WO2022050117A1

WO2022050117A1 - Substrate processing device and substrate processing method

Info

Publication number: WO2022050117A1
Application number: PCT/JP2021/030857
Authority: WO
Inventors: 隆大山口
Original assignee: 東京エレクトロン株式会社
Priority date: 2020-09-04
Filing date: 2021-08-23
Publication date: 2022-03-10
Also published as: KR20230056036A; JPWO2022050117A1; JP7405268B2; CN116018214A; TW202215500A

Abstract

Provided is a substrate processing device comprising: a processing liquid supply nozzle that supplies processing liquid to at least a peripheral edge part of a surface of a substrate and carries out a process; a stage on which the substrate supplied with the processing liquid is mounted; a movement body that includes a first distance sensor for detecting the distance to the substrate mounted on the stage; a movement mechanism that moves the movement body in a lateral direction over the peripheral edge part of the substrate so as to acquire a height distribution between a first position, which is a position on the peripheral edge part of the substrate near the center of said substrate, and a second position, which is a position closer to a peripheral end side of the substrate than the first position; and a rotation mechanism that rotates the stage with respect to the movement body in order to acquire the respective height distributions between a plurality of positions separated from each other along the peripheral direction of the substrate.

Description

Board processing equipment and board processing method

This disclosure relates to a substrate processing apparatus and a substrate processing method.

In the semiconductor device manufacturing process, various liquid treatments are performed on a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter referred to as a wafer) which is a substrate. Examples of this liquid treatment include supplying a coating liquid such as a resist to the surface of the wafer to form a coating film, and supplying a removing liquid for the coating film to the peripheral edge of the wafer.

A hump, which is a raised portion due to a coating film, may be formed on the peripheral edge of the wafer after the liquid treatment. In Patent Document 1, a resist film is formed on the entire surface of the wafer by spin coating, and the resist film is removed by supplying a thinner to the peripheral edge of the rotating wafer, and the wafer is rotated when the thinner is supplied. It is described that the formation of humps is suppressed by setting the number to an appropriate value.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2018-121045

The present disclosure is to reduce the time and effort required for detecting the raised portion formed by supplying the treatment liquid to the peripheral portion of the surface of the substrate.

The substrate processing apparatus of the present disclosure includes a processing liquid supply nozzle that supplies a processing liquid to at least the peripheral edge of the surface of the substrate for processing.
A stage on which the substrate to which the treatment liquid is supplied is placed, and
A moving body including a first distance sensor for detecting a distance between the substrate mounted on the stage and the substrate.
The height distribution between the first position on the peripheral edge of the substrate, which is a position closer to the center of the substrate, and the second position, which is a position on the peripheral end side of the substrate with respect to the first position, is A moving mechanism for laterally moving the moving body on the peripheral edge of the substrate so as to be acquired.
A rotation mechanism for rotating the stage with respect to the moving body in order to acquire the height distributions at a plurality of positions separated from each other in the circumferential direction of the substrate.
To prepare for.

According to the present disclosure, it is possible to reduce the time and effort required for detecting the raised portion formed by supplying the treatment liquid to the peripheral portion of the surface of the substrate.

It is a side view of the resist film forming module provided in the coating and developing apparatus which is one Embodiment of this disclosure. It is a top view of the resist film forming module. It is explanatory drawing which shows the setting procedure of the parameter in the resist film formation module. It is explanatory drawing which shows the setting procedure of the said parameter. It is explanatory drawing which shows the setting procedure of the said parameter. It is explanatory drawing which shows the formation procedure of the resist film in the resist film formation module. It is explanatory drawing which shows the formation procedure of the resist film. It is explanatory drawing which shows the formation procedure of the resist film. It is explanatory drawing which shows the procedure of measuring the height distribution of the resist film. It is explanatory drawing which shows the procedure of measuring the height distribution of the resist film. It is a top view which shows the procedure of measuring the height distribution of the resist film. It is a top view which shows the procedure of measuring the height distribution of the resist film. It is a top view which shows the procedure of measuring the height distribution of the resist film. It is a graph which shows the example of the height distribution of the radius of the resist film. It is a graph which shows the example of the height distribution of the peripheral part of the resist film. It is a top view which shows the relationship between the wafer and the region where the height distribution is measured. It is a top view of the coating and developing apparatus. It is a side view of the coating and developing apparatus. It is a graph which shows the correction example of the height distribution of a resist film. It is explanatory drawing which shows the operation of the exposure machine with respect to a normal wafer. It is explanatory drawing which shows the operation of the exposure machine with respect to an abnormal wafer. It is a side view which shows the other resist film forming module. It is a top view which shows the other resist film forming module. It is a graph which shows the result of a reference test.

The resist film forming module 1 provided in the coating and developing apparatus 10, which is an embodiment of the substrate processing apparatus of the present disclosure, will be described with reference to the side view of FIG. 1 and the plan view of FIG. A wafer W, which is a circular substrate having a diameter of, for example, 300 mm, is transported to the coating / developing apparatus 10 in a state of being stored in a transport container C called FOUP (Front Opening Unity Pod) whose inside is sealed. Then, the wafer W is conveyed to the resist film forming module 1 by the conveying mechanism provided in the coating / developing apparatus 10.

To explain the outline of the operation of the resist film forming module 1 first, in the resist film forming module 1, the resist is applied as a treatment liquid to the entire surface of the wafer W, that is, the region including at least the peripheral edge of the surface of the wafer W. A resist film is formed. In the resist film forming module 1, while the wafer W is rotating, the position where the resist is supplied by the movement of the nozzle moves from the center of the wafer W toward the peripheral end. That is, the resist, which is the coating liquid, is applied so that the locus of the supply position on the surface of the wafer W spirals.

When the resist supply position reaches the peripheral end of the wafer W, the movement of the resist supply position is stopped, and when there is no uncoated residue of the resist on the wafer W, the resist supply is stopped. With respect to the resist film made of the resist coated in this way, for example, due to the viscosity of the resist, the above-mentioned hump (raised portion) is formed at the peripheral end portion of the wafer W, and the height of the hump is increased. It may be different in the circumferential direction of the wafer W.

Correspondingly, in the resist film forming module 1, after the resist film is formed, the height distribution of the regions separated from each other in the circumferential direction of the wafer W is acquired. More specifically, the height distributions are each for a region on the radius of the wafer W and a plurality of regions along the radial direction in the peripheral portion of the wafer W separated from each other in the circumferential direction of the wafer W from the region on the radius. To be acquired. From each of these height distributions, it is possible to detect the height of the hump.

Hereinafter, the configuration of the resist film forming module 1 will be described. The resist film forming module 1 includes a spin chuck 11, a rotation mechanism 12, a pin 13, an elevating mechanism 14, a processing mechanism 2, a fixing base 31, a lower sensor 34, and a standby unit 35. There is. The spin chuck 11 is a circular stage having substantially the same size as the wafer W, and the entire back surface of the wafer W overlaps the spin chuck 11 and is held horizontally. A suction hole 30 is provided on the upper surface of the spin chuck 11, and the placed wafer W is sucked.

The rotation mechanism 12 causes the spin chuck 11 to rotate about a vertical axis. The spin chuck 11 is provided with three through holes 15, and the three pins 13 can submerge the surface of the spin chuck 11 by the elevating mechanism 14 through each through hole 15. By raising and lowering the pin 13, the wafer W is transferred between the transfer mechanism of the coating and developing apparatus 10 and the spin chuck 11.

The processing mechanism 2 includes a resist supply nozzle 21, an arm 22, a moving mechanism 23, an upper sensor 24, a resist supply mechanism 25, and a guide rail 26. The resist supply nozzle 21 is connected to a resist supply mechanism 25 including a valve, a pump, and the like, and discharges the resist supplied from the resist supply mechanism 25 at a predetermined flow rate vertically downward. The resist supply nozzle 21 is supported on the tip end side of the arm 22, and the proximal end side of the arm 22 is connected to the moving mechanism 23. The moving mechanism 23, accompanied by the arm 22 and the resist supply nozzle 21, moves horizontally along the guide rail 26, that is, moves laterally. The moving mechanism 23 allows the resist supply nozzle 21, which is a processing liquid supply nozzle, to move between the wafer W and the standby portion 35 provided at a position distant from the side of the spin chuck 11. The standby unit 35 houses the resist supply nozzle 21 to stand by and cleans it.

The moving mechanism 23 incorporates an elevating mechanism for vertically elevating and lowering the arm 22, and the elevating mechanism includes a motor equipped with an encoder. That is, the raising and lowering of the arm 22 is performed by the driving force of the motor. The output of the encoder is always transmitted to the control unit 100, which will be described later. The amount of rotation of the motor corresponds to the amount of elevation of the arm 22, and the control unit 100 can detect the amount of elevation of the arm 22 based on the output of the encoder. Therefore, the output of the encoder corresponds to the information on the amount of elevation of the arm 22, the resist supply nozzle 21, and the upper sensor 24 described later.

In addition to the resist supply nozzle 21, the upper sensor 24, which is the first distance sensor, is also supported at the tip of the arm 22, and the arm 22, the resist supply nozzle 21, which is the processing liquid supply nozzle, and the upper sensor 24 move. It forms a moving body that moves integrally by the mechanism 23. The upper sensor 24 is a reflection type distance sensor, and irradiates light vertically downward from the lower end thereof to reflect light from an object irradiated with light (in this embodiment, the wafer W surface and the fixing base 31 as described later). Based on this, a detection signal corresponding to a distance (difference in height) between the lower end of the upper sensor 24 and the above-mentioned object is output to the control unit 100. Based on the detection signal, the control unit 100 detects the distance between the lower end of the upper sensor 24 and the above-mentioned object.

The arrangement of the resist supply nozzle 21 and the upper sensor 24 will be described in detail. The resist supply nozzle 21 and the upper sensor 24 are aligned so that the resist ejection position and the position of the optical axis of the irradiation light from the upper sensor 24 (that is, the position where the distance is measured) are aligned in the horizontal movement direction of the arm 22. It is provided on the arm 22. The resist supply nozzle 21 is provided so that the resist can be supplied along the radius of the wafer W, and for the upper sensor 24, each position along the radius of the wafer W and the upper sensor 24 It is provided so that the distance can be measured.

A fixing base 31 and a lower sensor 34 are provided below the moving path of the resist supply nozzle 21 and the upper sensor 24 between the spin chuck 11 and the standby portion 35 when viewed in a plane. The fixing base 31 is provided on the floor 32 on which the resist film forming module 1 is provided. The upper surface 33 of the fixed base 31 is a horizontal plane, and is used to set a reference height (zero point of height) in advance when acquiring the height distribution of the wafer W surface as described later.

A lower sensor 34, which is a second distance sensor, is fixedly provided on the standby portion 35 side with respect to the fixed base 31, and the fixed base 31 and the lower sensor 34 are a resist supply nozzle 21 and an upper sensor 24. They are lined up in the horizontal movement direction of. The lower sensor 34 has the same configuration as the upper sensor 24 except that it irradiates light vertically upward from the upper end thereof, and light is irradiated from the upper end of the lower sensor 34 and the lower sensor 34. The control unit 100 can detect the distance to the object. Further, the height of the upper end of the lower sensor 34 matches the height of the upper surface 33 of the fixed base 31, and the distance between the lower sensor 34 detected by the lower sensor 34 and the object is the fixed base 31. It corresponds to the difference in height between the upper surface 33 and the object. The lower sensor 34 and the control unit 100 form a reference height setting unit.

Subsequently, the control unit 100 provided in the coating / developing device 10 will be described. The control unit 100 is a calculation unit configured by a computer, and includes a program 101 and a memory 102. A group of steps is incorporated in the program 101 so that a series of operations described later in the coating and developing apparatus 10 can be carried out. Outputs a control signal to control the operation.

Specifically, the program 101 controls coating, transfer of the wafer W between the processing modules included in the developing apparatus 10, and operation in each processing module. The operation of the processing module includes acquisition of distance parameters by the

sensors

24 and 34 in the resist film forming module 1 described in detail later, formation of the resist film, acquisition of the height distribution of the surface of the wafer W, and hump height. The detection of the corresponding height and the abnormality determination of the wafer W based on the detected value are included. The program 101 is stored in a storage medium such as a compact disk, a hard disk, or a DVD, and is installed in the control unit 100. Further, in the memory 102, the height distribution of the surface of the acquired wafer W, the reference height set for acquiring the height distribution, and the reference height are set as described later.

Sensors

24 and 34 store parameters such as distances acquired by the

sensors

24 and 34, respectively.

Subsequently, an operation example of the resist film forming module 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 to 13. 3 to 10 are side views showing the operation of each part in the module from before the start of processing on the wafer W to the acquisition of the height distribution on the surface of the wafer W, and in FIGS. 3 to 10, the distances are shown. The light emitted from the upper sensor 24 and the lower sensor 34 when the detection is performed is indicated by an arrow of a two-dot chain line.

11 to 13 are top views of the wafer W mounted on the spin chuck 11 and show the operation of the upper sensor 24 and the wafer W after forming the resist film. In FIGS. 11 to 13, the notch, which is a notch at the peripheral end of the wafer W, is shown as N, and the light irradiated from the upper sensor 24 for detecting the distance to form an optical axis is shown as P. Therefore, in FIGS. 11 to 13, the position of the light P is shown to indicate the position where the distance is detected.

In the following description of the operation, each operation step until the distance parameter is acquired and the resist film is formed is step S, and each operation step for acquiring the height distribution of each position after the resist film is formed is stepped. Let it be T. Steps S3 to S6 are the first process of forming the resist film, and step T is the second process.

First, the resist supply nozzle 21 is moved from the state where it is located in the standby unit 35 (FIG. 3) to the outside of the standby unit 35 by the cooperation of the arm 22 ascending and horizontal movement, and the output of the predetermined encoder is obtained. The upper sensor 24 is located on the fixed base 31 while being located at a certain height. Then, light is emitted from the upper sensor 24, and the control unit 100 acquires a distance (third distance) L1 between the upper surface 33 of the fixed base 31 and the lower end of the upper sensor 24 (FIG. 4).

After that, when the arm 22 moves and the resist supply nozzle 21 is located on the lower sensor 34 and at a height that becomes the output of a predetermined encoder, light P is emitted from the lower sensor 34, and the light P is emitted. The distance (second distance) L2 between the upper end of the lower sensor 34 and the lower end of the resist supply nozzle 21 is acquired (FIG. 5). In the examples shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the positions of the resist supply nozzle 21 and the upper sensor 24 are higher when the distance L2 is acquired than when the distance L1 is acquired. Further, in FIG. 5, the positions of the resist supply nozzle 21 and the upper sensor 24 at the time of acquiring the distance L1 are shown by the alternate long and short dash line.

Based on the difference in the output of each encoder when the distance L1 is acquired and when the distance L2 is acquired, the control unit 100 calculates the height difference L3 between the resist supply nozzle 21 and the upper sensor 24 when the distance L1 is acquired and when the distance L2 is acquired. do. The difference in height between the upper surface 33 of the fixed base 31 and the lower end of the upper sensor 24 when the distance L2 is acquired is the distance L1 + the height difference L3. Since the heights of the upper surface 33 of the fixed base 31 and the upper end of the lower sensor 34 are the same as described above, the acquired distance L2 is the upper surface 33 of the fixed base 31 and the lower end of the resist supply nozzle 21. Is equal to the difference in height. From the above, the control unit 100 calculates as distance L4 = distance L1 + height difference L3-distance L2, which is the difference in height between the lower end of the resist supply nozzle 21 and the lower end of the upper sensor 24. Further, the control unit 100 sets the reference height L0 based on the distance L2, and detects the height of the upper sensor 24 with respect to the reference height L0. For example, the height of the lower end of the resist supply nozzle 21 when the distance L2 is acquired is set to the reference height L0 (step S2).

To briefly describe the operation in the above steps S1 and S2, the reference height L0 is set, and the height of the upper sensor 24 and the height of the resist supply nozzle 21 with respect to the reference height L0 are detected. It will be. After this step S2, even if the arm 22 moves up and down, the height of the upper sensor 24 and the height of the resist supply nozzle 21 with respect to the reference height L0 can be detected based on the output of the encoder.

After step S2 above, the upper sensor 24 is placed on the spin chuck 11 by the transport mechanism and horizontally moves onto the center of the stationary wafer W, and the output of the encoder is set to a predetermined value. The upper sensor 24 moves up and down. After that, the light P is irradiated from the upper sensor 24 to the center of the wafer W, and the distance L5 between the center of the wafer W and the lower end of the upper sensor 24 is acquired (step S3, FIG. 6). Then, the resist supply nozzle 21 moves horizontally so as to be located on the center of the wafer W, and the distance L5-distance L4 and the preset distance between the resist supply nozzle 21 and the wafer W (referred to as L6) are determined. The difference is calculated, and the resist supply nozzle 21 moves up and down by the amount of this difference. As a result, the resist supply nozzle 21 is located at a height separated from the center of the wafer W by the distance L6 (step S4). That is, the height of the resist supply nozzle 21 is determined based on the distance L4 (that is, based on the encoder outputs at the time of acquiring the distances L1 and L2 and the distances L1 and L2 acquired in steps S1 and S2).

After that, the wafer W rotates at a predetermined rotation speed, the resist R is started to be ejected from the resist supply nozzle 21, and the resist supply nozzle 21 starts horizontal movement toward the peripheral edge of the wafer W (step). S5, FIG. 7), the resist R is supplied to the surface of the wafer W. When the resist supply nozzle 21 is located on the peripheral end of the wafer W, the horizontal movement of the resist supply nozzle 21 stops, and when the resist R is applied to the entire surface of the wafer W, the discharge of the resist R stops (FIG. 8). The resist supply nozzle 21 rises, the wafer W continues to rotate at a predetermined rotation speed, and the resist R is dried and solidified to form the resist film R1 (step S6).

After that, the rotation of the wafer W is stopped, and the upper sensor 24 moves so as to be located at a predetermined height on the center of the wafer W (step T1). At this time, the distance (first distance) of the upper sensor 24 with respect to the reference height L0 is L7. Since the height of the upper sensor 24 with respect to the reference height L0 is detected in step S2 as described above, the distance L7 is calculated from the displacement between the encoder output in step S2 and the encoder output in step T1. Will be done.

Then, while the light P is irradiated from the upper sensor 24 (FIG. 9, left side of FIG. 11), the upper sensor 24 moves horizontally toward the peripheral edge of the wafer W, and the surface of the wafer W and the upper sensor 24 come into contact with each other. The distance (referred to as L8) is acquired. That is, the distance between each position in the radius of the wafer W and the upper sensor 24 is acquired. When the irradiation position of the light P moves to a predetermined position outside the wafer W (FIG. 10, center 11), the movement of the upper sensor 24 and the light irradiation are stopped. The height distribution in the radius of the wafer W is calculated by the difference between the distance L7 and the distance L8 (value detected by the upper sensor 24) continuously acquired while the upper sensor 24 is moving (step T2). The graph of FIG. 14 shows an example of the height distribution.

After that, the spin chuck 11 rotates, the orientation of the wafer W is changed by 90 ° clockwise, and then the wafer W stands still (right side of FIG. 11, step T3). After that, the light P is irradiated from the upper sensor 24, the upper sensor 24 moves horizontally toward the center of the wafer W, and the distance L8 between the surface of the wafer W and the upper sensor 24 is acquired again. When the irradiation position of the light P moves to a predetermined position on the peripheral edge of the wafer W (left side of FIG. 12), the movement of the upper sensor 24 and the light irradiation are stopped. The height distribution along the radial direction at the peripheral edge of the wafer W is calculated from the difference between the distance L7 and the distance L8 (step T4). The graph of FIG. 15 shows an example of the height distribution.

Subsequently, the spin chuck 11 rotates, the orientation of the wafer W is changed by 90 ° clockwise, and then the wafer W stands still (center of FIG. 12, step T5). After that, the light P is irradiated from the upper sensor 24, and the upper sensor 24 moves horizontally toward the peripheral portion of the wafer W, and the distance L8 between the surface of the wafer W and the upper sensor 24 is acquired. When the irradiation position of the light P moves to a predetermined position outside the wafer W (right side of FIG. 12), the movement of the upper sensor 24 and the light irradiation are stopped. A height distribution similar to that shown in FIG. 15 is obtained by the difference between the distance L7 and the distance L8 (step T6). Therefore, in this step T6, the height distribution of the wafer W is acquired in the same manner as in step T4, except that the moving direction of the upper sensor 24 is different.

After that, the spin chuck 11 rotates, the orientation of the wafer W is changed by 90 ° clockwise, and then the wafer W stands still (left side of FIG. 13, step T7). After that, the light P is irradiated from the upper sensor 24, the upper sensor 24 moves horizontally toward the center of the wafer W, and the distance L8 between the surface of the wafer W and the upper sensor 24 is acquired. When the irradiation position of the light P moves to a predetermined position on the peripheral edge of the wafer W (right side of FIG. 13), the movement of the upper sensor 24 and the light irradiation are stopped, and the distances L7 and L8 are the same as those shown in FIG. The height distribution of the wafer W is acquired (step T8). Therefore, in this step T8, the height distribution of the wafer W is acquired as in the above step T4. After that, the upper sensor 24 is retracted from the wafer W, and the resist supply nozzle 21 returns to the standby unit 35 (step T9). Then, the wafer W is carried out from the resist film forming module 1 by the transport mechanism of the coating and developing apparatus 10.

In this way, in steps T1 to T9, the wafer W is intermittently rotated, and the height distribution is acquired by moving the upper sensor 24 when the wafer W is stationary during such an intermittent rotation period. .. FIG. 16 shows the movement paths of the light P in the above steps T2, T4, T6, and T8 as A1, A2, A3, and A4, respectively, corresponding to the wafer W. The outer peripheral end of the wafer W of the movement paths A1 to A4 is, for example, 2 mm away from the peripheral end of the wafer W. Further, the central end of the wafer W of the movement paths A2 to A4 is, for example, 3 mm away from the peripheral end of the wafer W. Therefore, the height distribution between the first position 2 mm closer to the center of the peripheral edge of the wafer W and the second position of the peripheral edge of the wafer W is acquired at the four positions on the peripheral edge of the wafer W. It will be.

The rotation speed of the wafer W in steps T3, T5, and T7 is, for example, 10 rpm. Further, the time required for each step T, that is, the time for the upper sensor 24 to move in each step T as described above is, for example, 10 seconds for T1, T4, T6, and T8, and for example, 152 seconds for T2, T3, and T5. T7 is, for example, 15 seconds, and T9 is 5 seconds.

Then, with respect to the height distribution of FIG. 14 acquired in step T2, the peak of the waveform on the peripheral end side of the wafer W from the predetermined position (represented as R0) on the peripheral edge of the wafer W is the top of the hump. It is assumed that the difference between the peak and the reference height L0 is detected as the height L9 corresponding to the height of the hump. Regarding the height distribution acquired in steps T4, T6, and T8, it is assumed that the peak of the waveform represents the top of the hump, and the difference between the peak and the reference height L0 is the height L9 corresponding to the height of the hump. Is detected as. Then, each of these heights L9 is compared with a preset allowable value. If both are equal to or less than the allowable value, the wafer W is considered to have no abnormality with respect to the hump, and if any height L9 exceeds the allowable value, the wafer W is considered to have an abnormality with respect to the hump.

It is assumed that the abnormality of the wafer W is determined based on the difference L9 between the reference height L0 and the peak height of the waveform of the height distribution. The difference in height of the hump may be detected, that is, the height of the hump itself may be detected, and the presence or absence of an abnormality may be determined based on the detected value.

By the way, in step T2 described above, the radius of the wafer W, that is, the height distribution from the central portion to the peripheral portion of the wafer W is acquired. Therefore, among the height distributions acquired in step T2, the height distribution on the central side of the wafer W, that is, the height distribution closer to the center of the wafer W than the height distributions acquired in steps T4, T6, and T8. The flatness of the resist film may be detected based on the above, and the presence or absence of an abnormality in the wafer W may be determined. Specifically, for example, the difference in height between the highest position and the lowest position in the height distribution on the central portion side is calculated. If the difference value is within the permissible range, it is assumed that the wafer W has no abnormality in flatness (high flatness), and if the difference value is out of the permissible range, the wafer W has an abnormality in flatness. (Low flatness). The control unit 100 that makes such a determination forms a determination unit.

Subsequently, the configuration of the coating and developing apparatus 10 will be described with reference to the plan view of FIG. 17 and the side view of FIG. The coating / developing apparatus 10 is configured by connecting the carrier block D1, the processing block D2, and the interface block D3 in order in the left-right direction, and the interface block D3 is connected to the exposure machine D4. The carrier block D1 includes a stage 41 of the transport container C, an opening / closing section 42, and a transport mechanism 43 for transporting the wafer W to the transport container C via the opening / closing section 42.

The processing block D2 is configured by stacking layers E1 to E6 in order from the bottom, layers E1 to E3 are configured in the same manner as layers for forming a resist film, and layers E4 to E6 are layers for development. They are configured in the same way as each other. Hierarchy E1 will be described as a representative. A transfer region 51 of the wafer W extending to the left and right is formed, and a transfer mechanism F1 is provided in the transfer area 51. A hydrophobic module 52 and a heating module 53 are provided on the rear side of the transport region 51. The hydrophobizing module 52 supplies a treatment gas to the surface of the wafer W to perform the hydrophobizing treatment before forming the resist film. The heating module 53 heats the wafer W after forming the resist film to remove the solvent contained in the resist. A plurality of the resist film forming modules 1 described above are provided side by side on the front side of the transport region 51.

Layers E4 to E6 are provided except that a developing module is provided in place of the resist film forming module 1, a hydrophobizing module 52 is not provided, and the heating module 53 performs PEB (Post Exposure Bake). The configuration is the same as that of the layers E1 to E3. The transport mechanism corresponding to the transport mechanism F1 in the layers E2 to E6 is shown as F2 to F6. Further, the processing block D2 is provided with a tower V1 so as to straddle the layers E1 to E6 on the carrier block D1 side in the transport area 51. Tower V1 includes a large number of transfer modules TRS stacked on top of each other. A transport mechanism 54 for transporting between the transfer modules TRS is provided.

The interface block D3 includes towers V2, V3, and V4 in which a plurality of modules are laminated with each other. Although detailed description of the modules included in the towers V2 to V4 will be omitted, the module of the tower V2 includes a transfer module TRS stacked in multiple stages.

Reference numerals

61, 62, and 63 in the drawing are transfer mechanisms for transferring the wafer W between the towers V2 and V3, between the towers V3 and V4, and between the tower V2 and the exposure machine D4.

In the coating / developing apparatus 10, the wafer W is transported from the transport container C to the tower V1 via the transport mechanism 43, and then is carried into any of the layers E1 to E3 via the transport mechanism 54. Then, the wafer W is conveyed in the order of the hydrophobicity module 52 → the resist film forming module 1 → the heating module 53 → the tower V2 by the transfer mechanisms F1 to F3. As a result, the hydrophobizing treatment, the formation of the resist film described above, the acquisition of the height distribution, the detection of the hump height, the abnormality determination of the wafer W, and the heat treatment are sequentially performed. After that, the wafer W is passed between the towers V2 and V4 by the transport mechanisms 61 to 63, is conveyed to the exposure machine D4, and the resist film is exposed along the circuit pattern.

The exposed wafer W is passed between the towers V2 to V4 by the transfer mechanisms 61 to 63, is carried into the layers E4 to E6, and is conveyed in the order of the heating module 53 → the developing module by the transfer mechanisms F4 to F6. As a result, PEB and development processing are performed in order, and a resist pattern is formed. After that, the wafer W is returned to the transport container C via the tower V1 and the

transport mechanisms

54 and 43.

According to the above-mentioned coating and developing apparatus 10, the wafer W is rotated by the spin chuck 11 in the resist film forming module 1, and the upper sensor 24 is moved by the moving mechanism 23 and the arm 22. With such a configuration, the height distribution between the center side and the peripheral end side of the wafer W at a plurality of positions separated from each other in the circumferential direction of the wafer W is acquired at the peripheral edge portion of the wafer W. Therefore, the resist film forming module 1 stores the wafer W after forming the resist film in the transport container C, further transports the wafer W to an external measuring instrument of the coating and developing apparatus 10, and takes out the wafer W from the transport container C to hump. There is no need to measure the height. That is, with respect to the coating and developing apparatus 10, it takes less time and effort to acquire the above height distribution in order to obtain information on the height of the hump.

If the height of the hump of the resist film is too large, the lower layer film provided in the lower layer of the resist film is etched by using the resist pattern, and when the unnecessary resist pattern is ashed, the hump portion is used. There is a risk of insufficient ashing. In order to prevent this, if the processing time is lengthened or the intensity of the plasma used for ashing is increased, the damage to the central portion of the wafer W becomes large. Further, if the height of the hump of the resist film is too large, the etching of the lower position of the hump of the resist film is insufficient for the above-mentioned lower layer film, and the recess may not be formed in the place where the recess should be formed. There is a risk of doing so. In that case, when CMP or cleaning is performed after the etching, the slurry for CMP or the cleaning liquid used for cleaning is not discharged to the outside of the wafer W through the recess, and may remain on the surface of the wafer W, resulting in a defect. There is.

If the height of the hump is too large as described above, the yield of the semiconductor product manufactured from the wafer W may decrease. Therefore, in the coating / developing apparatus 10, acquiring the height distribution of the peripheral portion of the wafer W as described above and determining the abnormality of the wafer W is, for example, various parameters for performing maintenance and processing of each part of the module. It will promote the adjustment of the above at an appropriate timing, and will contribute to prevent the decrease in the yield of semiconductor products. It is not necessary to acquire the height distribution of the wafers W in steps T1 to T8 for each wafer W, and it is performed once for each processing of a predetermined number of wafers W or for each lot of wafers W. You may try to do it.

Further, in the resist film forming module 1, by using the distance L2 detected by the lower sensor 34, the reference height L0 can be set, the height of the resist supply nozzle 21 from the reference height L0 can be detected, and the resist can be obtained. Detection of the height difference between the supply nozzle 21 and the upper sensor 24 is performed. That is, by providing the lower sensor 34, these settings and detection operations can be automatically performed. For example, it is advantageous for the user of the device to take less time and effort than setting and detecting these parameters by measuring the distance from the fixed base 31 by using a jig.

By the way, by performing the above steps S1 and S2 once, each acquired parameter is stored in the memory 102 of the control unit 100. After that, since the stored parameters can be used, steps S1 and S2 do not have to be repeated. Therefore, after executing steps S1 and S2 once, the lower sensor 34 used only in step S2 may be removed from the resist film forming module 1. However, if the configuration of the resist film forming module 1 is changed by replacing the resist supply nozzle 21 or by adjusting each part of the module, a deviation occurs between the acquired parameter and the actual value. Is possible. Therefore, it is preferable to permanently install the lower sensor 34 in the module so that each parameter can be updated by executing steps S1 and S2 at arbitrary timings, for example, when the device is started.

Further, for steps T1 to T9 for acquiring the height distribution, the rotation speed of the wafer W, the position of the moving body including the upper sensor 24, the arm 22 and the resist supply nozzle 21, the time for performing the step, and the like are specified for each step. The control unit 100 outputs a control signal according to the recipe which is the parameter group. As for steps S3 to S6 for forming the resist film on the wafer W, as in steps T1 to T9, a parameter group that defines the rotation speed of the wafer W, the position of the moving body, the time for performing the step, and the like for each step. The control unit 100 outputs a control signal according to the recipe. That is, the rotation speed of the wafer W and the position of the moving body in each step S and T are preset, and when the preset time for one step elapses, the process proceeds to the next step. However, as described above, regarding the height position of the moving body at the time of resist ejection in step S5, as described in FIGS. 6 and 7, the height is set in advance by the distance L5 detected by the upper sensor 24. It will be changed.

The recipe for executing steps T1 to T9 as described above will include the same parameters as the recipe for performing steps S3 to S6 for forming the resist film. Therefore, the recipe for executing steps T1 to T9 can be created by appropriately diverting or changing the recipe for executing steps S3 to S6, and thus has an advantage that the recipe can be easily created. This is because the mechanism for acquiring the height distribution of the wafer W in steps T1 to T9 uses the spin chuck 11, the arm 22, the moving mechanism 23, and the upper sensor 24 for performing resist coating in steps S3 to S6. It can be said that there is an advantage. Each recipe is stored in the memory 102 of the control unit 100.

Further, when setting the reference height L0 used for acquiring the height distribution in steps T1 to T9, the lower sensor 34 detects the distance L2 from the resist supply nozzle 21. The value calculated from the distance L2 is also used for adjusting the height of the resist supply nozzle 21 at the time of resist ejection, and by controlling the height of the nozzle, the controllability of the film thickness in each part of the resist film is high. Therefore, the desired film thickness can be obtained. That is, both the effects of setting the reference height L0 by measuring the distance L2 to enable the measurement of the surface height of the wafer W and increasing the controllability of the film thickness of the resist film can be obtained. Therefore, it is preferable.

Further, in steps T1 to T9, the upper sensor 24 reciprocates on the peripheral edge portion of the wafer W when the wafer W is stationary and when the wafer W is then stationary. By operating the upper sensor 24 in this way, unnecessary movement of the upper sensor 24 for acquiring the height distribution can be omitted. As a result, it is possible to suppress the lengthening of the stationary time of the wafer W, so that the decrease in throughput is suppressed.

By the way, since the height distribution other than the peripheral portion of the wafer W is also acquired in step T2, the height distribution of this step T2 is used to cancel the influence of the warp of the wafer W on the peripheral portion of the wafer W. The height distribution may be acquired to determine the presence or absence of an abnormality in the hump. Specifically, it will be described with reference to FIG. The upper part of FIG. 19 shows an example of the height distribution of the radius of the wafer W acquired in step T2. As for this height distribution, there is a relatively large difference between the center side and the peripheral side of the wafer W due to the warp of the wafer W, and the height of the surface of the wafer W becomes larger toward the peripheral edge, and the reference height is reached. It is far from L0.

The control unit 100, which forms a warp correction mechanism, determines the height of the wafer W at the center of the wafer W and the height of the wafer W at a position R0 closer to the center than the position where the hump is formed at the peripheral edge of the wafer W. The difference H1 is calculated. Then, the height of the wafer W on the peripheral end side of the position R0 is corrected by H1 so that the height of the wafer W at the position R0 is aligned with the height of the center of the wafer W. The lower part of FIG. 19 shows the height distribution corrected in this way.

Then, the height L9 corresponding to the height of the hump described above is detected from the corrected height distribution, and the abnormality is determined. Regarding the height distribution calculated in steps T4, T6, and T8, the height of the wafer W is corrected by H1 and the height L9 is detected to determine an abnormality. However, as described above, the spin chuck 11 sucks the mounted wafer W. If the warp of the wafer W is eliminated by this suction, the above correction may not be performed.

By the way, the control unit 100 is configured to transmit information for identifying the wafer W such as an ID to the wafer W for which the height of the hump is determined to be abnormal, in the exposure machine D4. , The processing may be performed based on the information. A more detailed description will be given with reference to FIGS. 20 and 21. 71 in the figure is a stage on which the wafer W is placed in the exposure machine D4, and 72 in the figure is an exposure head that irradiates the wafer W with light. By moving the stage 71 back and forth and left and right, a large number of chip forming regions, which are semiconductor products, are sequentially exposed in the plane of the wafer W.

FIG. 20 shows a case where a normal wafer W is processed, and FIG. 21 shows a case where an abnormal wafer W is processed. When processing an abnormal wafer W, the movement of the stage 71 is restricted as compared with the case where a normal wafer W is processed, and the chip forming region located closest to the peripheral end of the wafer W is not exposed. Therefore, the range of exposure for forming the pattern is controlled based on the presence or absence of abnormality in the wafer W in the resist film.

By not exposing the peripheral portion of the wafer W determined to be abnormal as described above, the operating cost of the exposure machine D4 can be reduced and the throughput of the exposure machine D4 can be improved. The resist film exposed by the exposure machine D4 may be formed by the resist film forming module 1 as described above, or may be formed by the resist film forming module 8 described later. It may be EBR processed.

When the abnormal wafer W is exposed to the formation region of each chip in the same manner as the normal wafer W without controlling the exposure range as shown in FIG. 21, for example, among the semiconductor products manufactured from the abnormal wafer W. , Chips manufactured from the formation region closest to the peripheral edge of the wafer W may be regarded as an abnormal product. That is, the chip may be excluded from the inspection target and discarded, and the chip may be excluded from the yield calculation.

Further, the hump is not limited to being formed by supplying the coating liquid in a spiral shape as in the resist film forming module 1. FIG. 22 shows a resist film forming module 8 that forms a resist film in a form different from that of the resist film forming module 1. Instead of providing a plurality of resist film forming modules 1 on each layer E1 to E3 of the coating and developing apparatus 10, resist

film forming modules

1 and 8 are provided side by side.

The difference between the resist film forming module 8 and the resist film forming module 1 will be described. In the resist film forming module 8, a resist is supplied to the center of the wafer W, and by rotating the wafer W, the resist is expanded by centrifugal force to form the resist film R1 on the entire surface of the wafer W. Therefore, the resist film R1 is formed by so-called spin coating. A cup 81 surrounding the wafer W placed on the spin chuck 11 which is a processing stage is provided in order to receive the resist scattered from the wafer W and the thinner described later during the spin coating.

The resist film forming module 8 includes a thinner supply nozzle 83 supported by the arm 82, and the arm 82 has a movement mechanism (not shown) having the same configuration as the movement mechanism 23 for moving the arm 22, and is used in an upper region of the wafer W. Moves between and its outside. The thinner supply nozzle 83 discharges thinner 84, which is a treatment liquid, to the peripheral portion of the rotating wafer W after forming the resist film, so that the thinner 84 is discharged from the peripheral portion of the wafer W to the circumference of the wafer W. The resist film R1 in the region reaching the edge is removed. That is, a so-called EBR (Edge Bead Removal) treatment is performed in which the coating film is limitedly removed at the peripheral edge of the wafer W.

The thinner 84 supplied to the wafer W slightly pushes the melted resist toward the center side of the wafer W, so that a hump may be formed on the resist film R1 after the EBR treatment. The height of this hump may differ in the circumferential direction of the wafer W due to the positional deviation of the wafer W with respect to the spin chuck 11 and the bias of the liquid flow of the thinner 84 in the circumferential direction of the wafer W.

In each layer E1 to E3, the wafer W processed by the resist film forming module 8 is conveyed to the resist film forming module 1 by the conveying mechanisms F1 to F3, and the above-described steps T1 to T9 are executed. The wafer W is conveyed in the coating and developing apparatus 10 by the same route as the above-mentioned transfer route, except that the resist film forming modules are transferred between the layers E1 to E3 in this way. Therefore, the transfer mechanisms F1 to F3 transfer from the resist film forming module 8 to the resist film forming module 1 without passing through the transfer container C. Therefore, even if the coating and developing apparatus 10 is provided with the resist film forming module 8, it is not necessary to transfer the wafer W to an external measuring device after forming the resist film, so that the height distribution is distributed as described above. It is possible to reduce the time and effort required for acquisition.

When the resist film forming module 8 is provided in the apparatus, the resist film forming module 1 does not include the resist supply nozzle 21 and can be an inspection-dedicated module for acquiring the height distribution. In making such an inspection-dedicated module, the upper sensor 24 is not limited to linearly moving between the position on the center side and the position on the peripheral end side of the wafer W, and draws a planar arc as shown in FIG. 23, for example. You may move it. In the figure, 85 is a rotation mechanism to which the base end side of the arm 22 is connected and the arm 22 is swiveled around a vertical axis, and in the figure 86 is an elevating mechanism for raising and lowering the rotation mechanism 85. In the configuration example of FIG. 23, the height distribution is acquired in the same manner as in the examples shown in FIGS. 13 to 15, except that the locus of movement of the upper sensor 24 is different.

Further, when the resist film forming module 1 is used as an inspection-dedicated module in which the nozzle 21 is not provided, in step S2, instead of irradiating the resist supply nozzle 21 with light from the lower sensor 34, for example, the arm 22 is irradiated with light to reduce the distance. The height that is detected and separated from the distance by a predetermined distance may be determined as the reference height L0.

Further, in the case of making such an inspection-dedicated module, for example, the upper sensor 24 irradiated with light on the fixed base 31 is moved up and down, and the height at which the distance L1 becomes a desired value is set as the reference height L0. After that, the height of the upper sensor 24 with respect to the reference height L0 may be detected from the output of the encoder. That is, when the resist supply nozzle 21 is not provided, it is not necessary to acquire the height of the resist supply nozzle 21 with respect to the reference height L0, so that the module does not need to be provided with the lower sensor 34 for detecting the nozzle 21. Often, the reference height L0 may be set without using the lower sensor 34.

Further, in the case of the inspection-dedicated module, the arm 22 may be configured so that the upper sensor 24 does not move up and down and only moves horizontally. Then, the distance L7 between the arbitrarily set reference height L0 and the upper sensor 24 is acquired by using, for example, a jig, and the wafer is obtained from the distance L7 and the distance L8 between the wafer W detected by the upper sensor 24. The height distribution of W may be acquired. In such a configuration, since there is no displacement in the height of the upper sensor 24, the height distribution of the wafer W can be obtained without using the output of the encoder.

By the way, in performing the resist film formation and the acquisition of the height distribution by the resist film forming module 1, as step S1 shown in FIG. 4, light is irradiated from the upper sensor 24 to the fixed base 31 to form the upper sensor 24 and the fixed base 31. Although the distance L1 to and from is acquired, the distance L1 may be acquired by facing the upper sensor 24 to the lower sensor 34 and irradiating the lower sensor 34 with light. Therefore, it is not necessary to provide the fixing base 31. Further, when the upper sensor 24 and the lower sensor 34 face each other to acquire the distance L1, the distance L1 may be acquired by irradiating the upper sensor 24 with light from the lower sensor 34. Further, in the above example, the heights of the resist supply nozzle 21 and the upper sensor 24 are changed between the execution of step S1 and the execution of step S2, but they may be the same height.

In the above-mentioned example, the height distribution of the wafer W is acquired at four positions on the peripheral edge of the wafer W, but the acquisition position is not limited to four, and there are more or less positions. It may be acquired at the position. However, since the height of the hump differs in the circumferential direction of the wafer W as described above, the height distribution is acquired at a plurality of positions by utilizing the rotation of the wafer W. Further, in the above-described example, the height distribution from the position near the center of the wafer W to the peripheral end of the wafer W is acquired at the peripheral edge of the wafer W, but the resist film forming module 8 processes the height distribution. As in the case, the hump may be formed on the center side of the peripheral edge of the wafer W. Therefore, the height distribution up to the peripheral end of the wafer W is not acquired, and the position between the position closer to the center of the wafer W at the peripheral edge of the wafer W and the position closer to the center than the peripheral end of the wafer W. The height distribution of may be obtained.

An example of acquiring a height distribution and determining an abnormality of a wafer W on which a resist film is formed has been described, but for a wafer W on which a coating film other than a resist film such as an antireflection film and an insulating film is formed, the wafer W has been described. The height distribution may be acquired and an abnormality may be determined by the procedure described above. Further, by moving the nozzle that discharges the coating liquid in the state where the wafer W is rotated from the peripheral end side to the center side of the wafer W, an annular coating film is formed at the peripheral edge portion of the wafer W. In the annular coating film, a hump may be formed at a position on the center side of the wafer W. Even for the wafer W on which such a coating film is formed, the height distribution can be obtained and the abnormality can be determined by the procedure described above.

As a substrate processing apparatus, a configuration example for forming and developing a resist film as a coating film has been shown, but the configuration is not limited to such a configuration, and only the coating film is formed or only EBR is performed. It may be a configuration. Further, the upper sensor 24 and the lower sensor 34 may be any as long as they can measure the distance to an object away from each sensor. Therefore, the present invention is not limited to the optical distance sensor described above, and for example, an ultrasonic distance sensor may be used.

It should be noted that the embodiments disclosed this time are exemplary in all respects and are not considered to be restrictive. The above embodiments may be omitted, replaced, modified or combined in various forms without departing from the scope of the appended claims and their gist.

(Reference test)
A coating film is formed on the wafer W, and the height of the hump of the coating film is such that the spectroscopic ellipsometry type film thickness measuring instrument and the upper sensor 24 move on the wafer W in the same manner as the resist film forming module 1. Measurements were made using the configured test equipment. The above-mentioned film thickness measuring device is configured to measure the surface of the wafer W at intervals of 10 μm, and the test device is configured so that the distance can be acquired at intervals of 0.1 μm while moving. Then, the actual height of the hump of the wafer W measured by the film thickness measuring device and the test device is measured by observing the cross section by X-SEM (cross-sectional scanning electron microscopy), and the film thickness is measured. The accuracy of the measurement results in the measuring instrument and test equipment was confirmed.

The graph of FIG. 24 shows the result of this reference test. The horizontal axis (X axis) of the graph shows the height (unit: Å) of the hump measured by X-SEM, and the vertical axis (Y axis) of the graph is measured by each of the test device and the film thickness measuring device. It shows the height of the hump (unit: Å). In the graph, the results of the test equipment are shown by white dots, and the results of the film thickness measuring instrument are shown by the shaded dots. The solid line and the dotted line in the graph are approximate straight lines of the results obtained by each of the test device and the film thickness measuring device.

The approximate straight line of the test device was Y = 0.9877X, and the approximate straight line of the film thickness measuring instrument was Y = 0.3671X. Therefore, according to this reference test, it can be seen that the height of the hump can be measured with high accuracy according to the resist film forming module 1 described above. The accuracy of the hump height of the film thickness measuring instrument was low because the measurement interval on the surface of the wafer W was relatively large, and the height of the top of the hump was not measured and was displaced from the top. It is probable that the height of the hump was measured.

10 Coating and developing equipment 11 Spin chuck 21 Resist supply nozzle 22 Arm 23 Moving mechanism 24 Upper sensor 12 Rotating mechanism

Claims

A treatment liquid supply nozzle that supplies treatment liquid to at least the peripheral edge of the surface of the substrate and performs treatment.
A stage on which the substrate to which the treatment liquid is supplied is placed, and
A moving body including a first distance sensor for detecting a distance between the substrate mounted on the stage and the substrate.
The height distribution between the first position on the peripheral edge of the substrate, which is a position closer to the center of the substrate, and the second position, which is a position on the peripheral end side of the substrate with respect to the first position, is A moving mechanism for laterally moving the moving body on the peripheral edge of the substrate so as to be acquired.
A rotation mechanism for rotating the stage with respect to the moving body in order to acquire the height distributions at a plurality of positions separated from each other in the circumferential direction of the substrate.
Substrate processing equipment.
The moving mechanism raises and lowers the moving body with respect to the stage and outputs information on the amount of raising and lowering.
The reference height when the moving body moves laterally calculated by the information on the amount of ascending / descending, the first distance between the first distance sensor, the value detected by the first distance sensor, and the value detected by the first distance sensor. The board processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a calculation unit for acquiring the height distribution is provided based on the above.
The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein a reference height setting unit for setting the reference height is provided.
The reference height setting unit is
The arithmetic unit and a second distance sensor provided below the moving path of the moving body and for detecting a second distance to the moving body are included.
The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the calculation unit sets the reference height based on the second distance.
The processing liquid supply nozzle is included in the moving body, and the second distance is the distance between the processing liquid supply nozzle and the second distance sensor.
The arithmetic unit
The second distance, the third distance between the first distance sensor and the second distance sensor acquired by the first or second distance sensor, and the second distance, said. The substrate processing according to claim 4, wherein the height of the processing liquid supply nozzle when supplying the processing liquid to the substrate is determined based on the information on the amount of ascending / descending when each of the third distances is acquired. Device.
The treatment liquid is a coating liquid for forming a coating film, and is a coating liquid.
In the rotating substrate, the first process of moving the treatment liquid supply nozzle by the movement mechanism is performed so that the supply position of the coating liquid moves from the central portion to the peripheral portion of the substrate.
The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein a second process of acquiring height distributions at a plurality of positions is performed on the substrate on which the first process has been performed.
A control unit that outputs control signals is provided, and
The first process and the second process each include a plurality of steps performed in succession.
The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein each step is performed by outputting the control signal based on a recipe set for each of the rotation speed of the substrate, the position of the moving body, and the time for performing the step.
The treatment liquid is a removal liquid for limitingly removing a film formed on the entire surface of the substrate placed on a treatment stage different from the stage at the peripheral edge of the substrate.
The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a transport mechanism for transporting the substrate from the processing stage to the stage without passing through a transport container sealed with the substrate stored inside is provided.
The acquisition of the height distribution at the plurality of positions is
Intermittent rotation of the substrate by the rotation mechanism and
The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first distance sensor is laterally moved by the moving mechanism when the substrate is stationary during the period of intermittent rotation.
The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the first distance sensor reciprocates on the peripheral edge of the substrate when the substrate is stationary and when the substrate is then stationary.
The substrate according to claim 1, wherein the distance between the first distance sensor and the central portion of the substrate is acquired by the first distance sensor, and a correction mechanism for correcting the height distribution based on the distance is provided. Processing equipment.
One of the plurality of height distributions acquired by the first distance sensor is a height distribution extending from the central portion to the peripheral portion of the substrate.
The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a determination unit for determining the presence or absence of an abnormality in the substrate is provided based on the height distribution on the center side of the substrate in the height distribution.
The process of supplying the treatment liquid to at least the peripheral edge of the surface of the substrate by the treatment liquid supply nozzle and performing the treatment.
The process of placing the substrate to which the treatment liquid is supplied on the stage, and
A step of detecting the distance between the substrate and the substrate mounted on the stage by the first distance sensor included in the moving body, and
The moving body is laterally moved on the peripheral edge of the substrate by the moving mechanism, and the first position, which is a position closer to the center of the substrate on the peripheral edge of the substrate, and the position higher than the first position. The process of acquiring the height distribution between the second position, which is the position on the peripheral end side of the substrate, and
A step of rotating the stage with respect to the moving body by a rotation mechanism and acquiring the height distributions at a plurality of positions separated from each other in the circumferential direction of the substrate.
A substrate processing method comprising.
The treatment liquid is a resist that forms a resist film on the substrate, or a removal liquid that limitedly removes a portion of the resist film formed on the entire surface of the substrate that is formed on the peripheral edge of the substrate.
The substrate processing method according to claim 13, further comprising a step of controlling an exposure range for forming a pattern in the resist film based on the height distribution.