WO2004041454A2

WO2004041454A2 - Substrate processing apparatus and method

Info

Publication number: WO2004041454A2
Application number: PCT/US2003/034758
Authority: WO
Inventors: Naoaki Kobayashi; Ryuta Yamaguchi; Kaori Tajima; Kohsuke Ori
Original assignee: Lam Research Corporation
Priority date: 2002-10-31
Filing date: 2003-10-30
Publication date: 2004-05-21
Also published as: TW200425223A; KR20050065668A; TWI248109B; KR101252967B1; JP4105931B2; KR101094679B1; JP2004153172A; AU2003286823A1; KR20110105405A; WO2004041454A3

Abstract

A method for applying steam onto a surface of a substrate (20) with a nozzle (16) by spinning the substrate with a rotary shaft (24).The stream of steam is supplied between point (23) and a peripheral edge of (20) and moving the stream of steam between the center (23) and the peripheral edge at correlated to an area of the substrate being subjected to the stream of steam.

Description

SUBSTRATE PROCESSING APPARATUS AND METHOD by Inventors: Naoaki Kobayashi, Ryuta Yamaguchi, Kaon Tajima, and Kohsuke Ori

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates in general to an apparatus and a method for performing processing such as peel-off or washing of a substrate such as a semiconductor wafer and, more particularly to control of peel-off or washing for effectively processing a substrate, also referred to herein as a subject or a workpiece. More specifically, the present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for removing unwanted matter such as a resist film from a lithography process or a polymer residue from an etching process from the surface of a substrate such as a semiconductor wafer, a hard disk, a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD), or a Flat Display Panel (FDP). 2. Description of the Related Art

In a process of manufacturing a semiconductor device, an LCD, a magnetic disk, or a printed board, a resist is applied on the surface of each of these substrates, and micro- lithographic processing such as pattern formation is performed on this surface using lithography and etching. Then, processing is performed to remove unwanted matter such as a resist film or a polymer residue adhering to the surfaces of these substrates.

Conventionally available techniques for removing the unwanted matter such as a resist film include a plasma ashing method for ashing and removing a resist film by using oxygen plasma, a method for heating, resolving, and removing a film body by using an organic solvent (phenol-based or halogen-based solvent), or a heating and resolving method using concentrated sulfuric acid or hydrogen peroxide.

These methods, however, all need to use significant time and energy and some chemical materials in decomposing and resolving a resist film etc., so that a heavy burden is incurred in a process of decomposing and removing the resist film etc. This leads to implication of additional accessory facilities and control equipment required, resulting in a problem of an increase in size and cost of a relevant apparatus. As another problem, a lot of accessory facilities and environmental countermeasures are required for control of a significant amount of high-temperature chemical solutions, for drainage of the solutions and water, etc. These problems inevitably discourage discussions of future research and development, as well as discouraging facilities investment for a substrate processing apparatus.

Therefore, in a field of technology of fine surface processing, including a technique for removing unwanted matter such as a resist film etc., a certain technique is drawing substantial attention, and is expected to be developed and utilized as something which is friendly to the earth and the environment. This technique uses water and water vapor occurring abundantly in nature, in contrast to a conventional technique of using chemical substances and chemical processing.

In view of the above, in order to solve the above-mentioned variety of problems, an efficient and controllable method and apparatus for performing such substrate processing as peel-off and washing with abundant and environmentally-friendly compounds or materials is desired.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Broadly speaking, an object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus and a method to enable effective and practical processing of a substrate. Further, another object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus and a method which can perform efficient processing having processing effects or yields higher than ever without increasing facility costs, and providing an investment in semiconductor-related processing and manufacturing processes such as resist peel-off, polymer removal, and washing. The present invention can be implemented in numerous ways, including as a process, an apparatus, a system, a device, or a method. Several embodiments of the present invention are described below.

In one embodiment, a method for applying steam onto a surface of a substrate is provided. The method includes spinning the substrate about a center point of the substrate. The substrate also has defined a peripheral edge. The method further includes applying a stream of steam onto the substrate. The stream of steam is applied starting between one of the center point and the peripheral edge of the substrate. The method then includes moving the stream of steam between one of the center point and the peripheral edge at a rate that is correlated to an area of the substrate being subjected to the stream of steam. In another embodiment, a method for applying steam onto a surface of a substrate is provided. The method includes spinning the substrate about a center point of the substrate. The substrate also has a peripheral edge defined. The method further includes applying a stream of steam onto the substrate. The stream of steam is applied starting between one of the center point and the peripheral edge of the substrate. The method then includes moving the stream of steam between one of the center point and the peripheral edge through a plurality of zones defined along a radius of the substrate.

In a further embodiment, a substrate processing apparatus for processing a substrate including peel-off, washing, and working processes is provided. The substrate has an essentially circular planar substrate processing surface. The substrate processing apparatus includes a nozzle portion for spraying the substrate processing surface while moving between a center region and an outer peripheral edge of the substrate processing surface. The nozzle portion has nozzle-operation control for controlling a movement speed and a movement locusof the nozzle portion, the substrate processing apparatus also includes a stage portion on which is mounted the substrate. The stage portion rotates integrally with the substrate about the center region of the substrate processing surface as a rotary axis. The stage portion has stage- operation control for controlling a rotational speed of the stage.

In another embodiment, a substrate processing method including one of peel-off, and washing, and working processes on a substrate is provided. The substrate has an essentially circular planar substrate processing surface, and the method for processing the substrate includes spraying the substrate processing surface of the substrate with a nozzle portion while moving between a center and an outer peripheral edge of the substrate processing surface in such a manner as to face the processing-substrate surface. The substrate processing method further provides for integrally rotating a stage portion having a substrate mounted thereon with the substrate around the center of the substrate processing surface as a rotary axis. Further, the method provides for controlling a movement speed and a movement locus of the nozzle portion.

In a further embodiment, a substrate processing method including one of peel-off, and washing, and working processes on a substrate having an essentially circular planar substrate processing surface is provided. The substrate processing method includes spraying the substrate processing surface of the substrate with a nozzle portion while moving between a center and an outer peripheral edge of the substrate processing surface in such a manner as to face the processing-substrate surface. Further, the substrate processing method provides for integrally rotating a stage portion having a substrate mounted thereon with the substrate around the center of the substrate processing surface as a rotary axis. Finally, the method provides for controlling a rotational speed of the stage portion. The advantages of the present invention over the prior art are numerous. One notable benefit and advantage of the invention is that processing time is reduced by 1/10 to 1/5 as compared to that by a conventional processing apparatus. Additionally, a capacity of processing such as peel-off/washing is improved greatly. Further, reproducibility and repeatability are improved in processing of a substrate. Parameters of a processing apparatus can be set more easily, thus improving controllability, and the temperature of a substrate which is processed is stabilized, thus improving intra-surface distribution thereof. And, no complicated operations or mechanisms are required, thus enabling simple mechanism design.

Other advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, illustrating by way of example the principles of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute part of this specification, illustrate exemplary embodiments of the invention and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the invention.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a substrate processing apparatus in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating "nozzle operation control" in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is another diagram illustrating "nozzle operation control" in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a further diagram illustrating "nozzle operation control" in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5A is a diagram illustrating "stage operation control" in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 5B is a diagram illustrating distances over which a nozzle travels in the same lapse of time in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 5C is a graph of transition speed versus distance from center in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 6A is another diagram illustrating "stage operation control" in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6B is another graph showing number of rotations versus distance from center in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An invention for an apparatus and a method for processing a substrate is described. In preferred embodiments, methods and apparatus include a substrate processing apparatus including a nozzle portion, a stage portion, and at least one of a nozzle operation control means and a stage-operation control means implemented as described in detail below.

In the following description and accompanying FIGS. 1-6, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. It will be understood, however, to one skilled in the art, that the present invention may be practiced without some or all of these specific details. In other instances, well known process operations have not been described in detail in order not to unnecessarily obscure the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing one example of a configuration of a substrate processing apparatus related to the present invention. FIGS. 2-4 are diagrams illustrating "nozzle operation control" related to the present invention, including illustrations of a substrate processing surface. FIGS. 5A-6B are diagrams illustrating "stage operation control" related to the present invention, including illustrations of a substrate processing surface, and graphs.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a substrate processing apparatus in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, and one example of an apparatus configuration for performing a method of the present invention. In a processing chamber 10, on an arrangement stage (rotary table) 22 having a center 23 and rotated by a rotary shaft 24, a flat or plate-shaped, generally circular substrate 20 such as a semiconductor wafer is arranged (mounted). Although it has a roughly circular planar substrate processing surface 20', the substrate 20 itself may, but need not, be roughly circular plate-shaped. The substrate 20 of FIG. 1 has an entire surface as the substrate processing surface 20', so that the substrate 20 is also circular plate-shaped.

A nozzle portion 16 is arranged opposed to the substrate processing surface 20' of substrate 20 and separated by a predetermined clearance (spacing) from a supply opening 16' at a nozzle end of nozzle 16, so that spray substrate matter 18 is ejected from the supply opening 16' to process the substrate 20. The spray substrate matter 18 employed is may be any of a selected variety of liquids or gases. In accordance with any of several embodiments of the present invention, the spray substrate matter 18 may be a vapor body, that is 1) steam (water vapor), 2) dry steam (dry water vapor), 3) mist, or a mixture of any one of steam or dry steam. Additional information, configuration, and implementation in processing apparatus of spray substrate matter including mixing a water mist body (fog water) containing liquid water particulate and a water vapor body (air water) and supplying a resultant mixture to a substrate, can be found in "Method and Apparatus for Supplying Water," Japanese Patent Application No. 2001-264627 filed on Aug. 31, 2001, in "Method and Apparatus for Supplying Water," Japanese Patent Application No. 2002-40739 filed on Feb. 18, 2002, and in "Method and Apparatus for Supplying Water," Japanese Patent Application No. 2002-136159 filed on May 10, 2002. These applications are related to the present invention, and are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety for all purposes.

In the processing apparatus configuration illustrated in Figure 1, the processing consisting of removing unwanted matter such as a resist, the substrate 20 is put into a condition where it rotates (see an arrow 21 indicating rotation) around the rotary shaft 24 (center 23 of substrate 20) at a predetermined speed, and further, while moving or scanning the nozzle portion 16 in a direction of a radius of the substrate 20 (see an arrow 17 indicating movement), the spray substrate matter 18 is ejected from the supply opening 16' at the edge of the nozzle portion 16, to spray the substrate processing surface 20' of the substrate 20 therewith as a spray substrate substance to perform washing or resist peel-off/removal on this surface. It is to be noted that excreta and unwanted matter occurring in this chamber 10 are sent out through an exhaust port 26 (see an arrow 25).

Control of operations

A substrate M, which undergoes processing such as peel-off or washing, is circular, thin, plate-shaped, and has an entire surface subject to processing, a center position (center point c), and a radius r. In one embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 2, a radius r of substrate M is divided into equal lengths starting from the center point c to thereby evenly divide the entire surface into a center circular zone (center circle-shaped portion) Si, and a plurality of circular ring-shaped zones (donut-shaped portions) S -S_n correspondingly. In the illustrated embodiment, as one example, radius r is divided into 10 equal lengths, thus dividing the entire surface into one center circular zone Si and nine circular ring-shaped zones (S₂-Sιo) correspondingly. In one embodiment of the invention, areas of S1-S10, define a relationship of area ratios among them as follows:

Sι:S :S₃:S₄:S₅:S₆:S₇:S₈:S₉:Sιo = 1:3:5:7:9:11:13:15:17:19

Among these ratios, a relationship between an area Si of the center circular zone, and an area S₂ of the immediately succeeding outer circular ring-shaped zone S₂ is represented as Sι:S₂ = l:3.

Since an entire area S of the substrate M is a total sum of Si-Sio, the entire area S = Sι+S₂+, ..., +Sιo, while the numeric values of the area ratios (1:3:5:7:9:11:13:15:17:19) sum into 100 (10 , that is, 10x 10), so that in one embodiment of the invention the areas Si-Sio are expressed as Si = (l/100)xS, S₂ = (3/100)xS, S₃ = (5/100)xS, ..., and Sio = (19/100)xS respectively.

In this manner, in the substrate M having a circular processing surface, an area S_x of an arbitrary zone x of those obtained by even division along the radius r is expressed as S_x = ((2x- l)/100)xS. Thus, the area S_x of the zone x is obtained, so that processing time t for each zone x (e.g., t_x) can be made proportional to this area S_x.

Similarly, assuming that substrate M having a circular processing surface is provided with an arbitrary zone x of those obtained by even division along its radius r and that entire processing time required to process the substrate M is t [sec], processing time for each zone t_x is expressed as follows: t_x = ((2x-l)/100)xt

Furthermore, when a nozzle 16 (see Figure 1) is set to move straightly, or linearly, from the center of the substrate M having a circular processing surface in a direction of the radius r, a movement speed Vn of this nozzle 16 is obtained by (movement distance/processing time), wherein the movement distance is equal to the radius r and the processing time is equal to the entire processing time t.

If, as in the illustrated embodiment, the substrate M evenly divided along the radius r into 10 equal lengths, as one example, the movement distance for each zone is expressed by r/10 and a nozzle movement speed Vn_x for each zone is expressed by the following equation:

Nn_x = ((l/10)r)/(((2x-l)/100)t) = (10r)/((2x-l)t) [unit: mm/sec] In setting of the number and operations of nozzles, a variety of cases may be assumed. For example, the number of nozzles may be set to more than one, so that one through N number of nozzles can be used by synchronizing them with each other in designing. It is also possible to move the nozzle in such a manner that peel-off or washing processing may start from somewhere in a zone to be processed or to move it in a direction from an outer peripheral edge to the center. In such a case also, in embodiments of the present invention, the movement speed of the nozzle can be determined by a similar calculation method.

By operation of nozzle-operation control, it is also possible to divide a radial axis along which the nozzle moves, in order to control a speed of the nozzle in such a manner that zones obtained by division may have an equal area, hence equi-time processing may be performed thereon, which will be described in detail below.

Although the locus and the direction of nozzle movement are the easiest and most preferable to design in a case where the nozzle is supposed to straightly move between the center point c and an outer peripheral edge on a radial axis r of a circular substrate processing surface, locus and direction of nozzle movement are not limited to straight movement between the center point c and an outer peripheral edge on radial axis r. For example, the nozzle may move on a straight line other than the radial axis having the center c, or an circular arc, or a parabola interconnecting the center point and an outer peripheral edge. Although the illustrated embodiment has been described in a case where the radius of a substrate is divided into 10 equal lengths in FIG. 2, in other embodiments the number of the equal lengths into which the radius is divided can be set arbitrarily and changed or modified to be increased or decreased appropriately to select and employ any value of from a few to an infinity (∞). For example, if the number of equal lengths into which a radius r is divided is increased or decreased corresponding to a magnitude of the radius of a substrate M to be processed, and this number is y, the nozzle movement speed Vn_x in each of the resultant zones is expressed as follows:

Vn_x = ((l/y)r)/(((2x-l)/y²)t) = (yr)/((2x-l)t) [unit: mm/sec] In one embodiment of the invention, a method for dividing the radius in such a manner that the resultant zones may all have an equal area, hence an equal processing speed, is provided. The method is illustrated with specific data and FIGS. 3 and 4.

In one embodiment, radius r is divided in such a manner that the entire circular substrate processing surface may be divided into four zones having an equal area, as illustrated in FIG. 3. In one embodiment, radius r of substrate M (substrate processing surface) is divided in such a manner that the area S may be divided into four zones having an equal area, radii ri, r₂, r₃, and r₄ respectively for the four zones, and areas Si of a center circular zone and S₂, S₃, and S₄ of sequentially outer circular rings. The area Si of the center circular zone is expressed by the following equation: Si = 9 9 πri . The area S₂ of the next immediately outer circular ring-shaped zone is: S₂ = π(r₂ -ri ). In

9 9 9 this case, S₂ = Si, so that the following relationship is obtained: ri = r₂ -ri . Resultantly, the following equation is derived: r₂ = 2rι. Similarly, the areas S₃ and S have the following equations: r₃ = 3ri, and r₄ = 4rι. In this case, and as visible in Fig. 3, r₄ = r. Therefore, the radii can be expressed as follows: ri = ( l/V4)r, r₂ =

Furthermore, the entire surface is divided into four zones having an equal area, so that the following equation is given: Si = S₂ = S₃ = S₄ = (1/4)S = πr²/4. Resultantly, a nozzle movement distance in each of the zones is as follows:

Assuming a total or entire processing time of t, a nozzle movement speed v_n in each of the zones can be expressed as follows since each of the above-mentioned distances needs to be processed in (l/4)t:

Vi = ^r = vϊf *vϊ-vo) ^LT

In one embodiment of the invention, a radius r of a substrate is divided in such a manner that the entire substrate processing surface may be divided into y (arbitrary numeral) number of zones having an equal area. FIG. 4 illustrates this embodiment. The radius r_n of an nth zone counting from the central zone is represented as follows: r_n = ( r y)r

The nozzle movement speed v_n of the zone n can therefore be expressed as follows:

y Stage-operation control

As described above with reference to FIG. 1, one embodiment of the processing apparatus is configured so that, when a substrate 20 is processed, the substrate 20 having a circular plate-shaped substrate processing surface 20' may be mounted or positioned on the stage 22 in such a manner that substrate processing surface 20' and stage 22 move or rotate together as a single unit.. In another embodiment of the invention, as shown in HG. 5 A, a substrate M' to be processed is rotating at a constant number of rotations R [rpm] on the stage (not shown) and an arbitrary point x on the substrate M' is located at a position distant from a center c' by a distance x. Then, a circumferential speed N_x of this arbitrary point x is as follows: N_x = ((2πx)R)/60. Therefore, the following relationship is established, and illustrated in FIG. 5B: N_x ∞ x

As illustrated in FIG. 5B, the more outer the arbitrary point is located, the larger its transition speed becomes. Therefore, as shown in the graph of FIG. 5C, such data is obtained that at a constant rotational speed, the transition speed [mm/sec] is proportional to a distance from the center. The graph of FIG. 5C shows an embodiment in which the number of rotations is set to 1 [rpm], indicating that the transition speed varies linearly from 0-21 (20.943...) [mm/sec], proportionally to a distance from the center of 0-200 [mm].

Turning again to FIG. 5B, in the embodiment described above in which the substrate M' is rotating on the stage at the constant rotational speed R, if the nozzle is moved at a constant speed from the center of the stage to its outer periphery to process the substrate, there occurs a large difference in transition speed N_x of the nozzle between a center region and an outer periphery region. As shown in FIG. 5B, there occurs a difference between a center region distance of (X_ao-X_aι) and an outer periphery region distance of (Xbo-Xbi) over which the nozzle travels in the same lapse of time. Consequently, this difference is reflected in a state of the processed surface of the substrate. To avoid this undesirable result, an embodiment of the present invention can control the rotational speed of the substrate so that the transition speed V_x may be held equal in the center region and the periphery region.

One embodiment of the present invention provides for controlling the rotational speed and is illustrated with reference to FIG. 6A. In FIG. 6A, the nozzle is supposed to move over a substrate M" to be processed on its radius r from its center c" to its outer peripheral region. Speed control of a rotary stage, so called in the present invention, refers to control of the rotational speed so that a transition speed may be held at a constant transition speed N₀, always at an arbitrary point x" on the radius r of the substrate M".

In one embodiment of the invention, assuming that the circumferential transition speed N_x at an arbitrary point x" of the substrate M" to be processed is the constant transition speed N₀ (const.). That is, if N_x = N₀ (const.) is expressed in the above equation of N_x = ((2πx)R)/60, the following relationship is obtained: R = (60N_o)/(2πx). Therefore,

R °= 1/x Therefore, by exercising transition speed control in embodiments of the present invention, it is possible to control the number of rotations of a substrate which is undergoing processing such as peel-off and washing so that the transition speed N_x can be held equal in a center region as well as the outer periphery region, thus obtaining the uniform and same effects throughout or across the entirety the processing surface of the substrate.

A graph shown in FIG. 6B shows one example of obtained data of a relationship between the number of rotations [rpm] and the distance from the center [mm] in a condition where the transition speed is held constant in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. In the illustrated example, the data of the relationship has been obtained for each of four transition speeds [mm/sec] of 10, 40, 42, and 50. As can be seen from the graph, a constant transition speed can be obtained by controlling a number of rotations [rpm] in accordance with a distance [mm] from the center. Accordingly, by evenly dividing a radial axis along which a nozzle moves to thereby divide the processing surface into a plurality of zones or by sampling the position of a nozzle moving along a radial axis with respect to a center of the processing surface at a constant period to thereby calculate the number of rotations, it is possible to control the number of rotations or the rotational speed for each of the zones, or for the position of the nozzle respectively, so that a constant transition speed can be obtained, thus greatly contributing to uniformity and stability of processing of the substrate. Although in embodiments of the present invention, the nozzle-operation control means and the stage-operation control means can independently control processing, the two methods can be combined by setting them corresponding to a variety of conditions, thus providing potential processing of substrates which is even further effective and highly adaptable in this case. It is to be noted that when both nozzle-operation control and stage-operation control are implemented, from industrial and practical points of view, it is preferable to divide a radial axis along which the nozzle moves to thereby divide the processing surface into a plurality of zones in such a manner that the moving speed or the rotational speed may be controlled for each of the zones. Although it is advantageous to evenly divide the processing surface into zones from a viewpoint of designing, it is also possible to unevenly divide the processing surface (for example, to divide the radius in such a manner that all the zones may have an equal area and an equal processing speed). The number of zones obtained by division may be selected appropriately from a few to an infinity (∞). In the case of an infinity (∞), no zone is obtained by division. Besides, a method for control on the number of rotations is possible to sample the position of a nozzle moving along a radial axis with respect to the center at a constant period, to thereby calculate the number of rotations.

Although the foregoing invention has been described in some detail for purposes of clarity of understanding, it will be apparent that certain changes and modifications may be practiced within the scope of the appended claims. Accordingly, the present embodiments are to be considered as illustrative and not restrictive, and the invention is not to be limited to the details given herein, but may be modified within the scope and equivalents of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

Claims

1. A method for applying steam onto a surface of a substrate, comprising:

(a) spinning the substrate about a center point of the substrate, the substrate having a peripheral edge;

(b) applying a stream of steam onto the substrate, the stream of steam being applied starting between one of the center point and the peripheral edge of the substrate; and

(c) moving the stream of steam between one of the center point and the peripheral edge at a rate that is correlated to an area of the substrate being subjected to the stream of steam.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: defining a plurality of zones on the substrate, each of the zones having an area; moving the stream of steam between one of the center point and the peripheral edge through each of the plurality of zones defined on the substrate, wherein the rate of the moving of the stream of steam through each of the plurality of zones on the substrate is correlated to the area of each of the zones.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising: controlling the spinning of the substrate about the center point, the controlling including varying a rate of the spinning according to a distance along a radius of the substrate.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the controlling of the spinning of the substrate includes defining on the substrate a plurality of zones, the plurality of zones including one center circle-shaped zone and at least one outer circular ring-shaped zone in accordance with the distance along the radius of the substrate so that one of the rate of the moving of the stream of steam and the rate of the spinning is controlled corresponding to each of the plurality of zones.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein each of the plurality of zones has an equal area.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the stream of steam includes one of a stream of steam that is water vapor, a stream of dry steam that is dry water vapor and a stream of mist that is a mixture of steam and dry steam.

7. A method for applying steam onto a surface of a substrate, comprising:

(c) moving the stream of steam between one of the center point and the peripheral edge through a plurality of zones defined along a radius of the substrate.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the moving of the stream of steam is correlated to an area of each one of the plurality of zones.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein a rate of spinning the substrate is correlated to a distance from the center point along the radius of the substrate.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein the plurality of zones are defined by one center circle-shaped zone and at least one outer circular ring-shaped zone according to a distance from the center point along the radius of the substrate.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the one center circle-shaped zone and the at least one circular ring-shaped zone have an equal area.

12. The method of claim 7, wherein the stream of steam includes one of a stream of steam that is water vapor, a stream of dry steam that is dry water vapor and a stream of mist that is a mixture of steam and dry steam.

13. A substrate processing apparatus for processing a substrate including peel-off, washing, and working processes, the substrate having an essentially circular planar substrate processing surface, the substrate processing apparatus comprising: a nozzle portion for spraying the substrate processing surface while moving between a center region and an outer peripheral edge of the substrate processing surface, the nozzle portion having nozzle-operation control for controlling a movement speed and a movement locusof the nozzle portion; and a stage portion on which is mounted the substrate and which rotates integrally with the substrate about the center region of the substrate processing surface as a rotary axis, the stage portion having stage-operation control for controlling a rotational speed of the stage.

14. The substrate processing apparatus of claim 13, wherein nozzle-operation control is in accordance with a distance of the nozzle from the center region of the substrate processing surface.

15. The substrate processing apparatus of claim 13, wherein stage-operation control is in accordance with a distance of the nozzle from the center region of the substrate processing surface.

16. The substrate processing apparatus of claim 13 wherein the nozzle portion moves linearly on a radial axis of the substrate processing surface.

17. The substrate processing apparatus of claim 14, wherein nozzle-operation control includes dividing the substrate processing surface into one center circle-shaped zone and at least one outer circular ring-shaped zone in accordance with a distance from the center region so that one of the movement speed and the rotational speed may be controlled corresponding to each of the one center circle-shaped zone and the at least one outer circular ring-shaped zone respectively.

18. The substrate processing apparatus of claim 15, wherein stage-operation control includes dividing the substrate processing surface into one center circle-shaped zone and at least one outer circular ring-shaped zone in accordance with a distance from the center region so that one of the movement speed and the rotational speed is controlled corresponding to each of the one center circle-shaped zone and the at least one outer circular ring-shaped zone respectively.

19. The substrate processing apparatus of claim 17, wherein division into one center circle-shaped zone and at least one outer circular ring-shaped zone is performed by evenly dividing a radial axis of the substrate processing surface.

20. The substrate processing apparatus of claim 18, wherein division into one center circle-shaped zone and at least one outer circular ring-shaped zone is performed by evenly dividing a radial axis of the substrate processing surface.

21. The substrate processing apparatus of claim 17, wherein the one center circle- shaped zone and at least one outer circular ring-shaped zone have an equal area.

22. The substrate processing apparatus of claim 18, wherein the one center circle- shaped zone and at least one outer circular ring-shaped zone have an equal area.

23. The substrate processing apparatus of claim 17, wherein nozzle-operation control includes nozzle movement at a number of nozzle movement sub-speeds obtained by division, the number of nozzle movement sub-speeds obtained by division being set corresponding to a number of zones into which the substrate processing surface is divided.

24. The substrate processing apparatus of claim 18, wherein stage-operation means includes a rotation of the state at number of table rotational sub-speeds obtained by division, the number of table rotational sub-speeds obtained by division being set corresponding to a number of zones into which the substrate processing surface is divided.

25. The substrate processing apparatus of claim 23, wherein the number of nozzle movement sub-speeds obtained by division is set equal to the number of zones into which the processing-substrate surface is divided.

26. The substrate processing apparatus of claim 24, wherein the number of table rotational sub-speeds obtained by division is set equal to the number of zones into which the processing-substrate surface is divided.

27. The substrate processing apparatus of claim 15, wherein stage-operation control includes controlling a rotational speed of the stage to sample a position of the nozzle portion with respect to the center of the substrate processing surface at a constant period.

28. A substrate processing method including one of peel-off, and washing, and working processes on a substrate having an essentially circular planar substrate processing surface, comprising: spraying the substrate processing surface of the substrate with a nozzle portion while moving between a center and an outer peripheral edge of the substrate processing surface in such a manner as to face the processing-substrate surface; integrally rotating a stage portion having a substrate mounted thereon with the substrate around the center of the substrate processing surface as a rotary axis; and controlling a movement speed and a movement locus of the nozzle portion.

29. The method of claim 28, wherein the controlling the movement speed and movement locus of the nozzle portion includes varying the movement speed and movement locus of the nozzle portion according to an area of the substrate processing surface over which the nozzle portion is facing.

30. A substrate processing method including one of peel-off, and washing, and working processes on a substrate having an essentially circular planar substrate processing surface, comprising: spraying the substrate processing surface of the substrate with a nozzle portion while moving between a center and an outer peripheral edge of the substrate processing surface in such a manner as to face the processing-substrate surface; integrally rotating a stage portion having a substrate mounted thereon with the substrate around the center of the substrate processing surface as a rotary axis; and controlling a rotational speed of the stage portion.

31. The method of claim 30, wherein the controlling the rotational speed of the stage portion includes varying the rotational speed of the stage portion according to an area of the substrate processing surface over which the nozzle portion is facing.