recovered. In order to individually collect a plurality of processing liquids, a plurality of stages of cups may be provided concentrically.

The processing liquid supply part 33 includes a nozzle 334 at the tip of an arm 333 extending horizontally from a rotation support shaft 332 rotatably provided with respect to the base 331 fixed to the processing chamber 110 . It has a built-in structure. When the rotation shaft 332 rotates according to a control command from the control unit 90 , the arm 333 swings, and the nozzle 334 at the tip of the arm 333 moves from above the substrate S shown in FIG. 3A . It moves between the evacuation position retracted laterally and the processing position above the board|substrate S shown to FIG. 3B.

The nozzle 334 is connected to a processing liquid supply source (not shown) installed in the control unit 90 . When an appropriate processing liquid is delivered from the processing liquid supply source, the processing liquid is discharged from the nozzle 334 toward the substrate S. As shown in FIG. 3B , while the spin chuck 311 rotates at a relatively low speed to rotate the substrate S, the processing liquid Lq is supplied from the nozzle 33 positioned above the rotation center of the substrate S. By doing so, the upper surface Sa of the substrate S is treated with the processing liquid Lq. As the processing liquid Lq, a liquid having various functions, such as a developer, an etching liquid, a cleaning liquid, and a rinse liquid, can be used, and the composition thereof is arbitrary. Moreover, a process may be performed combining several types of process liquids.

The coagulation liquid supply unit 35 also has a configuration corresponding to the processing liquid supply unit 33 . That is, the coagulating liquid supply unit 35 includes a base 351 , a pivot shaft 352 , an arm 353 , a nozzle 354 , and the like. These configurations are equivalent to those corresponding to the processing liquid supply unit 33 . When the rotation shaft 352 rotates according to the control instruction|command from the control unit 90, the arm 353 rock|fluctuates. A nozzle 354 at the tip of the arm 353 supplies a coagulating liquid for forming a coagulating film on the upper surface Sa of the substrate S after wet processing.

"Processing liquid Lq", "arm 333", and "nozzle 334" in the description of FIG. 3B are respectively referred to as "coagulating liquid Lq", "arm 353", and "nozzle ( 354)", the operation of the coagulating liquid supply unit 35 is explained. However, the coagulating liquid, unlike the above-described treatment liquid, is supplied to the upper surface Sa of the substrate S in a liquid state, and then solidifies to become a solid.

It is assumed that a fine uneven pattern (hereinafter simply referred to as a “pattern”) is formed on the upper surface Sa of the substrate to be processed. At this time, in the process of drying the wet substrate S after the wet treatment, there is a fear that the pattern collapse may occur due to the surface tension of the liquid entering the pattern. As a method for preventing this, a method in which the liquid in the pattern is replaced with a liquid having a lower surface tension and then dried, a sublimation drying method in which the upper surface of the substrate Sa is covered with a solid of a sublimable material to sublimate the sublimable material, this embodiment There is a supercritical drying method employed in

In order to perform the supercritical drying process which requires a high temperature and high pressure state, a high pressure chamber different from the chamber which performs a wet process is required. For this reason, the need to convey the board|substrate S after a wet process to a high-pressure chamber arises. In order to avoid collapsing due to exposure of the pattern during transport, it is preferable to cover the upper surface of the substrate Sa with a liquid or solid. Here, special consideration is required for the handling of the substrate S carrying the liquid film in the conveyance in a state in which the substrate S is covered with the liquid film. Moreover, there exists a possibility that a pattern may be exposed or a liquid may scatter in an apparatus by falling liquid during conveyance. In view of this point, it is preferable to convey the substrate upper surface Sa in a state covered with a solid.

Then, in this embodiment, conveyance is performed in the state which covered the board|substrate upper surface Sa with the solidification film. The coagulated film is formed as follows. As shown in FIG. 3B , in a state in which the substrate S is rotated at a predetermined rotation speed, the coagulating liquid Lq is supplied from the nozzle 354, so that the upper surface of the substrate Sa becomes a liquid film LF of the coagulating liquid. become covered As the coagulating liquid, it is preferable that the coagulating liquid has good miscibility with the treatment liquid used for wet treatment, has a smaller surface tension than the treatment liquid, and has a solidification point close to room temperature. For example, when a treatment liquid has water as a main component, isopropyl alcohol (IPA) can be used suitably.

When the liquid film LF is formed on the upper surface Sa of the substrate in this way, as shown in FIG. 3C , instead of the nozzle 354 , the nozzle 344 of the cooling gas supply unit 34 moves above the rotation center of the substrate S. is positioned in In the cooling gas supply unit 34 , a nozzle 344 is attached to the tip of an arm 343 extending horizontally from a rotation support shaft 342 rotatably provided with respect to a base 341 fixed to the processing chamber 110 . has a structured structure. Similarly to the processing liquid supply part 33 , the arm 343 swings when the pivot shaft 342 rotates according to a control command from the control unit 90 . In this way, the nozzle 344 at the tip of the arm 343 moves between the retracted position laterally retracted from above the substrate S and the processing position above the substrate S.

The nozzle 344 is connected to a cooling gas supply unit (not shown) provided in the control unit 90 . The cooling gas G supplied from the cooling gas supply unit at a temperature lower than the solidification point of the coagulating liquid constituting the liquid film LF is discharged from the nozzle 344 toward the substrate S. Thereby, the liquid film LF on the substrate S is cooled from its surface side. As shown in FIG. 3C , the nozzle 344 for discharging the low-temperature cooling gas G to the upper surface Sa of the substrate on which the liquid film LF is formed scans toward the outer periphery of the substrate S. By doing so, the liquid film LF on the upper surface of the substrate Sa is sequentially solidified from the center, and finally the entire liquid film LF on the upper surface of the substrate Sa is converted into a solidified film FF formed by solidifying the liquid. do.

Here, in the present embodiment, it is not necessary for the entire liquid film LF to be solidified, and it is sufficient that at least the vicinity of the surface of the liquid film LF is solidified. That is, it is sufficient that the entire surface of the liquid film LF is solidified to such an extent that there is no problem in conveyance, that is, it is not deformed by vibration or the like during conveyance. For example, between the solidified film FF and the substrate S, the liquid film LF may be held in a liquid state. By not requiring total coagulation, energy consumption and processing time for coagulation can be reduced.

In addition, the process of covering the board|substrate S with the solidification film is not limited to the method of cooling the liquid film LF as mentioned above. For example, it may be a method in which a liquid having a solidification point higher than room temperature and heated above the freezing point is supplied to the substrate S and solidified by natural cooling. Moreover, the method of making it solidify by supplying to the board|substrate S as a solution which melt|dissolved the substance which has a solidification point higher than room temperature in an appropriate solvent, and volatilizing the solvent may be sufficient. In this method, for example, a solution obtained by dissolving tert-butyl alcohol (TBA) as a solidifying substance in IPA as a solvent can be used as a coagulating liquid.

The melting point (solidification point) of TBA is approximately room temperature (25.5°C). When a liquid film is formed on the substrate S by a solution obtained by dissolving TBA in an IPA solvent, a solidified film is formed from the vicinity of the surface of the liquid film as the IPA solvent on the surface evaporates. Thereby, the state in which the layer of the liquid solution is maintained between the board|substrate S and the solidification film FF can be implement|achieved.

Thus, the board|substrate S carried out in the state covered with the solidification film FF on the upper surface Sa is conveyed to 13 A of substrate processing units, and receives a drying process. That is, the substrate processing unit 13A performs, as a substrate processing, a drying process of removing the solidified film FF formed on the upper surface Sa of the substrate S carried in in a horizontal position and drying the substrate S. have the function to run. As the drying treatment, supercritical drying in which the substrate S is covered with the supercritical fluid and then the supercritical fluid is evaporated and removed (without passing through the liquid phase) is applied. Although the structure of the substrate processing unit 13A is demonstrated here, the structure of the other substrate processing units 13B, 14A, etc. which perform a drying process is basically the same.

4 is a diagram illustrating a substrate processing unit that performs a supercritical drying process. More specifically, FIG. 4 is a side cross-sectional view showing the internal structure of the substrate processing unit 13A. Since the principle of the supercritical drying treatment and the basic configuration necessary therefor are well known, a detailed description thereof will be omitted. The substrate processing unit 13A includes a high-pressure chamber 130 , and a drying processing unit 40 serving as an execution body of the drying processing is provided therein. In the drying processing unit 40 , a stage 41 for placing the substrate S is provided in the high-pressure chamber 130 . The stage 41 holds the substrate S whose upper surface Sa is covered with the solidified film by suction holding or mechanical holding. Since the high-pressure chamber 130 becomes a high pressure, the internal configuration is relatively simple in order to withstand this, and a member capable of withstanding the high pressure is used.

In the center of the lower surface of the stage 41, a rotating shaft 42 extends downward. The rotating shaft 42 is inserted into the bottom surface of the high-pressure chamber 130 via a high-pressure seal rotation introduction mechanism 43 . The rotation shaft 431 of the high-pressure seal rotation introduction mechanism 43 is connected to the rotation mechanism 432 . For this reason, when the rotation mechanism 432 operates according to the control instruction|command from the control unit 90, the board|substrate S rotates around the rotation axis of the vertical direction shown by the dashed-dotted line with the stage 41.

A fluid dispersing member 44 is provided above the stage 41 in the high-pressure chamber 130 . The fluid dispersing member 44 has a plurality of through holes 442 penetrating vertically with respect to the flat plate-shaped closure plate 441 . Carbon dioxide gas is supplied to the upper portion of the high-pressure chamber 130 from the carbon dioxide supply unit 45 as needed. The carbon dioxide gas is rectified by the fluid dispersing member 44 and uniformly supplied toward the substrate S from above the substrate S.

In addition, nitrogen is introduced into the high-pressure chamber 130 from the nitrogen supply unit 46 as necessary. Nitrogen is supplied in various forms as needed. That is, according to the purpose of purging the gas in the high-pressure chamber 130 or cooling the inside of the chamber, it is supplied into the high-pressure chamber 130 as a gas at room temperature or an elevated temperature, or as liquid nitrogen cooled and liquefied.

In addition, in the high-pressure chamber 130 , the solution is supplied from the solution supply unit 47 as needed. The solution is a liquid for dissolving the solidified film FF, and is supplied to the upper surface Sa of the substrate S loaded in the state in which the solidified film FF is formed. As the dissolving solution, a liquid having miscibility with the coagulating solution, which is the liquid constituting the coagulating film FF, and more preferably having a surface tension equal to or lower than that of the coagulating solution can be used. For example, when the coagulation solution contains IPA, an organic solvent such as IPA or acetone, or a supercritical fluid soluble in IPA, for example, supercritical carbon dioxide can be used as the solution.

In addition, as will be described later, in this embodiment, the carbon dioxide gas introduced into the high-pressure chamber 130 is pressurized to liquefy it and to make it supercritical fluid. When this is used as a solution, the solution supply unit 47 is separately provided. No need to install

In addition, a discharge mechanism 48 is connected to the high-pressure chamber 130 . The discharge mechanism 48 has a function of discharging various fluids, such as gas and liquid, introduced into the high-pressure chamber 130 as needed. The discharge mechanism 48 is provided with piping, a valve, a pump, etc. for this. Accordingly, if necessary, the fluid in the high-pressure chamber 130 can be quickly discharged.

Although not shown, the control unit 90 has a structure for detecting the pressure and temperature in the high-pressure chamber 130 and a structure for controlling these to a predetermined value. That is, the control unit 90 has a function of controlling the pressure and temperature in the high-pressure chamber 130 to predetermined target values.

Next, the operation of the substrate processing apparatus 1 configured as described above will be described. As explained so far, this substrate processing apparatus 1 is an apparatus which performs a wet process and a dry process with respect to the board|substrate S in order. The main flow of this process is as follows. That is, after transferring the substrate S to a substrate processing unit for performing wet processing and processing with the processing liquid, a solidified film is formed with the solidifying liquid, and the substrate S is transferred to the substrate processing unit for performing drying processing. to remove the solidified film and dry the substrate (S). Hereinafter, the specific processing content is demonstrated.

Here, it demonstrates as that 11 A of substrate processing units perform a wet process with respect to one board|substrate S, and 13 A of substrate processing units perform a dry process. However, the combination of the substrate processing unit for performing wet processing and the substrate processing unit for drying processing is not limited to this and arbitrary. In addition, in the following description, in order to clarify the role of each substrate processing unit, 11 A of substrate processing units etc. which perform wet processing may be called a "wet processing unit." In addition, the substrate processing unit 13A etc. which perform a drying process may be called a "dry processing unit."

5 is a flowchart showing the operation of this substrate processing apparatus. This operation is realized by the CPU 91 executing a control program prepared in advance to cause each unit of the apparatus to perform a predetermined operation. First, the indexer robot 22 takes out one unprocessed substrate S from one of the containers C for accommodating unprocessed substrates (step S101). Then, the substrate S is transferred from the indexer robot 22 to the center robot 15 (step S102). The center robot 15 carries the board|substrate S into the board|substrate processing unit (wet processing unit) 11A which performs wet processing (step S103).

The substrate processing unit 11A into which the substrate S was loaded performs wet processing on the substrate S (step S104). The content of the wet process is to supply a process liquid to the board|substrate S, and to process and wash|clean the upper surface Sa of a board|substrate, as mentioned above. With respect to the substrate S after the wet treatment, a coagulation process for forming the coagulation film FF is performed (step S105).

6 is a flowchart showing a coagulation process. In the coagulation process, from the nozzle 354 of the coagulating solution supply unit 35 disposed above the rotation center of the substrate S, the coagulating solution is applied to the substrate upper surface Sa after the wet treatment, for example, an organic solvent such as IPA. is supplied Thereby, the processing liquid remaining on the upper surface of the substrate Sa is replaced by the coagulating liquid, and a liquid film LF by the coagulating liquid is formed on the upper surface of the substrate Sa (step S201). Subsequently, as the nozzle 344 for discharging the cooling gas scans along the upper surface Sa of the substrate, the liquid film LF is cooled and solidified to form a solidified film FF (step S202).

Returning to Fig. 5 , the substrate S having the solidification film FF formed on the upper surface Sa by the solidification process is taken out from the substrate processing unit 11A by the center robot 15 (step S106). And the board|substrate S is carried in to the substrate processing unit (dry processing unit) 13A which performs a drying process (step S107).

The substrate processing unit 13A into which the substrate S was loaded performs a drying process on the substrate S. That is, the liquid adhering to the substrate S is removed to dry the substrate S (step S108). The content of the drying process will be described later. The processed substrate S is taken out from the substrate processing unit 13A by the center robot 15 (step S109). The substrate S after being taken out is transferred from the center robot 15 to the indexer robot 22 (step S110). The indexer robot 22 accommodates the substrate S in one of the containers C (step S111). The container C in which the processed board|substrate S is accommodated may be the container in which the said board|substrate S of an unprocessed state was accommodated, and another container may be sufficient as it.

If there is a substrate to be further processed (YES in step S112), the flow returns to step S101, and the above-described processing is performed for the next substrate S. If there is no substrate to be processed (NO in step S112), the processing ends.

As mentioned above, although the flow in the case of processing the board|substrate S of 1 sheet was demonstrated, in an actual apparatus, the process with respect to a plurality of board|substrates is performed in parallel. That is, while one substrate S is being processed in one substrate processing unit, the indexer robot 22 and the center robot 15 simultaneously transfer other substrates, and substrate processing by another substrate processing unit. It is possible to execute at least one of them in parallel.

More specifically, for example, after the substrate S is transferred from the indexer robot 22 to the center robot 15 in step S102, the indexer robot 22 newly accesses the container C to access another substrate. It is possible to take out Further, for example, in step S103, after one substrate S is loaded into the substrate processing unit 11A, the center robot 15 carries another substrate into another substrate processing unit or in another substrate processing unit. It is possible to take out other processed substrates.

Therefore, when it is necessary to sequentially process the plurality of substrates S, the processing for the plurality of substrates is performed in parallel by appropriately adjusting the operation sequence of each unit of the apparatus for processing the respective substrates S. . By doing in this way, it becomes possible to improve the throughput of the process of the substrate processing apparatus 1 as a whole. The specific operation sequence needs to be appropriately determined according to the specification of the process, the time required for each step, the availability of simultaneous processing, and the like.

7 is a flowchart showing a drying process. The substrate processing unit (drying processing unit) 13A receives the substrate S in a state in which the upper surface Sa is covered with the solidified film FF, and performs drying processing. As described above, a supercritical drying treatment using a supercritical fluid is performed here. Specifically, first, the solution supply unit 47 supplies the solution to the upper surface of the substrate Sa, thereby dissolving the solidified film FF (step S301).

When the solution is the same as the material constituting the coagulation film FF, the substrate upper surface Sa is in a state immediately before being discharged from the wet processing unit 11A, that is, the upper surface Sa is the liquid film LF of the coagulating liquid. returned to the state covered with For example, this corresponds to the case where the coagulation film FF is formed by IPA and the solution is also IPA.

On the other hand, when the dissolving solution has a property of dissolving it differently from the material of the coagulating film, the upper surface Sa of the substrate is covered with a liquid film of a mixed solution of the coagulating solution and the dissolving solution. Further, by supplying the dissolving solution, the coagulating solution remaining on the upper surface of the substrate Sa can be replaced with the dissolving solution.

Thereafter, the liquid film is removed by rotation of the substrate S (step S302), and most of the solution on the upper surface of the substrate Sa is removed, but the solution remains in the pattern. The shaken off liquid is discharged by the discharge mechanism (48). In this state, carbon dioxide is introduced into the high-pressure chamber 130 from the carbon dioxide supply unit 45 .

Carbon dioxide may be liquefied by supplying carbon dioxide gas to the high-pressure chamber 130 to sufficiently increase the internal pressure of the chamber. In addition, liquid carbon dioxide may be introduced into the high-pressure chamber 130 . Liquid carbon dioxide covers the upper surface Sa of the substrate. Liquefied carbon dioxide dissolves organic solvents well. Accordingly, the solution such as IPA remaining in the pattern is replaced by liquid carbon dioxide (step S303).

In addition, when liquid carbon dioxide is used as the solution, the supply of carbon dioxide in step S303 has a meaning not for substitution but as preparation for creating a supercritical state next.

Then, the temperature and pressure in the high-pressure chamber 130 are adjusted to the condition of making the carbon dioxide supercritical state. Thereby, the carbon dioxide in the high-pressure chamber 130 becomes a supercritical fluid (step S304). Fluids in the supercritical state have very high fluidity and low surface tension. In particular, the supercritical fluid generated from carbon dioxide dissolves organic solvents such as IPA and acetone well. For this reason, the supercritical fluid of carbon dioxide enters to the depth of a fine pattern, and conveys the organic solvent component which remains from the inside of a pattern. The viscosity at which it becomes supercritical at a relatively low pressure and low temperature is one of the reasons why carbon dioxide is suitable for supercritical drying treatment.

Then, the pressure inside the high-pressure chamber 130 is rapidly reduced (step S305). Thereby, the supercritical fluid is directly vaporized without passing through the liquid phase and removed from the substrate S. Thereby, the liquid component is completely removed from the board|substrate S, and it becomes a dry state. The liquid component remaining in the pattern is replaced by the supercritical fluid, and the supercritical fluid is directly vaporized, so that the problem of pattern collapse due to the surface tension of the liquid in the pattern is avoided.

In this way, the liquid remaining in the pattern is finally replaced by the supercritical fluid. Therefore, it can be said that the solidified film FF formed at the time of conveyance does not necessarily have to be composed of a low surface tension material. For example, even if the solidified film FF is formed with a liquid containing water as a main component, the above-described advantages at the time of conveyance are obtained. However, since water has low solubility in carbon dioxide in a liquid or supercritical state, it is not preferable from the viewpoint of effectively performing substitution. Organic solvents such as IPA and acetone have high solubility in carbon dioxide, and they generally have lower surface tension than water. In addition, it is certain that the lower surface tension is advantageous for the coagulating solution and the dissolving solution even from the nature of the treatment.

As described above, in this embodiment, in the wet processing unit 11A, the upper surface Sa of the substrate S is covered with a liquid film to be solidified, and it is conveyed in a solidified state. Thereby, convenience, such as avoidance of exposure of the board|substrate upper surface Sa resulting from the dripping liquid during conveyance, is higher than conveyance in liquid phase. On the other hand, in the drying processing unit 13A that receives the substrate S, the solidified film is once dissolved and then finally replaced with a supercritical fluid, so that the liquid component does not remain and the pattern collapse does not occur. The substrate S is dried.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the substrate is transported in a state in which the solidified film is formed, and the substrate is dried by removing the solidified film. It can be said that such a process is similar to the sublimation-drying process which is the prior art which removes by sublimating the coagulated film formed with a sublimable substance. However, in this embodiment, after dissolving the coagulated film and returning it to a liquid phase, the process of substitution with a supercritical fluid and drying is taken. This takes into consideration not only the convenience of conveyance, but also the following circumstances.

8A to 8C are diagrams schematically illustrating problems that may occur in the coagulation film. As shown in Fig. 8A, it is assumed that a large number of fine patterns PT are formed close to each other on the upper surface Sa of the substrate S, and these are covered with the liquid film LF of the coagulating liquid after the wet treatment. Here, the interval between the adjacent patterns PT is referred to as a gap size GS. The liquid film LF is solidified by supplying the liquid film LF with a cooling gas at a temperature lower than its freezing point. However, when the gap size GS becomes small, the following problem occurs.

There is a phenomenon in which the solidification point decreases rapidly in a liquid placed in a minute space. For example, in the case of water, as shown in FIG. 8B , the freezing point of water is 0° C. in a sufficiently wide space (gap size GS is large). However, for example, within a narrow gap of 100 nm or less, the freezing point gradually decreases, for example, when the gap size GS is about 1 nm, the freezing point decreases to about (-50)°C. It turns out that there exists a similar tendency also with IPA generally used as a liquid film material.

When trying to solidify a liquid film containing water as a main component, a cooling gas sufficiently lower than the freezing point (0°C) in free space is used. As the temperature (Tg), it is considered that, for example, about (-5)°C to (-20)°C is realistic. However, Fig. 8B shows that the liquid in the gap cannot be solidified at this temperature (Tg) when the gap size becomes nanometer units.

As a result, as shown in Fig. 8C, even if the surface of the liquid film LF has been converted to the solidified film FF by cooling, depending on the cooling temperature and time, the liquid film may remain in the liquid state in the deep part of the pattern. There is a possibility. If such a phenomenon occurs in the sublimation drying treatment, drying proceeds not by the expected phase change from the solid phase to the gas phase, but by the phase change from the liquid phase to the gas phase. In doing so, the objective of preventing pattern collapse due to the surface tension of the liquid is not achieved.

In this embodiment, since the coagulated film is dissolved and then removed by replacing it with a supercritical fluid, such a problem does not occur. That is, in this embodiment, after conveying in the state in which the coagulated film was formed, and dissolving the coagulated film after conveyance, a supercritical drying process is performed. Such processing is suitable not only for the convenience of conveyance, but also for the purpose of reliably preventing the collapse of a particularly fine pattern.

In other words, in the treatment of this embodiment, the solidified film only needs to be solidified at least to the extent that the surface does not flow for convenience during transport, and it is not necessary to completely solidify to the inner part of the pattern. This means that the conditions for the temperature and processing time when cooling the liquid film LF are more relaxed than when the liquid film is completely solidified. Accordingly, it is possible to reduce the energy required for cooling and shorten the cooling time. Further, from the viewpoint that the core portion may be liquid as long as the surface layer of the liquid film is solidified, the following modifications can also be made.

9 is a flowchart showing another example of the coagulation process. Moreover, FIG. 10 is a figure which shows typically the state of the liquid film in this modification. The process shown in FIG. 9 is a process applied to step S105 of FIG. 5, and can be performed instead of the coagulation process of FIG. In this modification, at the time of formation of the solidified film, first, the filling liquid film F1 for filling the inside of the pattern with the liquid is formed (step S401). The liquid film F1 for filling aims to be filled in a pattern, and for the said reason, solidification is not required. Accordingly, a material having a sufficiently small surface tension may be selected without being restricted by its freezing point. A material that does not solidify at a cooling temperature may be intentionally selected. In addition, the thickness of the liquid film F1 may be about the same as the height of the pattern PT.

Next, the liquid film F2 for coagulation is formed by the coagulation liquid so as to cover the liquid film F1 for filling (step S402). For the liquid film F2 for solidification, it is not restricted by surface tension, and a material which is easy to solidify can be selected and used. The liquid film F1 for filling and the liquid film F2 for solidification do not need to be mixed. A cooling gas is supplied to the liquid films F1 and F2 formed in this way, and the liquid film F2 for solidification is solidified (step S403).

Here, for example, if the solidification point of the liquid constituting the liquid film F1 for filling is room temperature or higher and the freezing point of the liquid constituting the liquid film F2 for solidification is room temperature or lower, the liquid film F2 for solidification without special cooling is performed. ) is also possible to coagulate. However, the liquid constituting the liquid film F2 for solidification needs to be a liquid at the time it is supplied to the substrate S, and may be supplied in a heated state, for example, to a temperature slightly higher than the solidification point.

In this modified example, similarly to the above embodiment, since the solidifying liquid film F2 is solidified, an advantage of improved convenience during transport can be obtained. Moreover, reduction of energy consumption can be aimed at by setting the cooling temperature higher than before. On the other hand, since the liquid film F1 for filling does not solidify completely and is liquid, it is easy to remove after conveyance. And the pattern protection action during conveyance by covering with a liquid film also fully functions. Moreover, the degree of freedom in the selection of the liquid film forming material is also increased.

Moreover, in contrast between this embodiment and the sublimation drying process which is a prior art, there also exist the following differences. In the prior art, the solidified film covering the substrate is formed by a sublimable material. Since the sublimable substance is highly volatile, there is a fear that volatilization proceeds even during transport and the surface of the substrate is exposed. Further, the volatilized sublimable material scatters and re-precipitates in the apparatus, which may become a source of contamination of the apparatus or the substrate being processed. Alternatively, there may be a situation in which it is necessary to take measures to prevent the scattered substances from leaking out of the device. On the other hand, in this embodiment, since sublimation property is not requested|required of the coagulated film|membrane, the possibility of such a problem generation|occurrence|production is greatly reduced.

As described above, in the above embodiment, the substrate processing unit 11A, which is a wet processing unit, etc., functions as the "first processing unit" of the present invention, and the substrate processing unit 13A, etc., which is a dry processing unit, of the present invention It functions as a "second processing unit". And the center robot 15 is functioning as a "conveyance mechanism" of this invention. Moreover, the high-pressure chamber 130 functions as a "chamber" of the present invention, and the carbon dioxide supply unit 45 functions as a "fluid supply unit" of the present invention.

In addition, this invention is not limited to above-mentioned embodiment, Unless it deviates from the meaning, it is possible to make various changes other than what was mentioned above. For example, in the above embodiment, the substrate processing unit 11A, the substrate processing unit 13A, and the center robot 15 respectively correspond to the “first processing unit”, “second processing unit”, and “transport mechanism” of the present invention. ) is contained in one housing to constitute an integrated processing system. However, the present invention is also applicable to a processing system having a first processing unit and a second processing unit installed independently of each other, and a conveying mechanism for conveying a substrate therebetween.

In addition, various chemical substances used in the said embodiment show some examples, and if it agrees with the technical idea of this invention mentioned above, it is possible to use various substances instead of this.

In addition, in the description of the embodiment, the possibility that the liquid entering the inner portion of the concave-convex pattern is not solidified is mentioned. However, the above process itself holds true regardless of whether or not the liquid is completely solidified in the pattern. In addition, in order to ensure the liquid state inside the pattern, for example, the temperature of the cooling gas is lower than the solidification point in the free space of the liquid constituting the liquid film, and in accordance with the gap size of the pattern of the substrate to be processed. It can be set to be higher than the corresponding freezing point.

The substrate processing method of the present invention can also be implemented as a control program executed by a computer that controls a substrate processing apparatus having a predetermined configuration. It is also possible to distribute the embodiment of the present invention by means of a recording medium in which the control program is non-temporarily recorded in a computer-readable format.

As described above with reference to specific embodiments, in the substrate processing method according to the present invention, for example, the solidified film may be formed by cooling at least the surface of the liquid film. In the present invention, the liquid film does not need to be solidified in its entirety, and at least the surface thereof may be solidified to a degree suitable for conveyance. Therefore, the method of forming a solidified film by cooling the surface of the liquid film and its vicinity is effective in terms of thermal efficiency.

In this case, for example, in the step of drying the substrate, the substrate may be dried using a supercritical fluid. According to this configuration, it is possible to remove the residual liquid in the pattern by replacing the supercritical fluid with a very low surface tension. Therefore, it can dry favorably also about the board|substrate which has a fine uneven|corrugated pattern.

For example, the second processing unit has a chamber for receiving the substrate, replaces the solution with a liquid low surface tension solution in the chamber, and then vaporizes the low surface tension solution from the supercritical fluid state to the substrate. can be dried. The low surface tension liquid referred to herein is a liquid having a surface tension smaller than that of the dissolved liquid. According to such a configuration, since the substrate is dried by vaporization of a liquid having a smaller surface tension than the original through a supercritical state, it is possible to effectively suppress pattern collapse due to liquid intervening.

In these cases, carbon dioxide can be used as the supercritical fluid. Supercritical conditions for carbon dioxide are relatively low temperature and low pressure among substances that are in a supercritical state. For this reason, the structure of the apparatus for realizing a supercritical state may be comparatively small, and processing cost can be suppressed. In addition, carbon dioxide in a supercritical state is suitable for removing the organic solvent component remaining on the substrate in order to dissolve the organic solvent well.

Further, for example, while at least the surface of the liquid film is converted into a solidified film by cooling, a part of the liquid film may be held in a liquid state between the solidified film and the substrate. In the present invention, the solidified film is formed to enhance the portability of the substrate while protecting the pattern, and the solidified film is dissolved after transport. Therefore, the liquid film protecting the pattern may be liquid. By not coagulating the entire liquid film, it is possible to reduce the energy and processing time required for coagulation.

Moreover, for example, in addition to the organic solvent, the liquid film may contain the additive whose melting|fusing point is equal to or more than normal temperature. According to such a configuration, since the additive is solidified by evaporation of the organic solvent from the surface of the liquid film to form a solidified film, it is possible to omit the configuration and treatment for cooling in a normal use environment. As a suitable material as such an additive, for example, tert-butyl alcohol can be used. Here, "normal temperature" refers to 5 degreeC - 35 degreeC prescribed|regulated as "JIS Z8703" by Japanese Industrial Standards in a broad sense, and 15 degreeC - 25 degreeC more narrowly. In actual operation, the ambient temperature in the environment in which the substrate processing apparatus of the present invention is installed can be regarded as "normal temperature".

Moreover, for example, isopropyl alcohol or acetone may be sufficient as at least one of the organic solvent and solution contained in a liquid film. These liquids, for example, have a smaller surface tension than liquids mainly composed of water, and are suitable for the purpose of the present invention.

Further, for example, as a liquid film, a liquid film for filling filling the inside of the concave-convex pattern and a liquid film for solidification covering the liquid film for filling with a material different from the liquid film for filling are formed, and the solidification point of the liquid constituting the liquid film for solidification It is good also as a structure which solidifies the liquid film for solidification by cooling to a lower temperature. According to such a structure, the solidification film|membrane which covers the inside of an uneven pattern is formed in the state filled with the liquid film for filling. Thereby, the convenience at the time of conveyance is ensured and furthermore, the subsequent removal of the coagulated film can be performed efficiently. Moreover, different materials can be used for the liquid film for filling and the liquid film for solidification, and the degree of freedom in material selection and setting of processing conditions increases.

In this case, for example, as the liquid constituting the liquid film for filling, those having a freezing point of room temperature or lower, and as the liquid constituting the liquid film for solidification, those having the freezing point of room temperature or higher can be used. According to such a structure, in order to implement|achieve coexistence of a coagulation|solidification film and a liquid film in a use environment of about room temperature, a special apparatus or process is not required.

Moreover, in the substrate processing apparatus which concerns on this invention, the 2nd processing part may have a solution supply part which supplies the organic solvent as a solution with respect to the coagulation|solidified film. According to such a configuration, it is possible to easily restore the state in which the substrate is covered with the liquid film by dissolving the solidified film with an organic solvent.

Although the invention has been described in accordance with specific embodiments, this description is not intended to be construed in a limiting sense. Referring to the description of the present invention, similarly to other embodiments of the present invention, various modifications of the disclosed embodiment will become apparent to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the appended claims are intended to cover such modifications or embodiments without departing from the true scope of the invention.

The present invention can be applied to all substrate processing techniques including the process of transporting a substrate in a state covered with a solidified film and drying the substrate by removing the solidified film at a transfer destination. In particular, it is suitable for processing a substrate having a fine concavo-convex pattern.

1 Substrate processing unit
11A wet processing unit, substrate processing unit (first processing unit)
13A dry processing unit, substrate processing unit (second processing unit)
15 Center robot (transfer mechanism)
130 high pressure chamber (chamber)
FF coagulated membrane
LF amulet
PT pattern (concave-convex pattern)
S board

Claims (19)

A step of, in the first processing unit, performing a wet treatment on a substrate having an uneven pattern formed on the surface, and then covering the surface of the substrate with a liquid film containing an organic solvent;
forming a solidified film by solidifying at least the surface of the liquid film;
transferring the substrate covered with the coagulation film to a second processing unit;
a step of dissolving the coagulated film by supplying a solution to the coagulated film in the second processing unit;
A process of drying the substrate by removing the solution from the surface of the substrate
A substrate processing method comprising a. The method according to claim 1,
The substrate processing method, wherein the solidified film is formed by cooling at least a surface of the liquid film. The method according to claim 1 or 2,
In the step of drying the substrate, the substrate is dried using a supercritical fluid. 4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The second processing unit has a chamber for receiving the substrate,
In the chamber, after replacing the solution with a liquid low surface tension solution, the low surface tension solution is evaporated from a supercritical fluid state to dry the substrate. 5. The method according to claim 3 or 4,
The method of claim 1, wherein the supercritical fluid is carbon dioxide. 6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
at least a surface of the liquid film is converted into the solidified film by cooling, while a part of the liquid film is maintained in a liquid phase between the solidified film and the substrate. 7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6,
The substrate processing method, wherein the organic solvent contained in the liquid film is isopropyl alcohol or acetone. 8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7,
The liquid film includes, in addition to the organic solvent, an additive having a melting point equal to or higher than room temperature. 9. The method of claim 8,
wherein the additive is tert-butyl alcohol. 10. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9,
The method for treating a substrate, wherein the solution is isopropyl alcohol or acetone. 11. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 10,
forming a liquid film for filling filling the inside of the concave-convex pattern as the liquid film, and a liquid film for solidification covering the liquid film for filling with a material different from the liquid film for filling;
A method for processing a substrate, wherein the liquid film for solidification is solidified by cooling to a temperature lower than a freezing point of a liquid constituting the liquid film for solidification. 12. The method of claim 11,
A method for processing a substrate, wherein a solidification point of a liquid constituting the liquid film for solidification is lower than a freezing point of a liquid constituting the liquid film for filling. 12. The method of claim 11,
A method for processing a substrate, wherein a solidification point of a liquid constituting the liquid film for filling is equal to or lower than room temperature, and a freezing point of a liquid constituting the liquid film for solidification is equal to or higher than room temperature. Wet treatment, treatment of covering the surface of the substrate with a liquid film, and treatment of cooling the liquid film to a temperature lower than the freezing point of the liquid constituting the liquid film to solidify the liquid film to convert the liquid film into a solidified film A first processing unit that executes
A agent that receives the substrate on which the coagulation film is formed, supplies a solution to the coagulation film to dissolve the coagulation film, and removes the solution from the surface of the substrate to dry the substrate 2 processing unit;
A conveying mechanism for conveying the substrate on which the solidified film is formed from the first processing unit to the second processing unit
A substrate processing apparatus comprising: 15. The method of claim 14,
The first processing unit,
a processing liquid supply unit supplying the processing liquid for the wet processing to the substrate;
a coagulating solution supply unit for supplying a coagulating solution for forming the liquid film to the substrate;
A cooling gas supply unit for supplying a cooling gas lower than the freezing point of the coagulating liquid to the substrate
to provide
The second processing unit,
a solution supply unit for supplying the solution to the substrate;
A fluid supply unit for supplying a fluid replacing the solution
A substrate processing apparatus comprising: 16. The method of claim 15,
The second processing unit has a chamber accommodating the substrate, and the fluid supply unit supplies the fluid in a supercritical state to an internal space of the chamber. 17. The method of claim 15 or 16,
wherein the fluid is carbon dioxide. 18. The method according to any one of claims 14 to 17,
The said solution is an organic solvent, The substrate processing apparatus. 19. The method of claim 18,
The said solution is isopropyl alcohol or acetone, the substrate processing apparatus.

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