KR20230001502A - Substrate processing method - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides a substrate processing method capable of suppressing a problem caused by a suction motion when processing a substrate. A substrate processing device includes: a multi-way valve capable of selectively supplying at least one of a processing liquid for processing the substrate and a cleaning liquid for cleaning the substrate; a processing liquid nozzle for discharging the processing liquid to the substrate; a connection pipe connecting the multi-way valve and the processing liquid nozzle; and a suction pipe formed by being divided from the connection pipe and for sucking the inside of the connection pipe. The substrate processing method includes a process of cleaning the inside of the suction pipe by supplying the cleaning liquid from the multi-way valve to the suction pipe.

Description

Substrate processing method {SUBSTRATE PROCESSING METHOD}

The technology disclosed herein relates to substrate processing technology. Substrates to be processed include, for example, semiconductor wafers, glass substrates for liquid crystal display devices, substrates for flat panel displays (FPD) such as organic EL (electroluminescence) displays, substrates for optical disks, substrates for magnetic disks, and optical disk substrates. A substrate for a magnetic disk, a glass substrate for a photomask, a ceramic substrate, a substrate for a field emission display (ie, FED), or a substrate for a solar cell, and the like are included.

BACKGROUND ART Conventionally, in a manufacturing process of a semiconductor substrate (hereinafter simply referred to as “substrate”), various treatments have been performed on the substrate using a substrate processing apparatus.

In substrate processing, one or a plurality of chemical liquids are discharged to a substrate through a nozzle, but in order to suppress dripping or the like from the nozzle, a suction operation for sucking the chemical liquid in the nozzle may be performed (for example, See Patent Document 1).

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2016-152375

The processing liquid sucked by the suction operation as described above may remain in the suction pipe and be mixed with other processing liquid discharged to the substrate in subsequent substrate processing. This may cause unintentional over-etching or the like in subsequent substrate processing. And, the precision of substrate processing is reduced.

The technology disclosed in this specification was made in view of the problems described above, and is a technology for suppressing the problem caused by the suction operation in substrate processing.

A substrate processing method, which is a first aspect of the technology disclosed herein, is a substrate processing method using a substrate processing apparatus for processing a substrate, wherein the substrate processing apparatus comprises at least a processing liquid for processing the substrate and cleaning A plurality of valves capable of selectively supplying at least one of a cleaning liquid for performing the cleaning liquid, a processing liquid nozzle for discharging the processing liquid to the substrate, and a connecting pipe connecting the multiple valves and the processing liquid nozzle , It is formed branching from the connection pipe and is further provided with a suction pipe for sucking the inside of the connection pipe, and a step of cleaning the inside of the suction pipe by supplying the washing liquid from the multiple valves to the suction pipe. .

A substrate processing method as a second aspect of the technology disclosed herein relates to the substrate processing method as a first aspect, wherein the multiple valves include a drainage fluid for draining at least one of the processing liquid and the cleaning liquid in the multiple valves. A pipe is further provided, and a step of supplying the washing liquid from the multiple valves to the drain pipe is further provided.

A substrate processing method, which is a third aspect of the technology disclosed in the present specification, relates to the substrate processing method, which is a second aspect, wherein the step of supplying the cleaning liquid from the multiple valves to the drain pipe includes cleaning the inside of the suction pipe carried out concurrently with the process.

A substrate processing method, which is a fourth aspect of the technology disclosed herein, relates to the substrate processing method according to any one of the first to third aspects, wherein the processing liquid nozzle includes a processing position for processing the substrate; It can be positioned at a retracted position for retracting from the substrate, and the process of cleaning the inside of the suction pipe is performed while the treatment liquid nozzle is positioned at the retracted position.

A substrate processing method, which is a fifth aspect of the technology disclosed herein, is related to the substrate processing method, which is a fourth aspect, wherein the substrate processing apparatus further includes a rinse liquid nozzle for discharging a rinse liquid to the substrate, , The rinsing liquid nozzle discharges the rinsing liquid to the substrate at the processing position during the process of cleaning the inside of the suction pipe.

A substrate processing method, which is a sixth aspect of the technology disclosed in this specification, relates to the substrate processing method according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, wherein the substrate processing apparatus is provided in the suction pipe, and further includes the suction A conductivity meter for measuring the conductivity in the pipe, and a stopper for stopping the supply of the washing liquid from the multiple valves to the suction pipe when the value of the conductivity output from the conductivity meter is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold value are added. provided with

According to at least the first aspect of the technology disclosed in this specification, since the inside of the suction pipe is sufficiently cleaned, problems caused by suction operation in substrate processing can be suppressed.

In addition, the object, characteristic, aspect, and advantage related to the technology disclosed in this specification will become more clear from the detailed description and accompanying drawings shown below.

1 is a plan view schematically illustrating an example of a configuration of a substrate processing apparatus according to an embodiment.
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a configuration of a control unit illustrated in FIG. 1 .
3 is a diagram showing an example of a configuration of a processing unit.
4 is a diagram schematically illustrating an example of a configuration of a pipe connected to a processing liquid nozzle among configurations of the substrate processing apparatus according to the embodiment.
5 is a diagram showing a state in which the processing liquid nozzle is moved to a retracted position.

EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION Hereinafter, embodiment is described, referring an accompanying drawing. In the following embodiments, detailed features and the like are also presented for description of the technique, but they are examples, and not all of them are necessarily essential features for the embodiment to be practicable.

In addition, the drawings are shown schematically, and for convenience of description, appropriately omitted or simplified configurations are made in the drawings. In addition, the mutual relationship of the size and position of the components etc. shown in different drawings is not necessarily accurately described, and can be changed appropriately. In addition, even in drawings such as a plan view rather than a cross-sectional view, hatching may be provided to facilitate understanding of the content of the embodiment.

In addition, in the description presented below, the same code|symbol is attached|subjected to the same component, and it is assumed that their names and functions are also the same. Therefore, a detailed description of them may be omitted in order to avoid duplication.

In addition, in the description described in this specification, when a certain component is described as "including," "includes," or "has", unless otherwise specified, exclusive, excluding the presence of other components not an expression

In addition, in the description described in this specification, "... Axis positive direction” or “… Expressions such as "axis negative direction" are illustrated... The direction along the arrow of the axis is taken as the positive direction, and the shown … The direction opposite to the arrow of the axis is the negative direction.

In addition, in the description described in the present specification, it means a specific position or direction such as "top", "bottom", "left", "right", "side", "bottom", "top" or "inside" Even if terms such as are used, these terms are used for convenience to facilitate understanding of the content of the embodiments, and are not related to the position or direction when the embodiments are actually implemented.

In addition, in the description described in this specification, "... upper surface of” or “… In the case of "the lower surface of the lower surface" or the like, in addition to the upper or lower surface of the target component, a state in which other components are formed on the upper or lower surface of the target component is also included. That is, for example, when "B formed on the upper surface of A" is described, interposition of another component "C" between A and B is not prevented.

<Embodiment>

Hereinafter, the substrate processing apparatus and the substrate processing method according to the present embodiment will be described.

<About the configuration of the substrate processing device>

1 is a plan view schematically showing an example of a configuration of a substrate processing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment. The substrate processing apparatus 1 includes a load port 601, an indexer robot 602, a center robot 603, a control unit 90, and at least one processing unit 600 (in FIG. 1, four processing unit).

The processing unit 600 is a single wafer type device that can be used for substrate processing, and specifically, is a device that performs processing for removing organic matter adhering to the substrate W. The organic substance adhering to the substrate W is, for example, a used resist film. This resist film is used as an implantation mask for an ion implantation step, for example.

Also, the processing unit 600 may have a chamber 180 . In that case, by controlling the atmosphere in the chamber 180 by the controller 90, the processing unit 600 can perform substrate processing in a desired atmosphere.

The control unit 90 can control the operation of each component in the substrate processing apparatus 1 . The carrier C is a container for accommodating the substrate W. Also, the load port 601 is a container holding mechanism for holding a plurality of carriers C. The indexer robot 602 can transport the substrate W between the load port 601 and the substrate placing unit 604 . The center robot 603 can transport the substrate W between the substrate placing unit 604 and the processing unit 600 .

With the above structure, the indexer robot 602, the substrate placing unit 604, and the center robot 603 are conveying mechanisms for conveying the substrate W between each processing unit 600 and the load port 601. function as

The unprocessed substrate W is taken out of the carrier C by the indexer robot 602 . And the unprocessed board|substrate W is delivered to the center robot 603 via the board|substrate placing part 604.

The center robot 603 carries the unprocessed substrate W into the processing unit 600 . Then, the processing unit 600 performs processing on the substrate W.

The substrate W that has been processed in the processing unit 600 is taken out of the processing unit 600 by the center robot 603 . And the processed board|substrate W is delivered to the indexer robot 602 via the board|substrate mounting part 604, after passing through another processing unit 600 as needed. The indexer robot 602 carries the processed substrate W into the carrier C. As a result of the above, the processing of the substrate W is performed.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the control unit 90 shown in FIG. 1 as an example. The control unit 90 may be constituted by a general computer having an electric circuit. Specifically, the control unit 90 includes a central processing unit (ie, CPU) 91, a read only memory (ie, ROM) 92, and a random access memory , that is, a RAM) 93, a recording device 94, an input unit 96, a display unit 97, and a communication unit 98, and a bus line 95 connecting them to each other.

The ROM 92 stores a basic program. The RAM 93 is used as a work area when the CPU 91 performs predetermined processing. The recording device 94 is constituted by a non-volatile recording device such as a flash memory or a hard disk device. The input unit 96 is constituted by various types of switches or touch panels, and receives input setting instructions such as processing recipes from the user. The display unit 97 is constituted by, for example, a liquid crystal display device and a lamp, and displays various types of information under the control of the CPU 91 . The communication unit 98 has a data communication function via a local area network (LAN) or the like.

In the recording device 94, setting values for controlling each configuration in the substrate processing device 1 of FIG. 1 are set in advance. When the CPU 91 executes the processing program 94P, each configuration is controlled based on the set value. Also, the processing program 94P may be recorded on an external recording medium. If this recording medium is used, the processing program 94P can be installed in the control unit 90. In addition, some or all of the functions executed by the control unit 90 do not necessarily have to be realized by software, but may be realized by hardware such as a dedicated logic circuit.

<About the processing unit>

3 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the processing unit 600 . As an example shown in FIG. 3 , the processing unit 600 rotates the substrate (W) around a vertical rotational axis (Z1) passing through the central portion of the substrate (W) while holding the one substrate (W) in a substantially horizontal position. a spin chuck 10 for rotating W), a processing liquid nozzle 20 for discharging a processing liquid to a substrate W, and a nozzle arm 22 on which the processing liquid nozzle 20 is attached to an end and a cylindrical processing cup 12 surrounding the spin chuck 10 around the rotational axis Z1 of the substrate W, a rinse liquid nozzle 60, and a gas nozzle 30. do.

Although the processing liquid nozzle 20 is capable of ejecting a plurality of types of processing liquids, a plurality of processing liquid nozzles 20 may be provided corresponding to each processing liquid. The processing liquid nozzle 20 discharges the processing liquid onto the upper surface of the substrate W. Here, the treatment liquid is a liquid for processing the substrate W, and includes an etchant for etching the substrate W (mixture of ammonia and hydrogen peroxide solution (SC1), etc.), a functional liquid such as CO ₂ water, IPA (iso propyl alcohol) or the like, or pure water (DIW).

The spin chuck 10 includes a disk-shaped spin base 10A for vacuum adsorbing the lower surface of a substrate W in a substantially horizontal position, a rotation shaft 10C extending downward from the central portion of the spin base 10A, and a rotation shaft. A spin motor 10D is provided to rotate the substrate W adsorbed to the spin base 10A by rotating the spin base 10C. In addition, instead of the spin chuck 10, a pinched chuck having a plurality of chuck pins protruding upward from the outer peripheral portion of the upper surface of the spin base and holding the circumferential edge of the substrate W by the chuck pins is may be used.

The nozzle arm 22 includes an arm portion 22A, a shaft body 22B, and an actuator 22C. The actuator 22C adjusts the angle around the axis of the shaft body 22B. One end of arm portion 22A is fixed to shaft body 22B, and the other end of arm portion 22A is disposed away from the axis of shaft body 22B. In addition, a processing liquid nozzle 20 is attached to the other end of the arm portion 22A. By doing so, the processing liquid nozzle 20 is configured to swing in the radial direction of the substrate W.

Among the positions where the processing liquid nozzle 20 can move by driving the nozzle arm 22, a position for discharging the processing liquid to the substrate W to perform the substrate processing is set as a processing position, and the upper side of the substrate W If a retracting position (ie, a position where the substrate W and the processing liquid nozzle 20 do not overlap in plan view) is the retracting position, the nozzle arm 22 moves the processing liquid nozzle 20 to the processing position and the retracting position. can be moved to a location.

In addition, the moving direction of the processing liquid nozzle 20 due to swinging only needs to have a component in the radial direction of the substrate W, and does not have to be strictly parallel to the radial direction of the substrate W.

Here, the nozzle arm 22 may be able to move up and down in the vertical direction by a motor or the like not shown. In this case, the distance between the processing liquid nozzle 20 attached to the end of the nozzle arm 22 and the upper surface of the substrate W can be adjusted by raising and lowering the nozzle arm 22 .

The control unit 90 discharges the processing liquid from the processing liquid nozzle 20 to the upper surface of the substrate W while controlling the rotation speed of the spin motor 10D. Further, the controller 90 swings the processing liquid nozzle 20 on the upper surface of the substrate W by controlling the driving of the actuator 22C.

The processing unit 600 includes a rinse liquid nozzle 60 that discharges a rinse liquid from above the substrate W. The rinse liquid nozzle 60 may be fixed above the substrate W. The rinse liquid nozzle 60 is connected to a rinse liquid supply pipe 62 equipped with a rinse liquid valve 61 . The opening and closing of the rinse liquid valve 61 is controlled by the control unit 90 . The rinse liquid nozzle 60 discharges the rinse liquid toward the upper surface of the substrate W held by the spin chuck 10 .

A rinse liquid is supplied to the rinse liquid nozzle 60 from a rinse liquid supply source via a rinse liquid supply pipe 62 . As the rinse liquid, DIW (deionized water) or the like is used. By supplying the rinsing liquid to the substrate W from the rinsing liquid nozzle 60, deposits and the like adhering to the substrate W can be washed away.

The processing unit 600 includes a gas nozzle 30 that blows gas from above the substrate W. The gas nozzle 30 is supported in a vertical position above the spin chuck 10 . A gas supply pipe 32 equipped with a gas valve 31 is connected to the gas nozzle 30 . The opening and closing of the gas valve 31 is controlled by the control unit 90 .

Gas is supplied to the gas nozzle 30 from a gas supply source via a gas supply pipe 32 . Examples of the gas supplied to the gas nozzle 30 include inert gas such as nitrogen (N ₂ ) gas, dry air, and clean air.

FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically illustrating an example of a configuration of a pipe connected to a processing liquid nozzle 20 among configurations of the substrate processing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment.

As an example shown in FIG. 4 , multiple valves 40 are connected to the processing liquid nozzle 20 via a connecting pipe 50 , and a plurality of processing liquid supply sources are connected to the multiple valves 40 .

The multiple valves 40 are connected to the connecting portion 40A, the valve 50A of the connecting pipe 50 connected to the connecting portion 40A from the downstream side, and the supply pipe 42 connected to the connecting portion 40A from the upstream side. The valve 42A of the valve 43A of the supply pipe 43 connected to the connection part 40A from the upstream side, and the valve 44A of the supply pipe 44 connected to the connection part 40A from the upstream side, , a valve 45A of the supply pipe 45 connected to the connection part 40A from the upstream side, and a valve 41A of the drain pipe 41 connected to the connection part 40A. The multiple valves 40 selectively supply at least one of a treatment liquid supplied from these supply pipes or a cleaning liquid described later.

Ammonia (NH ₃ ) is supplied to the supply pipe 42, for example. Hydrogen peroxide (H ₂ O ₂ ) is supplied to the supply pipe 43, for example. Pure water (DIW) is supplied to the supply pipe 44, for example. CO ₂ water is supplied to the supply pipe 45 , for example.

The drain pipe 41 drains a treatment liquid or a cleaning liquid described later in the connecting portion 40A. In addition, the drain pipe 41 is located at a position vertically above the connection portion 40A than the supply pipe (the supply pipe 42, the supply pipe 43, the supply pipe 44 or the supply pipe 45). It is desirable to be connected.

The connection pipe 50 is connected to a suction pipe 52 branching downstream of the valve 50A. A suction mechanism 56, a conductivity meter 54, and a valve 52A are provided in the suction pipe 52. Further, the suction pipe 52 joins the drain pipe 58 downstream.

The suction mechanism 56 is, for example, a siphon-type suction mechanism. Here, the siphon-type suction mechanism refers to a mechanism that fills the inside of the pipe (suction pipe 52) with liquid and sucks (drains) the liquid inside the connecting pipe 50 using the principle of a siphon. In addition, the suction mechanism 56 may be an ejector type suction mechanism.

The conductivity meter 54 is a device for measuring the conductivity in the suction pipe 52 . The conductivity meter 54 measures the conductivity of the liquid remaining in the suction pipe 52 (processing liquid containing pure water, etc.), for example. In addition, the conductivity meter 54 does not have to be provided, and the conductivity meter 54 may be formed in the connection pipe 50 downstream from the suction pipe 52 and the branching position. When the conductivity meter 54 is formed in the connecting pipe 50, the conductivity of the processing liquid discharged from the processing liquid nozzle 20 can be directly measured, so it is useful for managing the concentration of the processing liquid used in substrate processing. Do.

<About the operation of the substrate processing device>

Next, the operation of the substrate processing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4 .

The indexer robot 602 conveys the substrate W from the carrier C in the load port 601 to the substrate placing unit 604 . The center robot 603 conveys the substrate W from the substrate placing unit 604 to one processing unit 600 . The processing unit 600 processes the substrate W. The center robot 603 conveys the substrate W from the processing unit 600 to the substrate placing unit 604 . The indexer robot 602 conveys the substrate W from the substrate placing unit 604 to the carrier C in the load port 601 .

The processing of the substrate W is performed by supplying the processing liquid to the processing liquid nozzle 20 under the control of the controller 90 . The treatment liquid is, for example, effective for etching a metal layer formed on the upper surface of the substrate W (for example, a metal layer formed of cobalt, aluminum, tungsten, copper, ruthenium, molybdenum, titanium nitride, tantalum nitride, etc.) It is an etchant for

Specifically, under the control of the controller 90, the valve 41A is closed and the valve 50A is opened. In addition, at least one of the valve 42A, the valve 43A, the valve 44A, and the valve 45A is opened under the control of the control unit 90 . Here, which one of the valve 42A, the valve 43A, the valve 44A, and the valve 45A is opened can be changed according to the type of the treatment liquid to be supplied.

And, by supplying the processing liquid from the corresponding supply source to the multiple valves 40, the processing liquid is supplied from the multiple valves 40 to the processing liquid nozzle 20 through the connecting pipe 50. Then, the processing liquid is supplied to the corresponding substrate W.

At this time, the valve 52A of the suction pipe 52 connected to the connecting pipe 50 is closed, and the suction mechanism 56 is not operating.

After that, the processing of the substrate W ends, and the supply of the processing liquid to the processing liquid nozzle 20 is stopped under the control of the controller 90 . Then, under the control of the controller 90, the valve 52A is opened, and the suction mechanism 56 is operated with the valve 52A open. In doing so, the inside of the suction pipe 52 is sucked. That is, the treatment liquid remaining in the connection pipe 50 and the suction pipe 52 is drawn into the suction pipe 52 and is discharged through the drain pipe 58 .

On the other hand, the substrate processing apparatus 1 can switch the opening and closing of each valve in order to clean a piping structure or the like including the multiple valves 40 during substrate processing for the same or different substrates W.

In this case, the washing liquid is first supplied to the multiple valves 40 under the control of the controller 90 . Here, the washing liquid is, for example, pure water (DIW), and the time during which the washing liquid is supplied to the multiple valves 40 is, for example, several seconds.

Specifically, under the control of the controller 90, the valve 41A is opened and the valve 44A is opened. Moreover, by control of the control part 90, valve 42A, valve 43A, valve 45A, and valve 50A are closed.

Then, the washing liquid is supplied to the corresponding multiple valves 40 and further drained from the drain pipe 41, so that the inside of the multiple valves 40 is washed by the washing liquid.

Next, the washing liquid is supplied to the connecting pipe 50 through the multiple valves 40 under the control of the controller 90 . Here, the washing liquid is, for example, pure water (DIW), and the time during which the washing liquid is supplied to the connecting pipe 50 is, for example, several seconds.

Specifically, under the control of the controller 90, the valve 44A is opened and the valve 50A is opened. Moreover, by control of the control part 90, valve 42A, valve 43A, valve 45A, and valve 41A are closed.

Then, the cleaning liquid is supplied to the connecting pipe 50 and the processing liquid nozzle 20 through the corresponding multiple valves 40, and is discharged from the lower portion of the processing cup 12 to the drain pipe 58, thereby cleaning the cleaning liquid. As a result, the inside of the connection pipe 50 and the inside of the treatment liquid nozzle 20 are cleaned.

At this time, the cleaning liquid can be supplied to the suction pipe 52 by opening the valve 52A of the suction pipe 52 connected to the connecting pipe 50. The washing liquid supplied to the suction pipe 52 is further drained through the drain pipe 58 . In this way, the inside of the suction pipe 52 is cleaned with the cleaning liquid.

By supplying the cleaning liquid to the suction pipe 52 as described above, the processing liquid remaining in the suction pipe 52 can be effectively cleaned by the suction operation after substrate processing.

Due to the suction operation after substrate processing, the processing liquid remains in the branching portion of the suction pipe 52 mainly from the connecting pipe 50 . And, if the remaining processing liquid is mixed with another type of processing liquid supplied to the substrate W at a later timing, unintended effects (such as over-etching or lack of etching) may occur. According to the experiments conducted by the inventors, cleaning of only the connecting pipe 50 takes about several tens of seconds until the contamination becomes sufficiently small.

On the other hand, according to the cleaning method in which the cleaning liquid is directly supplied to the suction pipe 52 as shown in the present embodiment, it takes only a few seconds until the mixing is sufficiently small.

In addition, since the concentration of the treatment liquid remaining in the suction pipe 52 can be calculated based on the value of the conductivity in the suction pipe 52 output from the conductivity meter 54 formed in the suction pipe 52, the suction pipe ( 52), the timing of the end of the above cleaning method in which the cleaning liquid is directly supplied can be controlled.

That is, when the conductivity in the suction pipe 52 is below a predetermined threshold value (eg, 0.05 μS / cm or more, and 0.1 μS / cm or less, a value at which the above mixing is sufficiently small), The controller 90 can close the valve 52A to stop the supply of the cleaning liquid to the suction pipe 52 . Alternatively, when the value does not fall below the threshold after cleaning for a predetermined period of time, the supply of the cleaning liquid to the suction pipe 52 can be resumed by opening the valve 52A again to perform additional cleaning. The above threshold value can be determined in advance from the correspondence between the measured conductivity and the amount of mixing in the actually discharged treatment liquid, for example.

Here, when cleaning the connection pipe 50 and the suction pipe 52, the cleaning liquid is discharged from the treatment liquid nozzle 20. Therefore, it is preferable that the processing liquid nozzle 20 is retracted from above the substrate W during the cleaning. Specifically, as an example shown in FIG. 5 , at the time of cleaning the connecting pipe 50 and the suction pipe 52, the driving of the nozzle arm 22 is controlled by the control of the controller 90, and the treatment liquid It is preferable to move the nozzle 20 to the retracted position. 5 is a diagram showing a state in which the treatment liquid nozzle 20 is moved to the retracted position.

In addition, in order to suppress the drying of the substrate W during the cleaning of the connection pipe 50 and the suction pipe 52, as shown in FIG. 5, during the above cleaning, the substrate ( W) is preferably supplied with a rinse liquid.

In the above description, the suction pipe 52 is cleaned when the treatment liquid nozzle 20 is cleaned, but only the suction pipe 52 may be cleaned.

Further, in the above description, the suction pipe 52 is cleaned after the multiple valves 40 are cleaned, but the suction pipe 52 may be cleaned first, and the multiple valves 40 are not cleaned. It is also possible to perform cleaning only of the suction pipe 52 without cleaning. Furthermore, when valve 41A, valve 50A, and valve 52A are opened, washing of suction pipe 52 and washing of multiple valves 40 may be performed simultaneously.

In addition, when a plurality of connecting pipes 50 are connected to one multiple valve 40 and a plurality of treatment liquid nozzles 20 are formed correspondingly to it, the multiple valves 40 and the connecting pipe 50 And washing of the suction pipe 52 may be performed simultaneously in the plurality of connecting pipes 50 and the corresponding plurality of suction pipes 52 . In this way, the cleaning time can be shortened.

Then, the processing liquid can be discharged from different processing liquid nozzles 20 before and after washing the multiple valves 40, the connecting pipe 50, and the suction pipe 52.

<About the effect produced by the embodiment described above>

Next, examples of effects produced by the above-described embodiment are shown. In the following description, the effects are described based on the specific configurations exemplified in the embodiments described above, but may be substituted with other specific configurations exemplified in the present specification to the extent that the same effect occurs. That is, in the following, for convenience, only any one of the specific configurations associated with each other may be described as a representative, but the specific configuration described as a representative may be substituted with other specific configurations associated with each other.

According to the embodiment described above, in the substrate processing method using the substrate processing apparatus for processing the substrate W, the substrate processing apparatus includes multiple valves 40, processing liquid nozzles 20, and connecting piping. (50) and a suction pipe (52) are provided. The multiple valves 40 can selectively supply at least one of a treatment liquid for processing the substrate W and a cleaning liquid for cleaning. The processing liquid nozzle 20 discharges the processing liquid to the substrate W. The connecting pipe 50 connects the multiple valves 40 and the processing liquid nozzle 20 . The suction pipe 52 is formed by branching from the connection pipe 50 . Moreover, the suction pipe 52 sucks the inside of the connection pipe 50. Then, in the substrate processing method, a step of cleaning the inside of the suction pipe 52 by supplying a cleaning liquid from the multiple valves 40 to the suction pipe 52 is provided.

According to this configuration, since the inside of the suction pipe 52 is sufficiently cleaned, problems caused by the treatment liquid remaining in the suction pipe 52 due to suction being discharged to the substrate W in subsequent substrate processing can be suppressed. can In the case where the processing liquid remaining in the suction pipe 52 is the etching liquid, unintentional overetching in subsequent substrate processing can be suppressed. In addition, when the treatment liquid remaining in the suction pipe 52 is pure water (low-conductive DIW), the time it remains in the suction pipe 52 becomes longer, and O ₂ or CO ₂ in the air mixes and the conductivity is reduced. It is possible to suppress unintentional generation of arc discharge in subsequent substrate processing by the pure water in a warm state.

In addition, the same effect can be produced even when other structures exemplified in the present specification are appropriately added to the above configurations, that is, when other configurations in the present specification that are not mentioned as the above configurations are appropriately added.

Moreover, according to the embodiment described above, the multiple valves 40 include a drain pipe 41 for draining at least one of the processing liquid and the cleaning liquid in the multiple valves 40 . Then, in the substrate processing method, a step of supplying a cleaning liquid from the multiple valves 40 to the drain pipe 41 is provided. According to such a configuration, the inside of the multiple valves 40 can be washed by supplying the washing liquid from the multiple valves 40 to the drain pipe 41 . Therefore, problems caused by the processing liquid remaining in the multiple valves 40 being discharged to the substrate W in subsequent substrate processing can be suppressed.

Moreover, according to the embodiment described above, the step of supplying the washing liquid from the multiple valves 40 to the drain pipe 41 is performed simultaneously with the step of washing the inside of the suction pipe 52. According to such a structure, since the multiple valves 40 and the suction pipe 52 are washed simultaneously, the time required for washing can be shortened.

Further, according to the above-described embodiments, the processing liquid nozzle 20 can be positioned at a processing position for processing the substrate W and a retracting position for retracting from the substrate W. Then, the process of cleaning the inside of the suction pipe 52 is performed while the treatment liquid nozzle 20 is located in the retracted position. According to this configuration, since cleaning in the suction pipe 52 is performed while the processing liquid nozzle 20 is located in the retracted position, the cleaning liquid supplied to the suction pipe 52 is discharged from the processing liquid nozzle 20. Even in the case where this happens, contamination of the substrate W by the discharged cleaning liquid can be suppressed.

Further, according to the above-described embodiment, the substrate processing apparatus includes a rinse liquid nozzle 60 for discharging a rinse liquid onto the substrate W. Then, the rinse liquid nozzle 60 discharges the rinse liquid to the substrate W at the processing position during the process of cleaning the inside of the suction pipe 52 . According to such a structure, since the rinse process can be performed with respect to the board|substrate W during cleaning in the suction pipe 52, it is possible to efficiently advance the substrate process.

Moreover, according to the embodiment described above, the substrate processing apparatus is formed in the suction pipe 52, and furthermore, from the conductivity meter 54 for measuring the conductivity in the suction pipe 52, and the conductivity meter 54 A stopper for stopping the supply of the washing liquid from the multiple valves 40 to the suction pipe 52 when the value of the output conductivity is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold value is provided. Here, the stopping part corresponds to the control unit 90 or the like, for example. According to this structure, since the cleaning time in the suction pipe 52 can be adjusted according to the value of the conductivity output from the conductivity meter 54 under the control of the controller 90, the cleaning time in the suction pipe 52 can be adjusted. It is possible to effectively remove the treatment liquid remaining in the suction pipe 52 while suppressing the longer than necessary length.

<About the modification of the embodiment described above>

In the embodiments described above, the material, material, size, shape, relative arrangement relationship or implementation conditions of each component may also be described, but these are examples in all aspects and are not limiting. do.

Therefore, innumerable modifications and equivalents for which examples are not shown are assumed within the scope of the technology disclosed in this specification. For example, the case of modifying, adding, or omitting at least one component shall be included.

In the embodiments described above, in the case where a material name or the like is described without being specifically specified, other additives are included in the material, for example, an alloy or the like is included in the material, unless a contradiction occurs.

1: substrate processing device
10 : spin chuck
10A: spin base
10C: rotation axis
10D: Spin Motor
12: processing cup
20: treatment liquid nozzle
22: nozzle arm
22A: arm part
22B: axis
22C: Actuator
30: gas nozzle
31: gas valve
32: gas supply pipe
40: multiple valves
40A: connection part
41, 58: drainage pipe
41A, 42A, 43A, 44A, 45A, 50A, 52A: Valve
42, 43, 44, 45: supply piping
50: connection piping
52: suction pipe
54: conductivity meter
56: suction mechanism
60: rinse liquid nozzle
61: rinse liquid valve
62: rinse liquid supply pipe
90: control unit
91: CPU
92: ROM
93 RAM
94: recording device
94P: processing program
95: bus line
96: input unit
97: display
98: Ministry of Communications
180: chamber
600: processing unit
601: load port
602: indexer robot
603: center robot
604: substrate mounting unit

Claims (6)

A substrate processing method using a substrate processing apparatus for processing a substrate,
The substrate processing apparatus,
at least a plurality of valves capable of selectively supplying at least one of a treatment liquid for processing the substrate and a cleaning liquid for cleaning;
a treatment liquid nozzle for discharging the treatment liquid to the substrate;
A connection pipe connecting the multiple valves and the treatment liquid nozzle;
It is formed branching from the connection pipe and is further provided with a suction pipe for sucking the inside of the connection pipe,
and a step of cleaning the inside of the suction pipe by supplying the cleaning liquid from the multiple valves to the suction pipe. According to claim 1,
The multiple valves further include a drain pipe for draining at least one of the treatment liquid and the cleaning liquid in the multiple valves,
The substrate processing method further comprising a step of supplying the cleaning liquid from the multiple valves to the drain pipe. According to claim 2,
The step of supplying the cleaning liquid from the multiple valves to the drain pipe is performed simultaneously with the step of cleaning the inside of the suction pipe. According to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The treatment liquid nozzle is positionable at a processing position for processing the substrate and an evacuation position for retracting from the substrate;
The substrate processing method of claim 1, wherein the step of cleaning the inside of the suction pipe is performed while the processing liquid nozzle is positioned at the retracted position. According to claim 4,
The substrate processing apparatus further includes a rinse liquid nozzle for discharging a rinse liquid to the substrate,
The substrate processing method of claim 1 , wherein the rinsing liquid nozzle discharges the rinsing liquid to the substrate at the processing position during the step of cleaning the inside of the suction pipe. According to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The substrate processing apparatus,
a conductivity meter formed in the suction pipe and configured to measure the conductivity in the suction pipe;
Further comprising a stop portion for stopping the supply of the cleaning liquid from the multiple valves to the suction pipe when the value of the conductivity output from the conductivity meter is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold value.

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