WO2004036633A1

WO2004036633A1 - Liquid processing device

Info

Publication number: WO2004036633A1
Application number: PCT/JP2003/012835
Authority: WO
Inventors: Shuichi Nagamine
Original assignee: Tokyo Electron Limited
Priority date: 2002-10-17
Filing date: 2003-10-07
Publication date: 2004-04-29
Also published as: JP2004140155A; TW200409182A; AU2003271114A1; JP4028346B2

Abstract

Positional deviation of a base plate is inhibited while retaining the evenness of the in-plane temperature of a processing liquid fed to the base plate surface, with a support member provided for supporting the base plate in a line contact manner.

Description

Specification

Liquid processing equipment

Technical field .

The present invention relates to a liquid processing apparatus. Background of the Invention

For example, in one step of photolithography in a semiconductor device manufacturing process, a resist solution is applied to a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter referred to as “wafer”), and a resist film is formed. A circuit pattern is formed on the wafer. Exposure processing for exposure, a developing solution is supplied to the wafer after exposure, and development processing for stationary development of the wafer are performed. Finally, a predetermined circuit pattern is formed on the wafer.

In the above-described development processing, for example, a developing step of supplying a developing solution to the wafer and forming a developing solution on the wafer, and a step of forming the developing solution on the wafer in a predetermined manner. A static development process in which static development is performed for a long time, and a cleaning process in which a wafer after static development is rotated and a cleaning liquid is supplied to the rotating wafer to clean the wafer are performed.

Conventionally, the above-mentioned developer filling step is performed by suctioning and holding a wafer on a spin chuck by surface contact, and rotating the spin chuck to supply the developer to the wafer while rotating the wafer. I was The static development process was performed while the wafer was held on a spin chuck.

However, the wafer temperature differs between the contacting part and the non-contacting part of the spin chuck in the wafer surface due to the difference in the amount of heat conducted from the spin chuck. For this reason, the temperature of the developing solution on the wafer was different between a portion on the wafer surface and another portion, and the developing speed was different on the wafer surface. As a result, within the wafer surface Deviations occurred in the developed state, and the line width of the finally formed circuit pattern varied.

In order to solve this problem, the wafer is supported on holding pins different from the spin chuck during the liquid replenishment process and the static development process, and the development process is performed with the wafer separated from the spin chuck. A development processing method and a development processing apparatus have been proposed (for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2001-210282).

However, in the case of using the developing method disclosed in the above-mentioned publication, the wafer is only supported by the holding pin having a thin tapered portion at the time of the developer filling step or at the time of static development. It is easy for misalignment to occur. In particular, when the wafer is supported by the holding pins during the developer filling step, the wafer cannot be rotated as in the above-described spin chuck, so the developer is supplied while moving the developer supply nozzle. Need to be supplied. Therefore, the developer dropped onto the wafer has a velocity component in the direction of movement of the developer supply nozzle, and the wafer is also affected by this velocity component, and the position of the wafer is reduced. If the wafer is misaligned, the developer is not supplied properly on the wafer, and the wafer cannot be transported properly. Also, if the wafer falls from the holding pins, it is not preferable because the wafer is damaged and the equipment is trapped. Disclosure of the invention

The present invention has been made in view of such a point, and when a processing liquid such as a developing solution is supplied onto a substrate such as a wafer to perform liquid processing on the substrate, the processing liquid within the substrate surface is treated. It is an object of the present invention to provide a liquid processing apparatus capable of maintaining a uniform temperature and at the same time suppressing a displacement of a substrate.

The present invention relates to a liquid processing apparatus for supplying a processing liquid onto a substrate and performing liquid processing on the substrate, comprising a support member for supporting the substrate supplied with the processing liquid in line contact. I have.

ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, when supplying a processing liquid to a board | substrate, and after that, a board | substrate can be supported by a contact member by line contact. Therefore, the in-plane temperature of the processing liquid supplied onto the substrate is not affected by the substrate holding member such as the above-described spin chuck, and the liquid processing with the processing liquid can be uniformly performed on the substrate surface. . In addition, since the board can be supported by line contact, the board is less likely to be displaced than when pins are used as described above.

In the present invention, the substrate holding member for rotating the substrate while holding a portion of the substrate different from the portion supported by the support member, and the support member and the substrate holding member are relatively moved vertically. A drive unit for moving may be further provided. This allows the substrate to be transferred from the support member to the substrate holding member during the substrate cleaning step or the drying step in the liquid processing, and the substrate can be rotated while the substrate is securely held. Further, even if the substrate is moved while being supported by the support member, for example, the substrate is supported by line contact, so that the displacement of the substrate is suppressed as compared with the conventional holding pins.

In the present invention, if a plurality of the support members are provided, and the support members are arranged at equal intervals below the substrate on the same circumference with the center of the substrate as the center of the circle when viewed from above, the horizontal direction The displacement of the substrate in all directions can be suitably suppressed. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 is a plan view schematically showing the configuration of a coating and developing system equipped with the developing apparatus according to the present embodiment.

Fig. 2 is a front view of the coating and developing system of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a rear view of the coating and developing system of Fig. 1. FIG. 4 is an explanatory view of a longitudinal section of the developing apparatus according to the present embodiment. FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a cross section of the developing apparatus according to the present embodiment. Fig. 6 is a perspective view showing the configuration of the support member and the knife ring in the development processing device.

Figure 7 is an illustration of a vertical section of the knife edge ring.

Figure 8 is an explanatory view of a vertical section of the knife edge ring.

Figure 9 is a perspective view of the developer supply nozzle.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory view of a vertical section of the developing apparatus showing a state where the supporting member supports the wafer when the wafer is carried in.

Fig. 11 is an explanatory view of the longitudinal section of the development processing apparatus, showing the state of the developing solution at the time of filling and at the time of still development.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory view of a longitudinal section of the developing apparatus showing a state of cleaning the wafer.

FIG. 13 is a perspective view of a support member having a drain hole.

Figure 14 is a plan view of the spin chuck and knife edge ring when the support member is provided at an angle from the circumferential direction. BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 is a plan view schematically showing the configuration of a coating and developing system 1 on which the liquid processing apparatus according to the present embodiment is mounted, and FIG. 2 is a front view of the coating and developing system 1. 3 is a rear view of the coating and developing treatment system 1.

As shown in Fig. 1, for example, the coating and developing system 1 carries 25 wafers W in and out of the coating and developing system 1 in units of cassettes, and the wafer W for the cassette C. Station 2 for loading and unloading, and a processing station 3 in which various processing apparatuses for performing predetermined processing in a single-wafer manner in the coating and developing process are arranged in multiple stages. An interface unit 4 for transferring a wafer W to and from an exposure apparatus (not shown) provided adjacent to the section 3 is integrally connected.

In the cassette station 2, a plurality of cassettes C can be placed in a row in the X direction (the vertical direction in FIG. 1) at predetermined positions on the cassette 5 serving as a mounting portion. . Then, the wafer carrier 7 that can be transported in the cassette arrangement direction (X direction) and the wafer arrangement direction of the wafer W accommodated in the cassette C (Z direction; vertical direction) moves along the transfer path 8. It is provided freely so that each cassette C can be accessed selectively.

The wafer carrier 7 has an alignment function for positioning the wafer W. The wafer carrier 7 is configured to be able to access an extension device 32 belonging to a third processing device group G3 on the processing station 3 side as described later.

In the processing station 3, a main carrier 13 is provided at the center, and various processing units are arranged in multiple stages around the main carrier 13 to form a processing unit group. In this coating and developing system 1, four processing unit groups Gl, G2, G3 and G4 are arranged, and the first and second processing unit groups Gl and G2 are arranged in front of the coating and developing system 1. The third processing unit group G3 is disposed adjacent to the cassette station 2, and the fourth processing unit group G4 is disposed adjacent to the interface unit 4. Further, a fifth processing unit group G5 indicated by a broken line as an option can be separately arranged on the back side. The main transfer device 13 is capable of loading and unloading wafers W from and to various types of processing devices described later arranged in these processing device groups Gl, G2, G3, G4, and G5. The number and arrangement of the processing units differ depending on the type of processing performed on the wafer, and the number of processing units can be selected arbitrarily. In the first processing apparatus group G1, for example, as shown in FIG. 2, a resist coating apparatus 17 for applying a resist solution to the wafer W and forming a resist film on the wafer W is provided. The development processing device 18 as a liquid processing device according to the embodiment is arranged in two stages from the bottom. Similarly, in the second processing unit group G2, a resist coating unit 19 and a development processing unit 20 are arranged in two stages from the bottom in the same manner.

In the third processing unit group G3, for example, as shown in Fig. 3, a cooling device 30 for cooling the wafer W and an adhesion device 3 for improving the fixability between the resist solution and the wafer are provided. 1, an extension device for transferring the wafer W 32, a preheating device 33 for evaporating the solvent in the resist solution 33, 34, a post-processing device for heating after the development process King devices 35 are stacked in, for example, six stages from the bottom.

In the fourth processing unit group G4, for example, a cooling device 40, an extension / cooling device 41 for naturally cooling the placed wafer W, a status extension device 42, a cooling device 43, a post-exposure The post-exposure baking devices 44 and 45 for performing the heat treatment and the post-baking devices 46 are stacked, for example, in seven stages from the bottom.

In the center of the interface unit 4, as shown in Fig. 1, for example, a wafer carrier 5 ° is provided. The wafer carrier 50 is configured to freely move in the X direction (vertical direction in FIG. 1), the Z direction (vertical direction), and rotate in the 0 direction (rotational direction around the Z axis). And access to the extension 'cooling device 41, extension device 42, peripheral exposure device 51 and an exposure device (not shown) belonging to the fourth processing device group G4. Wafer W can be transferred.

Next, the configuration of the development processing device 18 will be described in detail. As shown in Figs. 4 and 5, a spin chuck as a substrate holding member for sucking and holding the wafer W is provided in the center of the casing 18a of the developing processing equipment. 0 is provided. As shown in FIG. 5, the upper surface 60a of the spin chuck 60 has a circular shape smaller than the diameter of the wafer W and is formed horizontally. The upper surface 60a of the spin chuck 60 is provided with a plurality of suction ports 61 for holding and releasing the wafer W. The suction port 61 communicates with a suction device (not shown). The suction from the suction port 61 allows the spin chuck 60 to suction the center of the rear surface of the wafer W.

As shown in FIG. 4, the spin chuck 60 is provided with a drive mechanism 62 for rotating and moving the spin chuck 60 up and down. The drive mechanism 62 includes, for example, a rotation drive unit (not shown) such as a motor for rotating the spin chuck 60 at a predetermined rotation speed around a vertical center axis, and moving the spin chuck 60 up and down a predetermined distance. The motor is provided with a lifting / lowering drive unit (not shown) such as a motor or a cylinder. Therefore, the spin chuck 60 is rotatable and vertically movable.

Around the spin chuck 60, there is provided a cup 70 for receiving and collecting the liquid scattered or falling from W. The cup 70 surrounds the outside of the spin chuck 60, for example, and mainly covers the side wall 71 that receives liquid scattered outside the wafer W, and covers the back side of the wafer W. And a lower wall portion 72 for receiving the liquid falling from the back surface side.

The side wall portion 71 has, for example, a substantially cylindrical shape with the upper and lower surfaces opened, and the upper end portion is inclined inward. The side wall 71 can be moved up and down by, for example, a lifting mechanism (not shown). The lower wall 72 is formed, for example, in a substantially disk shape having a diameter larger than that of the wafer W, and a spin chuck 60 penetrates the center of the lower wall 72. An annular projection 73 is formed on the lower wall 72 at a position facing the periphery of the wafer W held by the spin chuck 60. The projection 73 has, for example, a substantially triangular cross section, and is inclined inward and outward from the top 73 a. In other words, spin chuck 6 The gap between the wafer W held at 0 and the lower wall part 72 is narrow at the top part 73a, and the top part is set so that the gap becomes, for example, about 1.0 to 1.5 mm. The height of 7 3 a is adjusted. In this way, the wafer W is held by the spin chuck 60, and when rotated, liquid such as a developer flows from the edge of the wafer W to the back surface of the wafer W, thereby contaminating the back surface of the wafer W. Can be suppressed.

A concave portion 74 for receiving the liquid flowing from the top portion 73 a or the liquid directly falling from the back surface of the wafer W is formed in the lower wall portion 72 inside the projection 73. The recess 74 has, for example, a drain port 74 a for discharging the received liquid, and the drain port 74 a is connected to a drain pipe 7 connected to a lower portion of the lower wall 72. Leads to 5. Therefore, the liquid received in the concave portion 74 is discharged from the device through the drain port 74a and the drain pipe 75.

An annular gap is provided between the lower wall section 72 and the side wall section 71, and for example, an annular exhaust pipe 76 is connected to the gap. The exhaust pipe 76 communicates with a gas-liquid separation mechanism (not shown) and a negative pressure generator. With this configuration, the atmosphere and the liquid in the cup 70 are exhausted together from the exhaust pipe 76, and then the gas and liquid are separated.

A plurality of, for example, three support members 80 for supporting the back surface of the wafer W are provided outside the spin chuck 60 and inside the protrusion 73 (on the recess 74). The support members 80 are provided at equal intervals around the center axis of the spin chuck 60 on the same circumference as shown in FIGS.

The support member 80 has a vertical plate 80a and a horizontal plate 80b formed in the horizontal direction from the lower end of the vertical plate 80a as shown in Fig. 7. Is formed. As shown in Fig. 5, the upper end 80c of the vertical plate 80a as a contact portion that comes into contact with the back surface of the wafer W is formed in an arc shape and a linear shape when viewed from a plane. Can be supported by line contact. The upper end 80c of each support member 80 has a width of, for example, 1 mm or less, and is, for example, about 10 to 30 mm in the case of a W of 300 mm in diameter (central angle 12 / π to 3 mm). 6 / π). As a material of the support member 80, a material harder than the wafer W, for example, a hard resin such as Ρ Β (polybenzomidazole: for example, Cerazole) is used.

As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the support member 80 is detachably attached to a knife edge ring 82 as an adhesion preventing member by a screw 81 as an attachment member. The knife edge ring 82 is formed in an annular shape. The knife edge ring 82 has a substantially triangular longitudinal section, an acute-angled vertex 82 a protruding upward, and an inclined surface 82 formed inward from the vertex 82 a. b and a vertical surface 82c formed outside the vertex 82a. The inclined surface 82b has the same number of recesses 82d as the number of the support members 80, and the support members 80 are attached to the recesses 82d.

The vertex portion 82 a is formed at a position slightly lower than the upper end portion 80 c of the support member 80, for example, at a position lower by about 1 mm, and as shown in FIG. When W is supported, the vertex 82 a is close to the back surface of the wafer W, and a narrow gap D between the vertex 82 a and the wafer W, for example, 1.5 mm to 1.0 mm. A gap of about mm is formed. When the liquid enters the gap D between the vertex 82a and the wafer W back surface, the gap D is closed by the surface tension of the liquid. Therefore, the knife edge ring 82 blocks the liquid that travels inward on the back surface of the wedge W, thereby preventing the liquid from contaminating the support member 80 and the spin chuck 60.

A plurality of, for example, three locking portions 83 protruding outward are formed on the vertical surface 82 c of the knife edge ring 82, and each of the locking portions 83 has a support rod 84. Is locked. Each support rod 84 penetrates the lower wall 72 as shown in FIG. 4, for example, and ascends as a drive unit disposed below the lower wall 72. It is linked to the lower drive unit 85. The lifting drive unit 85 can move each support rod 84 up and down by a predetermined distance to raise and lower the integrated knife edge ring 82 and the support member 80 to a predetermined position. Therefore, the wafer W can be supported by the support member 80 above the spin chuck 60. Also, the knife edge ring 82 can be brought close to the back surface of the wafer W.

As shown in FIGS. 6 and 8, on the inclined surface 82b of the knife edge ring 82, a ring cleaning nozzle 90 for cleaning the apex portion 82a is fixedly provided. The ring cleaning nozzle 90 is directed upward, and can discharge the cleaning liquid to the rear surface of the wafer W slightly inside the vertex 82a. At this time, by rotating the wafer W, the cleaning liquid flows outward on the back surface of the wafer W, and the cleaning liquid can be supplied to the liquid attached to the apex portion 82a. For example, a through hole 91 is formed in the inclined surface 82b, and a cleaning liquid supply pipe 92 for supplying a cleaning liquid to the ring cleaning nozzle 90 passes through the through hole 91.

As shown in Fig. 4, the cleaning liquid is supplied to the back surface of the wafer W to clean the back surface of the wafer W outside the knife edge ring 82 and inside the projection 73 of the lower wall 72. As shown in Fig. 5, a nozzle standby section T is installed on the outer side of one of the cups 70, for example, on the positive side in the Y direction (upper side in Fig. 5). In the nozzle standby section T, a developer supply nozzle 100 for supplying a developer as a processing liquid to the nozzle W is waiting.

As shown in Fig. 9, the developer supply nozzle 100 has a narrow width that is longer than the diameter of W, and a plurality of discharge ports 101 are formed on the lower surface along the longitudinal direction. Have been. A developer supply pipe 102 is connected to the upper part of the developer supply nozzle 100, and flows in from the upper part of the developer supply nozzle 100 and passes through the inside of the developer supply nozzle 100. The developer is discharged Dispensed evenly from mouth 101.

The developer supply nozzle 100 is held by an arm 102 as shown in Fig. 5, and the arm 102 can move on a rail 103 laid along the Y direction. The arm 102 can be moved on the rail 103 by an arm driving unit 104 equipped with, for example, a motor. The rail 103 extends from the nozzle standby section T to the cleaning nozzle standby section U on the opposite side across the cup 70, and the developer supply nozzle 100 extends at least from the nozzle standby section T to the cup. You can move to the opposite side of 70.

The developer supply nozzle 100 is held by the arm 102 so that the longitudinal direction is oriented in the X direction. The developer supply nozzle 100 can supply the developer to the entire surface of the wafer W by passing over the wafer W while discharging the developer from each of the discharge ports 101. The arm 102 is equipped with an elevating mechanism (not shown) so that the height of the developer supply nozzle 100 can be adjusted as needed.

Outside the cup 70 on the negative side in the Y direction (lower side in Fig. 5), a cleaning nozzle standby unit U of a cleaning nozzle 110 for supplying a cleaning liquid to the surface of the wafer W is provided. The cleaning nozzle 110 is held by a rinse arm 111, and the rinse arm 111 can be moved on the same rail 103 as the arm 102 by a drive unit 112. . The cleaning nozzle 110 is held by the rinse arm 111 so as to be located at the center of the wafer W when it moves onto the wafer W in the nip 70.

Next, the operation of the developing device 18 configured as described above will be described together with the photolithography process performed in the coating developing system 1.

First, one unprocessed wafer W is taken out of the cassette C by the wafer carrier 7 and carried to the extension device 32 belonging to the third processing device group G3. Next, the wafer W is adhered by the main carrier 13. The wafer W is carried into the ionizer 31 and the wafer W is coated with, for example, HMDS for improving the adhesiveness of the resist solution. Next, the wafer W is transferred to a cooling device 30, cooled to a predetermined temperature, and then transferred to a resist coating device 17. The wafer W on which the resist film has been formed in the resist coating apparatus 17 is transferred by the main transfer unit 13 to the pre-baking unit 33 and the elastane cooling unit 41 in order, and further transferred to the wafer. By means of the body 50, it is sequentially conveyed to a peripheral exposing device 51 and an exposing device (not shown), and a predetermined process is performed in each device. After the exposure processing, the wafer W is transferred to the extension device 42 by the wafer transfer body 50, and then subjected to predetermined processing by the post-exposure baking device 44 and the cooling device 43. Then, the developer is transported to the developing device 18 where the developing process is performed.

The wafer W that has been subjected to the development processing in the development processing device 18 is sequentially transferred to a boss baking device 46 and a cooling device 30 to be subjected to a predetermined process in each device. It is returned to cassette C via 2 to complete a series of photolithography steps.

Next, the development processing of the wafer W performed by the development processing apparatus 18 will be described in detail. First, the wafer W is loaded into the casing 18a by the main transfer device 13 and, as shown in FIG. Supported. At this time, the wafer W is supported by the support member 80 in line contact. Also, a narrow gap D is formed between the knife edge ring 82 and the wafer W.

Next, the support member 80 descends, and the wafer W descends to the developer accumulation position as shown in FIG. The liquid level is, for example, a position higher than the spin chuck 60, and the upper surface 60a of the spin chuck 60 is set, for example, at a distance of about 3 to 11 mm. The liquid level may be changed depending on the type of the resist film on the wafer W. Also at this time The upper end of the side wall 71 is positioned at the same height as the wafer W so that the wafer W covers the opening of the side wall 71.

When the wafer W is supported at the liquid level, the developer supply nozzle 100 moves from the nozzle standby section to a position slightly short of the end of the wafer W on the positive side in the Y direction. At that position, the developing solution is discharged from the developing solution supply nozzle 100, and a so-called dummy dispense of the developing solution is performed.

Thereafter, while the developer is continuously discharged, the developer supply nozzle 100 moves from one end of the wafer W to the other end thereof, and the developer is supplied to the entire surface of the wafer W. In this way, a liquid level of the developing solution is formed on the wafer W in a state where the wafer W is separated from the spin chuck 60 and the wafer W is supported by the support member 80 in line contact. At this time, even if the developer goes from above the wafer W to the back side of the wafer W, the developer is blocked by the knife edge ring 82, and the support member 80 is not contaminated by the developer. Ray ₀

When a liquid level of the developing solution is formed on the wafer W and the developing solution supply nozzle 100 is retreated from the wafer W, for example, the side wall portion 71 rises, and the outer periphery of the wafer W is covered with the side wall portion 71. . The wafer W is maintained for a predetermined time, for example, 60 seconds while being supported by the support member 80 at the liquid level. As a result, static development of the wafer W is performed. As described above, even during static development, the wafer W is supported by the support member 80 at a position separated from the spin chuck 60 in line contact. .

When the static development of the wafer W is completed, the support member 80 is lowered again as shown in FIG. 12, and the wafer W is placed on the spin chuck 60. It is to be noted that the supporting member 80 is lowered before the stationary development time has elapsed and the development processing can be estimated to be almost completed, for example, 5 seconds before the termination of the static development, and the wafer is placed on the spin chuck 60. W may be placed on it.

When the wafer W is placed on the spin chuck 60, the suction port 61 By suction, the center of the back surface of wafer W is suction-held by spin chuck 60. The support member 80 descends to a position where it does not contact the wafer W. At this time, the gap between the wafer W on the spin chuck 60 and the apex portion 82 a of the knife edge ring 82 is kept at a narrow distance of about 1.5 to 1.0 mm. When the wafer W is held by the spin chuck 60, the cleaning nozzle 110 moves to a position above the center of the wafer W, and starts discharging a cleaning liquid, for example, pure water onto the wafer W. At this time, the wafer W is rotated, and the developing solution on the wafer W is washed with pure water. Pure water is also discharged from the back surface cleaning nozzle 93, and the back surface of the wafer W is also cleaned.

After that, the supply of pure water from the cleaning nozzle 110 and the back surface cleaning nozzle 93 is stopped, and then the rotation speed of the wafer W is increased. In this way, the wafer W is shaken off and dried. At this time, as shown in FIG. 8, a cleaning liquid, for example, pure water is discharged from a ring cleaning nozzle 90 provided inside the knife edge ring 82. The pure water discharged from the ring cleaning nozzle 90 travels along the back surface of the wafer W, reaches the apex portion 82 a of the knife edge ring 82, and reaches the apex portion 82 a of the developing solution or the like. Remove other deposits. Liquid such as pure water that has fallen from the back surface of the wafer W is collected in the concave portion 74 of the lower wall portion 72 and discharged from the drain port 74a.

When the supply of pure water from the ring cleaning nozzle 90 is stopped and the wafer W is dried by the high-speed rotation of the wafer W, the rotation of the wafer W is stopped. The wafer W is lifted by, for example, a spin chuck 60, passed from the spin chuck 60 to the main carrier 13, and carried out of the development processor 18 by the main carrier 13. In this way, a series of development processing of W is completed.

According to the above embodiment, since the developing device 18 is provided with the support member 80 for supporting the wafer W by linear contact, the developer W is separated from the spin chuck 60 and the developing solution is supplied. Both liquid and static development can be performed. Therefore, the temperature of the developer on the wafer W is not affected by the temperature of the spin chuck 60, and is maintained uniformly within the wafer W surface. Therefore, the development process can be performed uniformly on the wafer W surface. In addition, since the wafer W is supported by the support member 80 in line contact, the displacement of the wafer W is suppressed as compared with the point contact, and the liquid level of the developer and static development are appropriately performed.

Since the support member 80 can be moved up and down by the elevating drive unit 85, it is possible to preferably transfer the wafer W between the support member 80 and the spin chuck 60.

Since the three support members 80 are arranged at equal intervals on the same circumference, the wafer

When the wafer W is lowered after receiving it, when it is lowered in the liquid-filled state, or when it is raised after the processing is completed, the displacement of the wafer w in any horizontal direction can be suppressed. Since the support member 80 has a vertical plate 80a and a horizontal plate 80b formed horizontally from the lower end of the vertical plate 80a, the support member 80 is The support member 80 can be fixed to a predetermined position by being attached to the horizontal plate 80b with an attachment member such as a screw. Therefore, the supporting member 80 can be removed without touching the vertical plate 80a, and the vertical plate 80a directly supporting the substrate is not contaminated or damaged.

Since the knives ring 82 is provided outside the support member 80, it is possible to prevent the developing solution traveling on the back surface of the wafer W from adhering to the support member 80. Since the support member 80 is attached to the knife edge ring 82, both the support member 80 and the knife edge ring 82 can be moved up and down by the elevation drive unit 85. Therefore, there is no need to provide a lift drive unit 85 for each, and the drive system can be simplified.

Since the knife edge ring 82 is provided with a ring cleaning nozzle 90, the developer adhering to the knife edge ring 82 can be washed away. As a result, particles are emitted from the knife edge ring 82. You can prevent life.

Since the discharge port of the ring cleaning nozzle 90 is directed upward, the knife edge ring 82 can be cleaned by discharging the cleaning liquid while the wafer W is rotating. The outlet of the ring cleaning nozzle 90 may be directly directed to the vertex 82 a of the knife edge ring 82.

Since the support member 80 is made of a material harder than W, the generation of particles due to wear can be prevented. However, in the present invention, as the material of the support member 80, an elastic material, for example, a bar-fluoro rubber material can be used. In such a case, since the vibration of the wafer W can be absorbed by the support member 80, the displacement of the wafer W can be more reliably prevented. Note that the entire support member 80 need not be formed of the above-mentioned materials such as hard resin, ceramics, and rubber, and at least the upper end portion 80c of the support member 80 is formed of such a material. Just do it. The shape of the support member 80 is not limited to the arc shape as described above, but may be another shape, for example, an annular shape.

The support member 80 may be provided with a drain hole H for discharging the liquid collected on the horizontal plate 80b in the vertical plate 80a of the support member 80 as shown in FIG. For example, the drain hole H is formed so as to extend horizontally to the surface of the horizontal plate 80b. In such a case, since the cleaning liquid accumulated on the horizontal plate 80b is discharged, for example, generation of particles due to the residual cleaning liquid is suppressed.

As shown in FIG. 14, the support member 80 may be arranged at a predetermined angle 0, for example, about 10 ° to 40 ° (preferably 30 °) from the circumferential direction when viewed from a plane. Good. In such a case, for example, since the support members 80 are arranged along the direction of the airflow generated as the wafer W rotates, the support members 80 do not hinder the airflow. Therefore, turbulence is not formed around the support member 80 during rotation of the wafer W, and the wafer W is stabilized. It can be processed in a reduced atmosphere.

The cleaning of the knife edge ring 82 by the ring cleaning nozzle 90 may be performed, for example, at the time of cleaning the wafer W by the cleaning nozzle 110 or the back surface cleaning nozzle 93, without performing the cleaning and drying of the wafer W. . The cleaning of the wafer ring 82 may be performed for each predetermined number of wafers or for each lot, instead of being performed each time one wafer W is developed.

As described above, an example of the embodiment of the present invention has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this example, and can take various aspects. For example, the liquid processing apparatus to which the present invention can be applied is not limited to a development processing apparatus, but can be applied to a resist coating apparatus. Further, in the present embodiment, the present invention is applied to a wafer developing apparatus, but the present invention is also applied to a developing apparatus for a substrate other than a wafer, for example, an LCD substrate or a glass substrate for a photomask. it can.

According to the present invention, since the substrate can be supported by line contact, the transfer of heat from the contact portion to the substrate is small, and the temperature of the processing liquid supplied onto the substrate can be kept uniform within the substrate surface. Therefore, the liquid processing of the substrate is performed evenly within the substrate surface, and the yield of the substrate is improved. In addition, since the displacement of the substrate when the substrate is supported can be suppressed, the liquid processing of the substrate can be performed without delay and the throughput can be improved. Industrial applicability

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention is useful when a processing liquid is supplied to the surface of a wafer, an LCD substrate, a glass substrate for a photomask, and various substrates for an FPD, and the substrates are processed.

Claims

The scope of the claims

1. A liquid processing apparatus that supplies a processing liquid onto a substrate and performs liquid processing on the substrate.

A support member is provided for supporting the substrate to which the processing liquid is supplied in line contact.

2. In the liquid processing apparatus according to claim 1,

A substrate holding member for rotating a substrate while holding a portion of the substrate different from the portion supported by the support member;

A drive unit is provided for relatively moving the support member and the substrate holding member vertically.

3. In the liquid processing apparatus according to claim 2,

The substrate holding member holds a central portion of the substrate,

The support member supports the outside of the central portion of the substrate.

4. In the liquid processing apparatus according to claim 1,

A plurality of the support members are provided, and are arranged below the substrate at equal intervals on the same circumference with the center of the substrate as the center of a circle when viewed from above.

5. In the liquid processing apparatus according to claim 4,

Each of the support members has a contact portion with the substrate in an arc shape when viewed from a plane.

6. In the liquid processing apparatus according to claim 1,

The support member includes a vertical plate and a horizontal plate formed in a horizontal direction from a lower end of the vertical plate.

The support member supports the substrate at an upper end of the vertical plate.

7. In the liquid processing apparatus according to claim 1,

At the outside of the support member, an adhesion preventing member is provided for preventing a processing liquid traveling along the back surface of the substrate and toward the inside of the substrate from adhering to the support member.

8. In the liquid processing apparatus according to claim 7, The adhesion preventing member has an annular shape and is accessible to the back surface of the substrate. '

9. In the liquid processing apparatus according to claim 8,

The portion of the adhesion preventing member closest to the back surface of the substrate is formed in an acute angle shape protruding toward the back surface of the substrate.

10. The liquid processing apparatus according to claim 7,

The support member is attached to the adhesion preventing member.

11. The liquid processing apparatus according to claim 7,

A cleaning liquid supply nozzle for supplying a cleaning liquid to the adhesion preventing member is further provided.

12. The liquid processing apparatus according to claim 11, wherein:

The cleaning liquid supply nozzle is disposed between the adhesion preventing member and the support member, and a cleaning liquid supply direction is directed to a back surface of the substrate.

13. The liquid processing apparatus according to claim 11, wherein:

The cleaning liquid supply nozzle is attached to the adhesion preventing member.

14. In the liquid processing apparatus according to claim 1,

The support member is made of a material that is harder than the substrate.

15. The liquid processing apparatus according to claim 1,

The support member is made of an elastic material.

16. In the liquid processing apparatus according to claim 1,

The processing liquid is a developer.

17. The liquid processing apparatus according to claim 6,

A hole is formed in the vertical plate of the support member for discharging the liquid collected on the horizontal plate.