TWI757698B - Substrate processing method and substrate processing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

The substrate processing method of the present invention includes the following steps: after wet processing is performed on the substrate on which the concavo-convex pattern is formed by the first processing unit (step S104 ), the surface of the substrate is covered with a liquid film containing an organic solvent, so that the liquid film is At least the surface is solidified to form a solidified film (step S105); the substrate covered by the solidified film is transported to the second processing unit (steps S106, S107); and the second processing unit supplies a solution to the solidified film to dissolve the solidified film, and automatically The surface of the substrate removes the dissolving solution to dry the substrate (step S108). While reliably preventing the collapse of the concavo-convex pattern formed on the surface of the substrate, the ease of transfer between processing units can be ensured.

Description

Substrate processing method and substrate processing apparatus

The invention relates to a substrate processing method including a process of performing wet processing on a substrate having a concavo-convex pattern formed on the surface and then drying the substrate, and a substrate processing apparatus for performing the same.

It is known that in the substrate processing technology of drying the substrate after wet processing (such as cleaning treatment) of a substrate with a fine uneven pattern formed on the surface by a liquid, during the drying process, the surface of the liquid remaining in the pattern is known. The effect of tension causes the problem of pattern collapse. To solve this problem, there has been a technique of replacing the liquid with a fluid with a lower surface tension until it dries. As a fluid with extremely low surface tension, for example, liquid carbon dioxide is used (for example, refer to Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2013-201302 (Patent Document 1)).

As another prior art, there is sublimation drying technology. In this technique, a liquid film of a sublimable substance in a liquid state is formed on the surface of the substrate after wet processing, and then cooled and solidified. Furthermore, by sublimating the solidified sublimable substance, a gas-liquid interface that causes pattern collapse is not generated (for example, see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2012-243869 (Patent Document 2)).

In these prior arts, the processing unit for forming a liquid film on the surface of the substrate and the processing unit for drying the substrate are a single body. Therefore, a transport mechanism for transporting the substrates between the units is provided.

[Problems to be Solved by Invention]

In the prior art described in Patent Document 1, it is necessary to convey the substrate while maintaining the liquid film formed on the surface. Therefore, the substrate must always be held in a horizontal position, and the conveyance speed must be low. However, there is a possibility that the liquid may flow out due to vibration during conveyance, or the substrate surface may be exposed due to evaporation, which is a cause of pattern collapse.

On the other hand, in the prior art described in Patent Document 2, since the surface of the substrate is conveyed in a state where the solidified sublimable substance covers the surface of the substrate, there are fewer restrictions on the conveyance. However, there is a possibility that a problem that cannot be dealt with by this technology will arise due to further miniaturization of the pattern. The reason for this is as follows.

Generally speaking, the physical property value known as the freezing point of a liquid is the value when the liquid is in free space or a larger space. On the other hand, in the liquid entering into the fine space such as nanometer, there is a phenomenon that the freezing point is greatly reduced compared with the above-mentioned general value. Therefore, if a sufficiently low cooling temperature and a long cooling time are not given, the liquid permeating the inside of the fine pattern is not sufficiently solidified and remains as a liquid. Therefore, the sublimation and drying process after the transfer is actually a liquid phase, not "sublimation", and there is a possibility that a gas-liquid interface will be generated and the pattern will collapse.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a substrate processing technology capable of performing wet processing on a substrate having a concavo-convex pattern formed on the surface and then drying the substrate, ensuring ease of transportation between processing units, and A technology that reliably prevents pattern collapse. [Technical means to solve problems]

One aspect of the substrate processing method of the present invention, in order to achieve the above-mentioned object, includes the following steps: after wet processing is performed on the substrate having the concave-convex pattern formed on the surface by the first processing unit, the substrate is covered with a liquid film containing an organic solvent. the surface of the liquid film; at least the surface of the liquid film is solidified to form a solidified film; the substrate covered by the solidified film is conveyed to the second processing part; the dissolving liquid is supplied to the solidified film from the second processing part to dissolve the solidified film; and The above-mentioned dissolving liquid is removed from the surface of the above-mentioned substrate, and the above-mentioned substrate is dried.

Furthermore, in one aspect of the substrate processing apparatus of the present invention, in order to achieve the above-mentioned object, it includes a first processing section for performing wet processing on a substrate having a concavo-convex pattern formed on the surface thereof, and processing for covering the surface of the substrate with a liquid film , and a process of cooling to a lower temperature than the freezing point of the liquid constituting the liquid film and solidifying the liquid film and converting it into a solidified film; a second processing unit that receives the substrate on which the solidified film is formed, and executes the treatment of the solidified film. A process of supplying a dissolving liquid to dissolve the solidified film, and a process of removing the dissolving liquid from the surface of the substrate and drying the substrate; and a conveying mechanism for conveying from the first processing part to the second processing part formed The above-mentioned substrate of the above-mentioned solidified film.

In the invention thus constituted, the transfer of the substrate from the first processing unit to the second processing unit is performed in a state in which the substrate surface is covered with the solidified film. Therefore, the risk of the substrate surface being exposed due to liquid loss or evaporation from the substrate surface during transportation is very low. Therefore, the conveyance of the substrate is easier.

And in the 2nd process part which conveys a board|substrate, the board|substrate is dried by dissolving the solidified film with the solution solution until the solution solution is removed. Therefore, unlike the sublimation drying technique that sublimates the solidified film directly, the liquid entering the pattern is not solidified, so it does not cause the pattern to collapse. That is, according to the present invention, even a fine pattern can be prevented from being broken.

Considering the ease of replacement with other fluids in subsequent steps, it is better that the liquid inside the pattern is not solidified. For ease of transportation, only the surface portion of the solidified liquid film is sufficient. Therefore, the energy and time required for cooling the liquid film can also be less. That is, it can be said that the present invention has excellent effects from the viewpoints of energy efficiency and yield. [Effect of invention]

As described above, according to the present invention, in the substrate processing technology in which the substrate on which the uneven pattern is formed on the surface is subjected to wet processing and then dried, the ease of conveyance of the substrate can be ensured, and even a fine pattern can be reliably obtained. prevent it from breaking down.

The above-mentioned and other objects and novel features of the present invention can be more fully clarified if the following detailed description is read with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the drawings are for the purpose of explanation and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention.

1A and 1B are diagrams showing a schematic configuration of one embodiment of the substrate processing apparatus of the present invention. More specifically, FIG. 1A is a plan view showing a substrate processing apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1B is a side view showing the substrate processing apparatus 1 . In addition, these figures do not show the appearance of the device, but are schematic views showing the internal structure of the device by excluding the outer wall panels or other parts of the device. The substrate processing apparatus 1 is installed in, for example, a clean room and performs specific processing on a substrate.

Here, as the "substrate" of the present embodiment, a semiconductor substrate, a glass substrate for a mask, a glass substrate for a liquid crystal display, a glass substrate for a plasma display, a substrate for an FED (Field Emission Display), Various substrates such as substrates for optical disks, substrates for magnetic disks, and substrates for magneto-optical disks. Hereinafter, a description will be given mainly by taking a substrate processing apparatus used for semiconductor processing as an example with reference to the drawings. However, the same can be applied to the processing of various substrates exemplified above.

As shown in FIG. 1A , the substrate processing apparatus 1 includes a substrate processing unit 10 for processing a substrate S, and an index unit 20 coupled to the substrate processing unit 10 . The indexing unit 20 includes a container holding unit 21 and an indexing robot 22 . The container holding portion 21 can hold a plurality of containers C for accommodating the substrates S. As shown in FIG. The indexing robot 22 can approach the container C held by the container holding part 21 , and can take out the unprocessed substrate S from the container C or store the processed substrate in the container C. As shown in FIG. As the container C, FOUP (Front Opening Unified Pod: Front Opening Wafer Pod), SMIF (Standard Mechanical Interface: Standard Mechanical Interface) box, OC (Open Cassette: Open Cassette) can be used to accommodate multiple substrates S in a closed state. cassette) etc. In each container C, a plurality of substrates S are accommodated in a substantially horizontal posture.

The indexing robot 22 includes: a base part 221 fixed to the device casing; a multi-joint arm 222 rotatably about a vertical axis with respect to the base part 221 ; and a hand 223 attached to the front end of the multi-joint arm 222 . The hand 223 has a structure capable of placing and holding the substrate S on the upper surface thereof. Since an index robot having such a multi-joint arm and a hand for holding a substrate is well known, the detailed description is omitted.

The substrate processing unit 10 includes: a central robot 15 which is arranged substantially at the center in plan view; and a plurality of substrate processing units which are arranged so as to surround the central 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. The substrate processing units 11A to 14A perform specific processing on the substrate S, respectively. When these processing units have the same function, a plurality of substrates can be processed in parallel. Moreover, it may be comprised so that processing units with different functions may be combined, and different processing may be performed sequentially with respect to one board|substrate.

As will be described later, the substrate processing apparatus 1 of this embodiment is used in a series of processes in which the substrate S is wet-processed with a specific processing solution, and then the substrate S is dried. For this purpose, the two substrate processing units 11A and 12A of the four substrate processing units are responsible for the wet processing of the substrate S, and are internally provided with a structure for enabling this. In addition, the other two substrate processing units 13A and 14A are responsible for the processing (drying processing) of removing the residual liquid from the substrate S after the wet processing and drying the substrate S, and are provided with a structure inside to enable this.

In each of the substrate processing units 11A to 14A, a substrate processing main body for processing the substrate S is accommodated in a processing chamber provided with a shutter that can be opened and closed on the side facing the center robot 15 . That is, the substrate processing unit 11A has the processing chamber 110 and the baffle plate 111 provided on the side facing the center robot 15 of the processing chamber 110 . The baffle 111 is provided so as to cover an opening (not shown) provided on the side surface of the processing chamber 110 facing the center robot 15 . When the shutter 111 is opened, the opening is exposed, and the substrate S can be carried in and out through the opening. In addition, when the processing of the substrate S is performed in the processing chamber 110 , by closing the shutter 111 , the ambient gas in the processing chamber 110 is blocked from the outside.

Likewise, the substrate processing unit 12A has a processing chamber 120 and a baffle plate 121 disposed on the side of the processing chamber 120 facing the central robot 15 . In addition, the substrate processing unit 13A has a processing chamber 130 and a baffle plate 131 provided on the side of the processing chamber 130 facing the central robot 15 . In addition, the substrate processing unit 14A has a processing chamber 140 and a baffle plate 141 provided on the side of the processing chamber 140 facing the central robot 15 .

In addition, the group of substrate processing units arranged in the horizontal direction in this way has a plurality of stages (two stages in this example) arranged in the vertical 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 structure and function as the substrate processing unit 12A is provided. Similarly, a substrate processing unit 13B ( FIG. 2 ) is also provided below the substrate processing unit 13A, and an unillustrated substrate processing unit is also provided below the substrate processing unit 14A. In addition, the number of stages of the substrate processing unit is arbitrary, and is not limited to the two stages illustrated here. Also, the number of substrate processing units arranged per stage is not limited to the above.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the configuration and installation environment of the central robot. The central robot 15 can receive the unprocessed substrate S from the indexing robot 22 , and can hand over the processed substrate S to the indexing robot 22 . More specifically, the center robot 15 includes a base unit 151 , a lift base 152 , a rotation base 153 , a telescopic arm 154 , and a hand 155 . The base unit 151 is fixed to the bottom frame of the substrate processing unit 10 and supports each configuration of the center robot 15 . The lift base 152 is mounted on the base portion 151 , and a rotating base 153 is mounted on the upper portion of the lift base 152 . The elevating base 152 is freely retractable along the vertical direction, and the rotating base 153 is moved up and down by the telescopic motion.

The rotating base 153 is rotatable around a vertical axis relative to the lifting base 152 . The base of the telescopic arm 154 is mounted on the rotating base 153 , and the hand 155 is mounted on the front end of the telescopic arm 154 . The telescopic arm 154 is telescopic in a specific range along the horizontal direction. The hand 155 has a structure in which the substrate S can be placed and held on the upper surface thereof, and the substrate S can be handed over to the hand 223 of the index robot 22 . Since the hand mechanism of this structure is well known, the detailed description is omitted.

By extending and retracting the telescopic arm 154 in the horizontal direction, the substrate S held by the hand 155 can be moved horizontally. In addition, by rotating the rotating base 153 relative to the lifting base 152, the direction of the horizontal movement of the substrate S can be specified. In addition, the elevating base 152 moves the rotating base 153 up and down, whereby the height of the substrate S, that is, the vertical position can be adjusted.

In the substrate processing apparatus 1 having the above-described configuration, the processing of the substrate S is performed as follows. In the initial state, the unprocessed substrate S is accommodated in the container C placed on the container holding portion 21 . The index 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 substrate S into a substrate processing unit that processes the substrate S.

For example, when the substrate S is loaded into the substrate processing unit 11A, as shown in FIG. 2 , the center robot 15 adjusts the height of the rotating base 153 by raising and lowering the base 152, and positions the substrate S held by the hand 155 on the substrate processing unit 152. The height of the baffle plate 111 on the side of the processing chamber 110 of the unit 11A. The shutter 111 is opened, and the telescopic arm 154 extends toward the opening on the side surface of the processing chamber 110 , whereby the substrate S is loaded into the processing chamber 110 . After the retractable arm 154 is retracted, the shutter 111 is closed, and the processing of the substrate S is performed in the processing chamber 110 . It is also possible to carry in the substrate S to another substrate processing unit in the same manner.

On the other hand, when taking out the processed substrate S from the substrate processing unit 11A, the telescopic arm 154 enters the processing chamber 110 with the shutter 111 opened and takes out the processed substrate S. The taken out substrate S can be carried into another substrate processing unit to perform new processing, and can be returned to the container C via the index robot 22 . The specific processing sequence of this embodiment will be described in detail later.

As shown in FIG. 2, the center robot 15 is installed in the conveyance space TS partitioned from the external space by the partition wall 101 in the side and upper direction. The substrate processing unit 11A is mounted on the side of the partition wall 101 so that the side surface of the processing chamber 110 on which the baffle plate 111 is provided faces the transfer space TS. The same applies to other substrate processing units.

In addition to the above, the substrate processing apparatus 1 is provided with a control unit 90 for controlling the operation of each part of the apparatus. The control unit 90 includes at least a CPU (Central Processing Unit: Central Processing Unit) 91 and a memory 92 . The CPU 91 causes each part of the apparatus to execute a specific action by executing a control program prepared in advance. In addition, the memory 92 stores a control program to be executed by the CPU 91, data generated by the execution, and the like. The operations of the index robot 22 and the center robot 15, the opening and closing of the shutters of the processing chambers, and various processing of the substrate S are controlled by the CPU 91 executing the control program.

3A-3C are diagrams showing a substrate processing unit 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. Here, the configuration of the substrate processing unit 11A will be described, and the configurations of the other substrate processing units 11B, 12A and the like that perform wet processing are basically the same.

The substrate processing unit 11A includes a wet processing unit 30 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 or cleaning of the substrate S, and the like. In addition, in order to facilitate the conveyance of the substrate S after the wet processing, the wet processing unit 30 performs coagulation processing at the same time. The solidification treatment is a treatment of covering the upper surface of the substrate S with a solidified film by covering the upper surface of the substrate S with a liquid film and solidifying it.

For this purpose, the wet processing section 30 includes a substrate holding section 31 , a splash guard 32 , a processing liquid supply section 33 , a coagulation liquid supply section 35 , and a cooling gas supply section 34 . These actions are controlled by the control unit 90 . The substrate holding portion 31 includes a disk-shaped spin chuck 311 having a diameter approximately equal to that of the substrate S, and a plurality of chuck pins 312 are provided on the periphery of the spin chuck 311 . The chuck pins 312 are in contact with the peripheral portion of the substrate S and support the substrate S, whereby the spin chuck 311 can hold the substrate S in a horizontal position in a state of being separated from the upper surface thereof.

The rotary chuck 311 is supported so that the upper surface is leveled by a rotating support shaft 313 extending downward from the center portion of the lower surface. The rotating support shaft 313 is rotatably supported by a rotating mechanism 314 mounted on the bottom of the processing chamber 110 . The rotation mechanism 314 has a built-in rotation motor (not shown). The rotary motor rotates according to the control command from the control unit 90, whereby the rotary chuck 311 directly connected to the rotary support shaft 313 rotates around the vertical axis shown by the one-dot chain line. In FIG. 3A , the up-down direction is the vertical direction. Thereby, the board|substrate S rotates about a vertical axis|shaft in a horizontal attitude|position as it is.

The splash guard 32 is provided so as to surround the board holding portion 31 from the side. The splash guard 32 has: a substantially cylindrical cup tube 321 provided to cover the peripheral portion of the spin chuck 311 ; and a liquid receiving portion 322 provided below the outer peripheral portion of the cup tube 321 . The cup barrel 321 moves up and down according to the control command from the control unit 90 . The cup barrel 321 is lowered from the upper end of the cup barrel 321 shown in FIG. 3A to a lower position below the peripheral edge of the substrate S held by the spin chuck 311 , and the upper end of the cup barrel 321 shown in FIG. 3B is located at the peripheral edge of the substrate S. It can move up and down between the upper position and the upper part.

When the cup barrel 321 is located at the lower position, as shown in FIG. 3A , the substrate S held by the spin chuck 311 is exposed to the outside of the cup barrel 321 . Therefore, for example, the cup cylinder 321 is prevented from becoming an obstacle when the substrate S is carried in and out of the spin chuck 311 .

Moreover, when the cup cylinder 321 is located in the upper position, as shown in FIG. 3B, the peripheral edge part of the board|substrate S hold|maintained by the spin chuck 311 is enclosed. Thereby, the processing liquid thrown off from the peripheral part of the board|substrate S at the time of the liquid supply mentioned later can be prevented from being scattered in the chamber 110, and it can collect|recover reliably. That is, when the substrate S rotates, the droplets of the processing liquid thrown off from the peripheral edge of the substrate S adhere to the inner wall of the cup barrel 321 and flow downward, and are collected by the liquid collecting portion 322 disposed below the cup barrel 321 Recycle. In order to recover a plurality of treatment liquids individually, a plurality of cups and cylinders may be arranged concentrically.

The processing liquid supply part 33 has a structure in which a nozzle 334 is attached to the front end of an arm 333 extending horizontally from a rotation support shaft 332 provided rotatably with respect to a base 331 fixed to the processing chamber 110 . The rotation support shaft 332 is rotated according to the control command from the control unit 90, whereby the arm 333 is swung, and the nozzle 334 at the front end of the arm 333 is at the retracted position that is retracted from the upper side of the substrate S shown in FIG. 3A to the side, which is the same as that shown in FIG. 3B. move between processing positions above the substrate S.

The nozzle 334 is connected to a processing liquid supply source (not shown) provided in the control unit 90 . When an appropriate processing liquid is sent from the processing liquid supply source, the processing liquid is ejected to the substrate S from the nozzle 334 . As shown in FIG. 3B , the spin chuck 311 rotates at a low speed to rotate the substrate S, and the processing liquid Lq is supplied from the nozzle 33 positioned above the rotation center of the substrate S, whereby the upper surface Sa of the substrate S is Treatment liquid Lq treatment. As the processing liquid Lq, liquids having various functions, such as a developing liquid, an etching liquid, a cleaning liquid, and a cleaning liquid, can be used, and the composition is arbitrary. Furthermore, the treatment can be performed in combination with a plurality of treatment liquids.

The coagulation liquid supply part 35 also has a structure corresponding to the processing liquid supply part 33 . That is, the coagulation liquid supply part 35 has a base 351, a rotation support shaft 352, an arm 353, a nozzle 354, and the like. These structures are equivalent to those of the processing liquid supply unit 33 . The rotating support shaft 352 rotates according to the control command from the control unit 90 , thereby causing the arm 353 to swing. The nozzle 354 at the front end of the arm 353 supplies a coagulation liquid for forming a coagulation film to the upper surface Sa of the substrate S after the wet processing.

The coagulation liquid supply unit will be described by replacing the "processing liquid Lq", "arm 333", and "nozzle 334" in the above description of FIG. 3B with "coagulation liquid Lq", "arm 333", and "nozzle 354", respectively. 35 action. Among them, the solidification liquid is different from the above-mentioned treatment liquid, and after being supplied to the upper surface Sa of the substrate S in a liquid state, it solidifies and becomes a solid.

The upper surface Sa of the substrate to be processed was formed with a fine concavo-convex pattern (hereinafter, simply referred to as a "pattern"). At this time, during the drying process of the wet substrate S after the wet processing, there is a possibility that the pattern collapses due to the surface tension of the liquid entering the pattern. As a method for preventing this, there are a method of replacing the liquid in the pattern with a liquid with a lower surface tension and then drying it, and a sublimation drying method of sublimating a sublimable substance covering the upper surface Sa of the substrate with a solid of the sublimable substance , and the supercritical drying method used in this embodiment.

In order to carry out the supercritical drying process requiring high temperature and high pressure, a high pressure chamber different from the chamber for wet processing is required. Therefore, it is necessary to transfer the wet-processed substrate S to the high-pressure chamber. It is desirable to cover the substrate upper surface Sa with a liquid or a solid in advance in order to avoid breakage due to exposure of the pattern during conveyance. Here, the conveyance in the state where the liquid film covers the substrate S requires special consideration of the handling of the substrate S on which the liquid film is carried. In addition, there is a possibility that the pattern will be exposed or the liquid will be scattered in the device due to the drop of liquid during conveyance. Considering these points, it is preferable to convey in the state which covered the upper surface Sa of a board|substrate with solid.

Therefore, in this embodiment, the conveyance is performed in a state in which the upper surface Sa of the substrate is covered with the solidified film. The solidified film is formed as shown below. As shown in FIG. 3B , when the substrate S rotates at a specific rotational speed, the coagulation liquid Lq is supplied from the nozzle 354, whereby the upper surface Sa of the substrate is covered with the liquid film LF of the coagulation liquid. As the coagulation liquid, it is desirable that it has good miscibility with the treatment liquid used in the wet treatment, the surface tension is lower than that of the treatment liquid, and the freezing point is close to room temperature. For example, when the treatment liquid contains water as the main component, isopropyl alcohol (IPA: Isopropyl alcohol) can be preferably used.

In this way, when the liquid film LF is formed on the substrate upper surface Sa, as shown in FIG. 3C , the nozzle 344 of the cooling gas supply unit 34 is positioned above the rotation center of the substrate S instead of the nozzle 354 . The cooling gas supply unit 34 has a structure in which a nozzle 344 is attached to the front end of an arm 343 extending horizontally from a pivot shaft 342 provided rotatably with respect to a base 341 fixed to the processing chamber 110 . Like the treatment liquid supply part 33 , the rotation support shaft 342 is rotated in accordance with a control command from the control unit 90 , whereby the arm 343 is rocked. In this way, the nozzle 344 at the front end of the arm 343 moves between a retracted position retracted from above the substrate S to the side and a processing position above the substrate S.

The nozzle 344 is connected to a cooling gas supply part (not shown) provided in the control unit 90 . The cooling gas G supplied from the cooling gas supplying part is lower than the freezing point of the solidification liquid constituting the liquid film LF, and is ejected toward the substrate S from the nozzle 344 . Thereby, the liquid film LF on the substrate S is cooled from the surface side. As shown in FIG. 3C , the nozzle 344 for ejecting the cooling gas G at a low temperature to the upper surface Sa of the substrate on which the liquid film LF is formed is moved to the outer periphery of the substrate S by scanning. Thereby, the liquid film LF on the upper surface Sa of the substrate is sequentially solidified from the center, and finally, the entire liquid film LF on the upper surface Sa of the substrate is converted into a solidified film FF formed by solidifying the solidification liquid.

Here, in this embodiment, it is not necessary to solidify the entire liquid film LF, and it suffices to solidify the vicinity of the surface of the liquid film LF. That is, as long as the entire surface of the liquid film LF is solidified to such an extent that it is unobstructed for conveyance, that is, an extent that is not deformed due to vibration during conveyance or the like. For example, between the solidified film FF and the substrate S, the liquid film LF can be maintained in a liquid state. Since it is not necessary to perform solidification as a whole, energy consumption and processing time for solidification can be reduced.

In addition, the process of covering the substrate S with the solidified film is not limited to the above-mentioned method of the cooling liquid film LF. For example, it may be a method of solidifying by natural cooling by supplying a liquid having a freezing point higher than room temperature and in a state heated to a freezing point or higher to the substrate S. It can also be a method of curing by supplying to the substrate S as a solution of dissolving a substance having a freezing point higher than room temperature in an appropriate solvent, and volatilizing the solvent. As this method, for example, a solution in which tertiary butyl alcohol (TBA: Tertiary butyl alcohol) as a curing substance is dissolved in IPA as a solvent can be used as a coagulation liquid.

The melting point (freezing point) of TBA is approximately room temperature (25.5°C). When a liquid film is formed on the substrate S by a solution in which TBA is dissolved 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 substrate S and the solidified film FF can be realized.

In this way, the substrate S carried out in a state where the upper surface Sa is covered with the solidified film FF is transferred to the substrate processing unit 13A and subjected to a drying process. That is, the substrate processing unit 13A has a function of performing 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 as a substrate process. As the drying process, supercritical drying in which the substrate S is covered with the supercritical fluid until the supercritical fluid (without passing through the liquid phase) is vaporized and removed is applied. Here, the configuration of the substrate processing unit 13A will be described, and the configurations of other substrate processing units 13B, 14A and the like that perform drying processing are basically the same.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a substrate processing unit performing 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 supercritical drying treatment and the required basic structure are well known, the detailed description is omitted here. The substrate processing unit 13A includes a high-pressure chamber 130 , and a drying processing unit 40 serving as an executing body for drying processing is provided inside the high-pressure chamber 130 . In the drying processing section 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 adsorption holding or mechanical holding. Since the high pressure chamber 130 becomes high pressure, in order to withstand this, the internal structure is relatively simple, and a component capable of withstanding high pressure is used.

The central rotating support shaft 42 on the lower surface of the platform 41 extends downward. The rotation support shaft 42 is inserted through the bottom surface of the high pressure chamber 130 via the 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 . Therefore, when the rotation mechanism 432 is actuated according to the control command from the control unit 90, the substrate S rotates together with the stage 41 around the rotation axis in the vertical direction indicated by the one-dot chain line.

Inside the high pressure chamber 130 , a fluid dispersing member 44 is disposed above the platform 41 . The fluid dispersing member 44 is provided with a plurality of through holes 442 penetrating up and down with respect to the flat blocking plate 441 . Carbon dioxide gas is supplied from the carbon dioxide supply unit 45 to the upper part of the high pressure chamber 130 as needed. The carbon dioxide gas is rectified by the fluid dispersing member 44, and is uniformly supplied to 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 needed. Nitrogen is supplied in various forms as needed. That is, according to the purpose of removing the gas in the high-pressure chamber 130 or cooling the chamber, the gas is supplied to the high-pressure chamber 130 as normal temperature or heated gas, or as liquid nitrogen for cooling and liquefaction.

Moreover, the dissolving liquid is supplied into the high pressure chamber 130 from the dissolving liquid supply part 47 as needed. The dissolving liquid is a liquid for dissolving the solidified film FF, and is supplied to the upper surface Sa of the substrate S carried in in a state where the solidified film FF is formed. As the dissolving liquid, it is possible to use a liquid having a miscibility with respect to the liquid constituting the coagulation film FF, that is, the coagulation liquid, and more preferably a liquid whose surface tension is equal to or lower than that of the coagulation liquid. For example, when the coagulation liquid contains IPA, an organic solvent such as IPA and acetone, or an IPA-soluble supercritical fluid such as supercritical carbon dioxide can be used as the dissolving liquid.

In addition, as will be described later, in this embodiment, the carbon dioxide gas introduced into the high-pressure chamber 130 is pressurized and liquefied to perform supercritical fluidization. Therefore, when it is used as a dissolving liquid, it is not necessary to provide a separate dissolving liquid supply. Section 47.

Furthermore, the 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 or liquid introduced into the high-pressure chamber 130 as required. The discharge mechanism 48 is provided with piping, a nozzle, a pump, and the like for this purpose. Thereby, the fluid in the high pressure chamber 130 can be quickly discharged when necessary.

Although illustration is omitted, the control unit 90 has a structure for detecting the pressure or temperature in the high-pressure chamber 130 and a structure for controlling these to specific values. That is, the control unit 90 has a function of controlling the pressure and temperature in the high-pressure chamber 130 to specific target values.

Next, the operation of the substrate processing apparatus 1 configured as described above will be described. As described so far, the substrate processing apparatus 1 is an apparatus for performing wet processing and drying processing on the substrate S in sequence. The main flow of this process is as follows. That is, after the substrate processing unit for carrying out the wet processing carries out the processing of the processing liquid, a coagulation film is formed according to the coagulation liquid, and the coagulation film is removed from the substrate S which is transported to the substrate processing unit which performs the drying processing, and the substrate S is dry. Hereinafter, the specific processing content will be described.

Here, for one substrate S, the substrate processing unit 11A performs wet processing, and the substrate processing unit 13A performs drying processing. However, the combination of the substrate processing unit that performs wet processing and the substrate processing unit that performs dry processing is arbitrary, and is not limited to this. In addition, in the following description, in order to demonstrate clearly the role of each substrate processing unit, the substrate processing unit 11A etc. which perform wet processing are called "wet processing unit". In addition, the board|substrate processing unit 13A etc. which perform a drying process are called "drying process unit".

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of the substrate processing apparatus. This operation is realized by executing a control program prepared in advance by the CPU 91 to cause each part of the apparatus to perform a specific operation. First, the index robot 22 takes out one unprocessed substrate S from one of the containers C that accommodates the unprocessed substrate (step S101 ). Then, the substrate S is transferred from the indexing robot 22 to the center robot 15 (step S102). The center robot 15 carries the substrate S into the substrate processing unit (wet processing unit) 11A that performs wet processing (step S103 ).

The substrate processing unit 11A carrying in the substrate S performs wet processing on the substrate S (step S104). The contents of the wet processing are as described above, and the processing liquid is supplied to the substrate S to process or clean the upper surface Sa of the substrate. A solidification process for forming a solidified film FF is performed on the wet-processed substrate S (step S105 ).

Figure 6 is a flow chart showing the solidification process. In the coagulation process, an organic solvent such as IPA is supplied as a coagulation solution from the nozzle 354 of the coagulation solution supply part 35 arranged above the rotation center of the substrate S to the upper surface Sa of the substrate after the wet process. Thereby, the processing liquid remaining on the substrate upper surface Sa is replaced by the coagulation liquid, and a liquid film LF of the coagulation liquid is formed on the substrate upper surface Sa (step S201 ). Next, the liquid film LF is cooled and solidified to form a solidified film FF by scanning and moving along the upper surface Sa of the substrate through the nozzle 344 that sprays the cooling gas (step S202 ).

Returning to FIG. 5 , the substrate S having the solidified 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 board|substrate processing unit (drying processing unit) 13A which performs a drying process (step S107).

The substrate processing unit 13A that carries the substrate S performs a drying process on the substrate S. As shown in FIG. That is, the liquid adhering to the substrate S is removed and the substrate S is dried (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 processed substrate S taken out is handed over from the center robot 15 to the indexing robot 22 (step S110). The index robot 22 accommodates the substrate S in one of the containers C (step S111). The container C in which the processed substrate S is accommodated may be a container in which the substrate S in an unprocessed state is accommodated, or may be another container.

Further, when there is a substrate to be processed (YES in step S112 ), return to step S101 to perform the above-mentioned processing on the subsequent substrate S, if there is no substrate to be processed (NO in step S112 (no) )), the process ends.

As mentioned above, the flow of the case where one board|substrate S is processed is demonstrated, and the process with respect to several board|substrates is performed in parallel in an actual apparatus. That is, while one substrate S is being processed in one substrate processing unit, at least one of the transfer of other substrates by the index robot 22 and the center robot 15 and the substrate processing by the other substrate processing units can be simultaneously performed in parallel.

More specifically, for example, after the substrate S is handed over from the indexing robot 22 to the central robot 15 in step S102 , the indexing robot 22 can approach the new container C and take out other substrates. For another example, in step S103, after one substrate S is loaded into the substrate processing unit 11A, the indexing robot 15 can carry out other substrates into another substrate processing unit, or other substrates processed by the other substrate processing unit.

Therefore, when a plurality of substrates S need to be processed sequentially, by appropriately adjusting the operation sequence of each part of the apparatus for processing each substrate S, the processing of the plurality of substrates is performed in parallel. Thereby, the throughput of the processing as the whole substrate processing apparatus 1 can be improved. The specific action sequence needs to be appropriately set according to the specification of the processing, the time required for each of the above steps, or whether the processing can be performed at the same time.

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

When the dissolving liquid is the same as the material constituting the coagulation film FF, the substrate upper surface Sa returns to the state before being unloaded from the wet processing unit 11A, that is, the state where the upper surface Sa is covered by the liquid film LF of the coagulation liquid. For example, the coagulation film FF is formed by IPA, and the case where the dissolving liquid is also IPA is equivalent to this.

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

After that, when the liquid film is thrown off by the rotation of the substrate S (step S302 ), most of the dissolving liquid on the upper surface Sa of the substrate is removed, but the dissolving liquid remains in the pattern. The thrown-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 .

The carbon dioxide gas can be liquefied by supplying carbon dioxide gas to the high-pressure chamber 130 and raising the chamber pressure sufficiently. 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. The liquefied carbon dioxide preferably dissolves the organic solvent. Therefore, the solution such as IPA remaining in the pattern is replaced with liquid carbon dioxide (step S303).

In addition, in the case of using liquid carbon dioxide as the dissolving liquid, the supply of carbon dioxide in step S303 has the meaning of preparing for the subsequent creation of a supercritical state rather than for replacement.

Then, the temperature and pressure in the high-pressure chamber 130 are adjusted to conditions for making carbon dioxide into a supercritical state. Thereby, the carbon dioxide in the high pressure chamber 130 becomes a supercritical fluid (step S304). Fluids in the supercritical state have extremely high fluidity and minimal surface tension. In particular, the supercritical fluid produced from carbon dioxide preferably dissolves organic solvents such as IPA and acetone. Therefore, the supercritical fluid of carbon dioxide penetrates deep into the fine pattern and removes the remaining organic solvent components from the pattern. The point of becoming supercritical at relatively low pressure and low temperature is also one of the reasons why carbon dioxide is suitable for supercritical drying.

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

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 substance. For example, even if the coagulated film FF is formed from a liquid containing water as a main component, the above-mentioned advantages during the transfer can be obtained. However, since the solubility of water to carbon dioxide in a liquid or supercritical state is low, it is not preferable from the viewpoint of efficient substitution. Organic solvents such as IPA and acetone show higher solubility for carbon dioxide, and these surface tensions are generally lower than those of water. In addition, in view of the properties of the treatment, it is clear that the coagulation liquid and the dissolving liquid have lower surface tensions.

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 and solidified, and is conveyed in a solidified state as it is. Thereby, convenience is improved compared with liquid conveyance, and exposure of the upper surface Sa of a board|substrate etc. by the liquid drop during conveyance is avoided. On the other hand, in the drying processing unit 13A that receives the substrate S, after temporarily dissolving the solidified film, it is finally replaced with a supercritical fluid, whereby the substrate S is dried without leaving the liquid component and without causing pattern collapse. .

In this way, in the present embodiment, the substrate is dried by conveying and removing the solidified film in a state where the solidified film is formed on the substrate. It can be said that the content of such a treatment is similar to the sublimation drying treatment, which is a prior art technique for removing a coagulated film formed of a sublimable substance by sublimation. However, in this embodiment, after dissolving the solidified film and returning to a liquid state, a process of replacing and drying by supercritical fluid is performed. This is also in consideration of the following circumstances, rather than simply being convenient for transportation.

8A to 8C are diagrams schematically showing problems that may arise with a solidified film. As shown in FIG. 8A , on the upper surface Sa of the substrate S, a plurality of fine patterns PT are formed close to each other, and these are covered by the liquid film LF of the coagulation liquid after the wet process. Here, the interval between adjacent patterns PT is referred to as a gap size GS. The liquid film LF is solidified by supplying a cooling gas lower than its freezing point to the liquid film LF. However, when the gap size GS is small, the following problems arise.

In the liquid entering the tiny space, there is a phenomenon that the freezing point drops sharply. For example, in the case of water, as shown in FIG. 8B , the freezing point of water in a sufficiently wide space (gap size GS is larger) is 0°C. However, for example, in 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 can be seen that the same tendency is observed even with IPA, which is generally used as a liquid film material.

When a liquid film mainly composed of water is to be solidified, a cooling gas that is sufficiently low temperature as compared with the freezing point (0°C) of free space is used. As this temperature Tg, it is considered to be realistic, for example, about (-5)°C to (-20)°C. However, FIG. 8B shows that if the size of the gap is on the order of nanometers, at this temperature Tg, the liquid in the gap cannot be solidified.

As a result, as shown in FIG. 8C , even if the surface of the liquid film LF is converted into a solidified film FF by cooling, there is a possibility that the deep part of the pattern directly becomes a liquid state depending on the cooling temperature and time. When such a phenomenon occurs in the sublimation drying process, the drying is performed by the phase change from the liquid phase to the gas phase instead of the expected phase change from the solid phase to the gas phase. If so, the purpose of preventing pattern collapse due to the surface tension of the liquid is not achieved.

In the present embodiment, since the solidified film is dissolved until it is replaced with a supercritical fluid and removed, such a problem does not arise. That is, in the present embodiment, the coagulated film is conveyed in a state where the coagulated film is formed, and after the conveyance, the coagulated film is dissolved until the supercritical drying treatment is performed. This kind of processing is not only simple to facilitate transportation, but also achieves the purpose of reliably preventing the collapse of even a particularly fine pattern.

In other words, in the treatment of this embodiment, in order to facilitate transportation, the solidified film only needs to be solidified to such an extent that the surface does not flow, and it is not necessary to completely solidify to the depth of the pattern. This means that the conditions of the temperature and processing time when cooling the liquid film LF are milder than those in which the liquid film is completely solidified. Therefore, the energy required for cooling can be reduced and the cooling time can be shortened. In addition, from the viewpoint of solidification of the surface layer of the liquid film, the deep part may be in a liquid state, the following modifications can be established.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing another example of the solidification process. Moreover, FIG. 10 is a figure which shows typically the state of the liquid film of this modification. The process shown in FIG. 9 is the process applied to step S105 in FIG. 5 , and can be performed instead of the solidification process in FIG. 6 . In this modification, when forming the solidified film, first, a filling liquid film F1 for filling the pattern with liquid is formed (step S401 ). The liquid film F1 for filling is intended to be filled in the pattern, and for the reasons described above, coagulation is not required. Therefore, it is not limited to its freezing point, as long as a substance with a sufficiently small surface tension is selected. A material that does not solidify at the cooling temperature can also be specially selected. In addition, the thickness of the liquid film F1 may be approximately the same as the height of the pattern PT.

Next, the coagulation liquid film F2 of the coagulation liquid is formed so as to cover the filling liquid film F1 (step S402). For the liquid film F2 for coagulation, it is not restricted by surface tension, and a material that is easy to coagulate can be selected. The liquid film F1 for filling and the liquid film F2 for coagulation may not be mixed. A cooling gas is supplied to the liquid films F1 and F2 thus formed to solidify the liquid film F2 for solidification (step S403).

Here, for example, if the freezing point of the liquid constituting the liquid film F1 for filling is above room temperature and the freezing point of the liquid constituting the liquid film F2 for coagulation is below room temperature, the liquid film F2 for coagulation can be coagulated without particularly cooling. However, the liquid constituting the liquid film F2 for coagulation needs to be liquid at the point of supply to the substrate S, for example, it may be supplied in a state of being heated to a temperature slightly higher than the freezing point.

In this modified example, as in the above-described embodiment, the advantage of improving the convenience during conveyance by coagulating the coagulation liquid film F2 can be obtained. In addition, it is possible to reduce energy consumption by setting the cooling temperature higher than before. On the other hand, since the liquid film F1 for filling is in the liquid state which is not completely solidified, it is easy to remove after conveyance. In addition, the pattern protection function during conveyance covered with the liquid film is also sufficiently functional. In addition, the degree of freedom of selection of the liquid film forming material is also increased.

In addition, in the comparison between this embodiment and the prior art, that is, sublimation drying treatment, there are the following differences. In the prior art, the solidified film covering the substrate is formed by a sublimable substance. Since the volatility of the sublimable substance is high, there is a possibility that the substrate surface may be exposed due to its performance during conveyance. In addition, there is a possibility that the volatilized sublimable substance scatters and re-precipitates in the device, thereby becoming a source of contamination of the device or the substrate being processed. Or, there may be situations in which measures must be taken to prevent the scattered substances from leaking out of the device. On the other hand, in the present embodiment, since the sublimation property is not required for the solidified film, the possibility of such a problem is greatly reduced.

As described above, in the above-described embodiment, the substrate processing unit 11A, which is a wet processing unit, functions as the "first processing unit" of the present invention, and the substrate processing unit 13A, which is a dry processing unit, functions as the "second processing unit" of the present invention. Processing Department" functions. Furthermore, the center robot 15 functions as a "conveyance mechanism" of the present invention. In addition, 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 the above-mentioned embodiment, Various changes other than the above-mentioned are possible, unless it deviates from the summary. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the substrate processing unit 11A, the substrate processing unit 13A, and the center robot 15 corresponding to the "first processing unit", the "second processing unit", and the "transfer mechanism" of the present invention, respectively, are housed in one The casing constitutes an integrated processing system. However, this invention can also be applied to the processing system which has the 1st processing part and the 2nd processing part provided mutually independently, and the conveyance mechanism which conveys a board|substrate between them.

In addition, the various chemical substances used in the above-mentioned embodiments are shown as a part of examples, and various substances may be used in place of them as long as they are consistent with the technical idea of the above-mentioned present invention.

Moreover, in the description of the above-mentioned embodiment, the possibility that the liquid which penetrated deep into the uneven|corrugated pattern was not solidified was mentioned. However, the above process itself is established regardless of whether the liquid in the pattern is completely solidified. In addition, in order to make sure that the inside of the pattern is in a liquid state, for example, the temperature of the cooling gas should be set lower than the freezing point of the free space of the liquid constituting the liquid film, and higher than the gap size corresponding to the pattern of the substrate to be processed. the freezing point.

In addition, 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 specific configuration. In addition, the embodiment of the present invention can be distributed on a recording medium on which the control program is non-transitory recorded in a form readable by a computer.

As described above, in the substrate processing method of the present invention, for example, a solidified film may be formed on at least the surface of the cooling liquid film as illustrated in the specific embodiment. In the present invention, the liquid film does not need to be solidified as a whole, but only needs to be solidified to the extent that its surface is suitable for transportation. Therefore, the method of forming a solidified film on the surface of the cooling liquid film and its vicinity is effective from the point of thermal efficiency.

In this case, for example, in the step of drying the substrate, a supercritical fluid may be used to dry the substrate. According to such a configuration, the residual liquid inside the pattern can be replaced and removed by the supercritical fluid with extremely low surface tension. Therefore, even a board|substrate with a fine uneven|corrugated pattern can be dried well.

For example, the second processing unit has a chamber for receiving the substrate, and after replacing the dissolving liquid with a liquid low surface tension liquid in the chamber, the low surface tension liquid can be vaporized from a state of a supercritical fluid to dry the substrate. Here, the low surface tension liquid is a liquid whose surface tension is lower than that of the dissolving liquid. According to such a configuration, since the liquid whose surface tension is lower than the original is vaporized in a supercritical state and the substrate is dried, the pattern collapse due to the interposition of the liquid phase can be effectively suppressed.

In these cases, carbon dioxide can be used as the supercritical fluid. The supercritical condition of carbon dioxide is lower temperature and lower pressure among the substances in the supercritical state. Therefore, the structure of the apparatus for realizing the supercritical state may be small-scale, so that the processing cost can be suppressed. In addition, since carbon dioxide in the supercritical state can dissolve the organic solvent, it is suitable for removing the organic solvent component remaining on the substrate.

In another example, at least the surface of the liquid film is converted into a solidified film by cooling, and on the other hand, a part of the liquid film may be maintained in a liquid state between the solidified film and the substrate. In the present invention, the solidified film is formed to improve the transportability of the substrate while protecting the pattern, and the solidified film is dissolved after the transfer. Therefore, the liquid film of the protective pattern can also be liquid. By not coagulating the entire liquid film, the energy and processing time required for coagulation can be reduced.

For another example, in addition to the organic solvent, the liquid film may also contain an additive whose melting point is equal to or higher than that at room temperature. According to such a configuration, since the additive is solidified to form a solidified film by evaporation of the organic solvent from the surface of the liquid film, the configuration and treatment for cooling can be omitted in a normal use environment. As a suitable substance for such an additive, for example, tertiary butanol can be used. Here, "normal temperature" refers to 5°C to 35°C defined as "JIS Z8703" in a broad sense, and refers to 15°C to 25°C in a narrow sense. In practical application, the ambient temperature in the environment in which the substrate processing apparatus of the present invention is installed can be regarded as "normal temperature".

For another example, at least one of the organic solvent and the dissolving solution contained in the liquid film may also be isopropanol or acetone. These liquids have less surface tension than, for example, water-based liquids, and are suitable for the purposes of the present invention.

For another example, as a liquid film, a liquid film for filling may be formed by forming a liquid film for filling to fill the interior of the concave-convex pattern, and a liquid film for solidification in which the liquid film for filling is covered with a material different from that of the liquid film for filling, and cooled to a relatively low level. The freezing point of the liquid constituting the coagulation liquid film is lower, and the coagulation liquid film is coagulated. According to such a configuration, in a state in which the inside of the convex and concave pattern is filled with the liquid film for filling, a solidified film covering the convex and concave pattern is formed. Thereby, the convenience during transportation is ensured, and the subsequent removal of the coagulated film is effectively performed. In addition, different materials can be used for the liquid film for filling and the liquid film for coagulation, and the degree of freedom in material selection and setting of processing conditions is increased.

In this case, for example, as the liquid constituting the liquid film for filling, one whose freezing point is below normal temperature can be used, and as the liquid constituting the liquid film for coagulation, one whose freezing point is higher than or equal to normal temperature can be used. According to such a configuration, in order to realize the coexistence of the solidified film and the liquid film in a use environment at a normal temperature, no special device or treatment is required.

Moreover, in the substrate processing apparatus of this invention, the 2nd processing part may have the dissolving liquid supply part which supplies the organic solvent as a dissolving liquid to the solidified film. According to this configuration, the solidified film can be dissolved in the organic solvent, and the substrate can be easily restored to a state in which the substrate is covered with the liquid film.

In the above, although the invention has been described along the specific embodiment, the description is not intended to be interpreted in a limited sense. It should be clear to those skilled in the art that various modifications of the disclosed embodiments are the same as the other embodiments of the present invention by referring to the description of the invention. Therefore, it is considered that the scope of the added patent claim includes the variation or the embodiment within the scope not departing from the true scope of the invention. [Industrial Availability]

The invention can be applied to the overall substrate processing technology including the process of conveying the substrate covered with the solidified film, removing the solidified film at the transfer destination, and drying the substrate. It is especially suitable for the processing of substrates with fine concave and convex patterns.

1: Substrate processing device 10: Substrate processing department 11A: Wet processing unit, substrate processing unit (first processing unit) 11B: Substrate processing unit 12A: Substrate processing unit 12B: Substrate processing unit 13A: Drying processing unit, substrate processing unit (second processing section) 13B: Substrate processing unit 14A: Substrate processing unit 15: Center Robot (Transfer Mechanism) 20: Index Department 21: Container holding part 22: Index Robot 30: Wet processing section 31: Substrate holding part 32: Splashguard 33: Treatment liquid supply part 34: Cooling gas supply part 35: Coagulation liquid supply part 40: Drying section 41: Platform 42: Rotating fulcrum 43: High-pressure sealing rotary introduction mechanism 44: Fluid Dispersion Components 45: Carbon dioxide supply department 46: Nitrogen Supply Department 47: Dissolving solution supply part 48: Discharge mechanism 90: Control unit 91:CPU 92: memory 101: Next door 110: Processing Chamber 111: Baffle 120: Processing Chamber 121: Baffle 130: High pressure chamber (chamber) 131: Bezel 140: Processing Chamber 141: Baffle 151: Abutment 152: Lifting base 153: Swivel base 154: Telescopic boom 155: hand 221: base part 222: Multi-Articulated Arm 223: Hand 311: Rotary chuck 312: Chuck pin 313: Rotary Pivot 314: Rotary Mechanism 321: Cup Cylinder 322: Liquid collection part 331: Pedestal 332: Rotation Pivot 333: Arm 334: Nozzle 341: Pedestal 342: Rotation Pivot 343: Arm 344: Nozzle 351: Pedestal 352: Rotation Pivot 353: Arm 354: Nozzle 431: Rotary axis 432: Rotary Mechanism 441: Occlusion Plate 442: Through hole C: container FF: solidified film F1: Liquid film for filling F2: Liquid film for coagulation G: Cooling gas GS: Gap size LF: liquid film Lq: treatment liquid PT: Pattern (Concave and convex pattern) S: substrate Sa: upper surface S101: Steps S102: Steps S103: Steps S104: Steps S105: Steps S106: Steps S107: Steps S108: Steps S109: Steps S110: Steps S111: Steps S112: Steps S201: Steps S202: Steps S301: Steps S302: Step S303: Step S304: Step S305: Step S401: Steps S402: Step S403: Step TS: Handling space

FIG. 1A is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of one embodiment of the substrate processing apparatus of the present invention. FIG. 1B is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of one embodiment of the substrate processing apparatus of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the configuration and installation environment of the central robot. 3A is a diagram showing a substrate processing unit performing wet processing. 3B is a diagram showing a substrate processing unit performing wet processing. 3C is a diagram showing a substrate processing unit performing wet processing. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a substrate processing unit performing a supercritical drying process. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of the substrate processing apparatus. Figure 6 is a flow chart showing the solidification process. Figure 7 is a flow chart showing the drying process. FIG. 8A is a diagram schematically showing problems that may arise with a solidified film. FIG. 8B is a diagram schematically showing problems that may arise with a solidified film. FIG. 8C is a diagram schematically showing problems that may arise with a solidified film. FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing another example of the solidification process. FIG. 10 is a diagram schematically showing the state of the liquid film of this modification.

S101: Steps

S102: Steps

S103: Steps

S104: Steps

S105: Steps

S106: Steps

S107: Steps

S108: Steps

S109: Steps

S110: Steps

S111: Steps

S112: Steps

Claims (25)

A substrate processing method, comprising the steps of: after wet-processing a substrate having a concave-convex pattern on the surface by a first processing unit, covering the surface of the substrate with a liquid film containing an organic solvent; making at least the surface of the liquid film coagulating to form a coagulation film; conveying the substrate covered by the coagulation film to a second processing part; supplying a dissolving liquid to the coagulation film from the second processing part to dissolve the coagulation film, while maintaining the state of the liquid remaining in the concave-convex pattern Next, the above-mentioned solidified film is removed; the residual liquid remaining in the above-mentioned concave-convex pattern is replaced by a supercritical fluid; and after the above-mentioned supercritical fluid after the replacement is brought into a supercritical state, it is removed from the surface of the above-mentioned substrate and the above-mentioned substrate is dried . The substrate processing method according to claim 1, wherein the residual liquid contains the organic solvent, the dissolved solidified film, or the dissolving liquid. The substrate processing method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the supercritical fluid is carbon dioxide. The substrate processing method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the second processing part has a chamber for receiving the substrate; in the chamber, the supercritical fluid is vaporized from a supercritical state to dry the substrate. The substrate processing method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein at least a surface of the liquid film is converted into the solidified film by cooling, and on the other hand, a part of the liquid film is maintained as a liquid between the solidified film and the substrate. shape. The substrate processing method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the organic solvent contained in the liquid film is isopropanol or acetone. The substrate processing method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein in addition to the organic solvent, the liquid film contains an additive having a melting point equal to or higher than normal temperature. The substrate processing method according to claim 7, wherein the above-mentioned additive is tertiary butanol. The substrate processing method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the dissolving solution is isopropanol or acetone. The substrate processing method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein as the liquid film, a liquid film for filling is formed to fill the interior of the concave-convex pattern, and the solidification of the liquid film for filling is covered with a material different from that of the liquid film for filling Using a liquid film; the above-mentioned liquid film for coagulation is solidified by cooling to a lower temperature than the freezing point of the liquid constituting the above-mentioned liquid film for coagulation. The substrate processing method according to claim 10, wherein the freezing point of the liquid constituting the liquid film for solidification is lower than the freezing point of the liquid constituting the liquid film for filling. The substrate processing method according to claim 10, wherein the freezing point of the liquid constituting the liquid film for filling is below normal temperature, and the freezing point of the liquid constituting the liquid film for solidification is above normal temperature. The substrate processing method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the dissolving solution is an organic solvent. The substrate processing method according to claim 13, wherein the dissolving liquid is the same organic solvent as the organic solvent contained in the liquid film. The substrate processing method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the dissolving liquid is a supercritical fluid. A substrate processing method, comprising the steps of: after wet-processing a substrate having a concave-convex pattern on the surface by a first processing unit, covering the surface of the substrate with a liquid film containing an organic solvent; making at least the surface of the liquid film forming a solidified film by solidifying; conveying the substrate covered by the solidified film to a second processing unit; supplying a dissolving liquid to the solidified film from the second processing unit to dissolve the solidified film; and removing the dissolving liquid from the surface of the substrate and removing The above-mentioned substrate is dried; and the above-mentioned dissolving solution is isopropanol or acetone. A substrate processing method, comprising the steps of: after wet-processing a substrate having a concave-convex pattern on the surface by a first processing unit, covering the surface of the substrate with a liquid film containing an organic solvent; making at least the surface of the liquid film solidified to form a solidified film; conveying the substrate covered by the solidified film to a second processing unit; supplying a dissolving liquid to the solidified film from the second processing unit to dissolve the solidified film; and removing the dissolving liquid from the surface of the substrate and drying the substrate; And as the above-mentioned liquid film, a filling liquid film filling the interior of the above-mentioned concave-convex pattern, and a solidifying liquid film covering the above-mentioned filling liquid film with a material different from the above-mentioned filling liquid film are formed; The freezing point of the liquid film for coagulation is lower, and the liquid film for coagulation is coagulated. The substrate processing method according to claim 17, wherein the freezing point of the liquid constituting the liquid film for solidification is lower than the freezing point of the liquid constituting the liquid film for filling. The substrate processing method according to claim 18, wherein the freezing point of the liquid constituting the liquid film for filling is below normal temperature, and the freezing point of the liquid constituting the liquid film for solidification is above normal temperature. A substrate processing apparatus, comprising: a first processing section that performs wet processing, processing to cover the surface of the substrate with a liquid film, and cooling to a substrate having a surface having a concavo-convex pattern formed thereon, and cooling to a level smaller than that of the liquid constituting the liquid film. The freezing point is lower, so that the liquid film is solidified and converted into a solidified film; the second processing unit receives the substrate on which the solidified film is formed, and performs a process of supplying a dissolving liquid to the solidified film to dissolve the solidified film, After the process of removing the coagulated film while maintaining the liquid remaining in the concavo-convex pattern, replacing the residual liquid remaining in the concavo-convex pattern with a supercritical fluid, and bringing the replaced supercritical fluid into a supercritical state, a process of removing it from the surface of the above-mentioned substrate and drying the above-mentioned substrate; and A conveying mechanism that conveys the substrate on which the solidified film is formed from the first processing unit to the second processing unit. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 20, wherein the first processing section includes: a processing liquid supply section for supplying a processing liquid for the wet processing to the substrate, and a coagulation liquid supply section for forming the liquid The film coagulation liquid is supplied to the substrate; a cooling gas supply unit supplies a cooling gas with a lower temperature than the freezing point of the coagulation liquid to the substrate; and the second processing unit includes a dissolving liquid supply unit that supplies the dissolving liquid to the above-mentioned substrate; and a fluid supply unit for supplying a fluid for replacing the above-mentioned solution. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 21, wherein the second processing unit has a chamber for accommodating the substrate, and the fluid supply unit supplies the fluid in a supercritical state to the inner space of the chamber. The substrate processing apparatus of claim 20 or 21, wherein the fluid is carbon dioxide. The substrate processing apparatus according to any one of claims 20 to 22, wherein the dissolving solution is an organic solvent. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 24, wherein the dissolving solution is isopropyl alcohol or acetone.

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