JP2002177854A - Substrate treatment apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a substrate treatment apparatus capable of accurately treating a substrate by a wet process and capable of washing even the back surface of the substrate. SOLUTION: In the substrate treatment apparatus 2, the substrate W is held on a rotary support plate 21 and subjected to rotary treatment in the treatment space S formed between an upper rotary plate 41 and the rotary support plate 21 so as to hold the substrate W. A liquid nozzle 34 has a nozzle orifice 34a formed thereto so as to face to the center of the back surface of the substrate W. Nitrogen gas discharge orifices 35c are equally formed to the periphery of the nozzle orifices 34a. A gas supply passage 35 is connected to a conduit 35b through a gas storage part 35a and the leading end of the conduit 35b is connected to the discharge orifices 35c. The conduit 35b is inclined so as to eject nitrogen gas to the vicinity of the center of the substrate W.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus for performing required processing such as chemical processing, cleaning processing and drying processing while rotating a substrate such as a glass substrate for a liquid crystal display or a semiconductor wafer in a horizontal plane.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional substrate processing apparatus of this type will be described with reference to FIG. This substrate processing apparatus rotates a substrate W such as a semiconductor wafer or a glass substrate in a horizontal plane,
This is an apparatus that performs a chemical treatment, a cleaning treatment, and a drying treatment on the front and back surfaces of the substrate W in that order. This substrate processing apparatus includes a rotation support plate 110 that holds a substrate W in a horizontal posture. The rotation support plate 110 is a circular flat plate in a plan view, and has a plurality of drive pins 120 that stand on the upper surface of the rotation support plate 110 to engage with the outer peripheral edge of the substrate W and support the substrate W.

A device in which a plurality of processes are performed by a single device is known, for example, from Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H10-57877. In this known substrate processing apparatus, after the cleaning is completed, when the supply of the cleaning liquid is stopped and the substrate is rotated at high speed, spin drying can be performed, but the peripheral speed differs between the rotational center position of the substrate and the peripheral portion. Therefore, in view of the fact that the entire surface cannot be dried evenly, it is configured as schematically shown in FIG.

That is, a liquid nozzle 130 is provided above the substrate W with the substrate W interposed therebetween.
The tip of 30 faces the center of the upper surface of the substrate W. The liquid nozzle 130 includes a plurality of liquid nozzles connected to the chemical liquid supply source and the cleaning liquid supply source, respectively. On the other hand, below the substrate W, an opening 110a is provided at the center of rotation of the rotation support plate 110, and the cylindrical shaft 140 is connected and fixed to the opening 110a. A liquid nozzle 150 is provided along the center of the cylindrical shaft 140, and the tip of the liquid nozzle 150 faces the center of the lower surface of the substrate W. The liquid nozzle 150 is formed as a double pipe, and the inner pipe 151 is a path for supplying nitrogen gas, and the outer pipe 152 is a path for supplying pure water.

[0005] Then, a jet port 151 communicating with the inner pipe 151 is provided.
a is opened at the center of rotation on the back surface of the substrate W, and nitrogen gas is injected toward the center of rotation on the back surface of the substrate W. In addition, a plurality of ejection ports 15 are provided around the ejection port 151a.
2 a is bored at a predetermined angle with respect to the axis of the outer tube 152, and the jet port 152 a communicates with the outer tube 152. When the pure water is supplied to the outer tube 152, the pure water is sprayed on the back surface of the substrate W.

[0006]

However, the prior art having such a structure has the following problems. In the substrate processing apparatus configured as described above, the substrate processing is performed as follows. When the number of rotations of the substrate W reaches a predetermined value, a chemical solution and a cleaning liquid are supplied in that order from the upper and lower liquid nozzles 130 and 150 while introducing an inert gas, and the front and back surfaces of the substrate W are processed. When the chemical processing and the cleaning processing of the substrate W are completed, only the inert gas is introduced while rotating the substrate W, and the substrate W is dried.

On the other hand, in today's various device manufacturing processes that require finer technology, even fine dust and the like, which has not been a problem in the past, may cause particles and reduce the yield. Therefore, sufficient cleaning has been required even on the back surface of the substrate W.

That is, in the case of the conventional example, there is a problem that the vicinity of the center of the back surface of the substrate W is not sufficiently cleaned by the chemical solution or the cleaning solution due to the inert gas ejected. This becomes more remarkable when the supply amount of the inert gas increases when the size of the substrate W is increased.

On the other hand, the supply of the inert gas is made from the outer pipes 152, 152, and the supply of the processing liquid is made from the inner pipe 151.
From the center of rotation on the back surface of the substrate W. However, in this case, the processing liquid stays near the rotation center on the back surface of the substrate W, and causes particles as attached matter after drying.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a processing apparatus which can accurately process a substrate by a wet process and can evenly clean the back surface of the substrate. is there.

[0011]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a substrate processing apparatus for performing a required process on a substrate while rotating the substrate supplied with the processing liquid. A substrate holding means for holding the substrate, and a processing liquid discharge nozzle are arranged to face the vicinity of the center of the processing surface of the substrate held by the substrate holding means, and supply the processing liquid toward the vicinity of the center of the processing surface of the substrate. Processing liquid supply means,
An inert gas ejecting means disposed around the processing liquid ejection nozzle and having an ejection port for ejecting an inert gas toward the vicinity of the center of the processing surface of the substrate. is there.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the substrate processing apparatus of the first aspect, the processing liquid supply means has a plurality of processing liquid supply sources, and switches and supplies the processing liquid to the processing liquid discharge nozzle. It is characterized by.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the substrate processing apparatus according to the first or second aspect, the inert gas jetting means is a gas reservoir formed annularly around a processing liquid discharge nozzle. And a plurality of conduits extending from the gas reservoir toward the vicinity of the center of the processing surface of the substrate are connected to a discharge port.

The operation of the present invention is as follows. In the substrate processing apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention, the processing liquid discharge nozzle is disposed so as to face near the center of the processing surface of the substrate held by the substrate holding means, and the processing liquid is processed toward the center of the processing surface of the substrate. The liquid is discharged. Around the processing liquid discharge nozzle,
An inert gas ejecting means is disposed, and the inert gas is injected toward the vicinity of the center of the processing surface of the substrate. Here, the processing with the processing liquid is performed evenly on the entire surface of the substrate. Since the inert gas is also ejected toward the vicinity of the center of the substrate processing surface, the entire surface of the substrate is uniformly processed.

For example, when an inert gas is supplied while rotating the substrate and supplying the processing liquid, the processing liquid supplied near the center of the substrate is similarly supplied by the inert gas injected near the center. There is no momentum and no stagnation. When the substrate is rotated to supply an inert gas to dry the substrate, an air flow is generated by centrifugal force from the vicinity of the center of the substrate toward the outer periphery of the substrate, so that the entire surface is dried without unevenness.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, a plurality of processing liquids are switched and supplied from a processing liquid discharge nozzle. And even in this case, the back surface of the substrate is cleaned without unevenness.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the inert gas jetting means is provided through a plurality of conduits extending from a gas storage portion formed annularly around the processing liquid discharge nozzle to near the center of the processing surface of the substrate. Thus, an inert gas is injected from the discharge port. Therefore, the supplied inert gas is evenly distributed around the processing liquid discharge nozzle by filling the gas reservoir. Then, by being guided to the plurality of conduits, an equal amount of the inert gas is ejected from each of the discharge ports, and the processing is further performed without unevenness.

[0018]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. First Embodiment An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings, taking a substrate processing apparatus used for processing a glass substrate for a liquid crystal display as an example of a substrate. However,
The present invention can be applied not only to processing of a glass substrate but also to processing of various substrates such as a semiconductor wafer. In addition, the substrate processing to which the present invention can be applied is not limited to one in which chemical solution processing, cleaning processing, and drying processing are continuously performed in the same apparatus, one in which a single processing is performed, and one in which chemical processing, cleaning processing, The present invention can also be applied to a case where the drying process is continuously performed in the same apparatus.

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing the configuration of a substrate processing system in which a substrate processing apparatus as one embodiment of the present invention is disposed. In this substrate processing system 1, a transfer device 3 that carries a glass substrate W for LCD (hereinafter simply referred to as a substrate W) into and out of the substrate processing device 2 is arranged at one end. At one end of the transfer device 3, there is provided a cassette station 5 in which a plurality of cassettes 4 accommodating the substrates W can be placed.
A substrate transfer device 7 having a transfer arm 6 for taking out the substrates W one by one before the processing step from the cassette 4 and accommodating the substrates W after the processing step one by one in the cassette 4 is provided on the side of. Provided.

The mounting section 8 of the cassette station 5 is configured to mount a plurality of cassettes 4 each containing 25 substrates W. The substrate transfer device 7 is horizontally, vertically moved (X,
It is configured to be movable in the (Y, Z) directions and to be rotatable (θ direction) about a vertical axis.

Next, the configuration of the substrate processing apparatus 2 will be described. FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the configuration of the substrate processing apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention. The substrate processing apparatus 2 forms and shields a processing space S above the rotation support unit 20, a rotation support unit 20 for holding the substrates, a rotation support unit 20 for rotating the substrates, and processing the rectangular substrate W. The apparatus includes an upper shielding unit 40, an elevating unit 50 of the upper shielding unit 40, a cup unit 60 for collecting a liquid shaken off from the substrate W, and a unit housing 70 for accommodating respective mechanisms.

The rotation support section 20 is configured by supporting pins 22 and drive pins 23 for supporting the substrate W from below, on a rotation support plate 21 having a donut shape in plan view. The drive pins 23 are arranged two by two corresponding to the four corners of the substrate W. FIG. 2 shows only two drive pins 23 in order to avoid complicating the drawing.

The drive pin 23 has a supporting portion 23a for supporting the outer peripheral edge of the substrate W from below, and a guide rising surface 23b for contacting the outer peripheral end surface of the substrate W supported by the supporting portion 23a to regulate the movement of the substrate W. And The substrate W is held by the rotation support plate 21 in a horizontal posture.

The drive section 30 is provided so as to be connected to the opening 24 at the center of rotation of the rotation support plate 21. The motor includes a cylindrical shaft 31 connected to the lower surface of the rotation support plate 21 so as to communicate with the opening 24, and a motor 33 that rotates the cylindrical shaft 31 via a belt mechanism 32. This motor 33 corresponds to the driving means in the present invention,
Corresponds to the drive shaft. By driving the motor 33, the held substrate W is rotated around the vertical axis along with the cylindrical shaft 31 and the rotation support plate 21.

The cylinder shaft 31 is formed of a hollow cylindrical member, and a liquid nozzle 34 is provided along the center. The tip of the liquid nozzle 34 faces the center of the lower surface of the substrate W. I have. The processing liquid can be supplied to the vicinity of the rotation center on the lower surface of the substrate W from the nozzle hole 34a at the upper end.

As shown in FIG. 3, the cylindrical shaft 31 extends toward the opening 24 of the rotation support plate 21, is located above the rotation support plate 21, and has a discharge port 36 opened. And the outlet 3
At 6, the air from the atmospheric pressure atmosphere is discharged from the gap between the side surface of the liquid nozzle 34 and the inner peripheral surface of the cylinder shaft 31.
The tip of the liquid nozzle 34 is formed in a T-shaped cross section, and a cleaning liquid nozzle hole 34a is opened at the center of the flat upper surface.
A conduit 34b is connected.

Further, a gas supply path 35 is connected to the liquid nozzle 34.
Are integrally formed. The gas supply path 35 is connected to the conduit 3
4b is formed on the side part in parallel with the conduit 34b. And
An annular gas reservoir 35a is connected to the upper end of the gas supply path 35. The gas reservoir 35a is formed concentrically with the conduit 34b as shown in FIG. 4, and eight conduits 35b are radially connected to the upper surface thereof at regular intervals. 8
Each of the conduits 35b is formed to be inclined toward a discharge port 35c formed on the upper surface of the liquid nozzle 34. Discharge port 35c
Are opened at equal intervals around the nozzle hole 34a. The inclination angle of each conduit 35b is set such that the center of the back surface of the substrate W is located on the extension of the central axis of the conduit 35b.

With this configuration, the gas introduced into the gas supply path 35 is temporarily filled in the gas storage 35a. By filling the gas reservoir 35a, the gas is evenly distributed around the nozzle hole 35a. Gas reservoir 35a
Is filled, the gas is introduced into each of the conduits 35b, and is injected from the discharge port 35c to the vicinity of the center of the back surface of the substrate W. This injection is discharged at a uniform flow rate from the discharge port 35c.

The conduit 34 b of the liquid nozzle 34 is connected to a pipe 80. A base end portion of the pipe 80 is branched, and a chemical liquid supply source 81 is connected to one branch pipe 80a, and a pure water supply source 82 is connected to the other branch pipe 80b.
Are connected. Opening / closing valves 83a and 83b are provided in the branch pipes 80a and 80b, respectively.
From 4a, a chemical solution and pure water can be selectively switched and supplied.

The gas supply passage 35 is connected to a gas supply source 85 via a pipe 84 provided with an on-off valve 84a, and has a configuration shown in FIGS. It is configured such that clean gas such as clean air or clean inert gas (such as nitrogen gas) can be supplied from the discharge port 35c at the upper end to the space between the rotary support plate 21 and the lower surface of the substrate W. I have. The gas supply path 35 and the gas storage 3
5a, conduit 35b, discharge port 35c, pipe 84, on-off valve 8
The reference numeral 4a and the gas supply source 85 correspond to the inert gas jetting means of the present invention.

The gap between the cylinder shaft 31 and the liquid nozzle 34 is configured such that the pipe 86 is opened to the atmospheric pressure atmosphere via the flow rate adjusting valve 86a. Tube shaft 31 and liquid nozzle 34
The air from the atmospheric pressure atmosphere is discharged through the opening 36 through the gap. With this configuration, when the rotation support plate 21 rotates, the air in the processing space S is discharged by the centrifugal force,
The closer to the rotation center, the lower the pressure. Therefore, the inside of the cylindrical shaft 31 that is open to the atmospheric pressure atmosphere sucks air by a pump effect. At this time, the amount of air sucked by the flow control valve 86a is adjusted so as to set the pressure state in the processing space S to a desired state as described later.

Returning to FIG. 2, the motor 33 and the belt mechanism 3
2 are accommodated in a cylindrical casing 37 provided on a base member 71 as a bottom plate of the substrate processing apparatus 2. The casing 37 is connected to the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical shaft 31 via a bearing 38, and is in a state of covering the cylindrical shaft 31. That is, the periphery of the cylindrical shaft 31 immediately before the connection from the motor 33 to the rotation support plate 21 is covered with the casing 37, and the motor 33 attached below the cylindrical shaft 31 is also covered with the cover. Further, in order to increase the airtightness of the portion of the casing 37, the atmosphere around the cylinder shaft 31 protruding from the casing 37 and supporting the lower surface of the rotation support plate 21 is provided along the peripheral surface. Sealed with a substantially circular seal portion 90.

The upper shield 40 is provided with an upper rotary plate 41 so as to face the rotary support plate 21 with the substrate W interposed therebetween. The upper rotating plate 41 has a ring shape that covers the peripheral region of the substrate W, and has a large opening 41a in the center. A partition wall 41b is erected in a cylindrical shape around the opening 41a. Inside the partition wall 41b, a movable blocking plate 42 for controlling the inflow of an air flow into the processing space S is provided. Is installed so as to close the opening 41a. The blocking plate 42 is moved up and down by a cylinder to retreat upward during chemical solution processing, and to descend and control airflow during drying processing.
A central opening 42b is formed in the blocking plate 42 so that a liquid nozzle 43 for supplying a cleaning liquid such as pure water is inserted into the processing space S on the upper surface of the substrate W provided to be vertically movable. .

The upper rotating plate 41 is supported by the driving pins 23 via the holding pins 44, and forms a processing space S sandwiched between the rotating supporting plates 21. Drive pin 23
This prevents the substrate W from being unevenly stressed due to the point of contact of the support portion 23a with the peripheral edge of the substrate W. The holding pin 44 has an inverted convex shape, and the upper rotating plate 41
It is fixedly attached to the lower surface.

With the above configuration, the drive pin 23 is configured to be vertically separable with the holding pin 44. When the upper rotating plate 41 is moved down to the processing position by the arm bar 55, the drive pin 23 is fitted to the holding pin 44, so that the upper rotating plate 41 can rotate integrally with the rotation supporting plate 21. Is to be supported. That is, the drive pin 23 also serves as a support mechanism for detachably supporting the upper rotary plate 41 on the rotary support plate 21.
The holding pins 44 prevent the substrate W from lifting.

With this configuration, when the rotation support plate 31 rotates, the air in the processing space S is discharged by the centrifugal force, and the pressure becomes lower as the rotation support plate 31 is closer to the rotation center. Therefore, the processing space S sucks air from the blocking plate 42 and the partition wall 41b.
At that time, the blocking plate 42 has a role of giving a resistance to the flow of the sucked air (air flow) and limiting the flow rate of the air supplied into the processing space S. Then, the air amount is adjusted so as to set the air pressure state in the processing space S to a desired state as described later. The processing space S is divided into a lower part and an upper part with the substrate W interposed therebetween, and the upper air pressure is set by regulating the air flow rate flowing into the upper part by the blocking plate 42, and the air flow rate flowing into the lower part is regulated by the opening 36. To set the lower pressure. By setting the upper and lower pressures of the substrate W, lifting and waving during the rotation processing of the substrate W are suppressed.

The elevating part 50 includes a T-shaped engaging part 51 projecting upward from the upper surface of the upper rotating plate 41 and an elevating driving means 5 connected to an upper flange part 51a of the engaging part 51.
And 2. The raising / lowering driving means 52 is configured to extend and contract the rod 54 of the cylinder 53 so that the arm bar 5 is moved.
5 goes up and down. On the lower surface of the arm bar 55, a gate-shaped arm 56 is disposed so as to face the above-described engaging portion 51, and the engaging portion 51
The upper flange portion 51a is engaged. In this configuration, the gate-shaped arm 56 moves up and down in contact with the upper flange portion 51a, so that the upper portion extends over the processing position supported by the rotary support plate 21 and the upper evacuation position allowing the loading and unloading of the substrate W. The rotating plate 41 moves. In FIG. 2, two lifting / lowering driving means 52 are disclosed. However, four engaging portions 51 are arranged at equal intervals on the upper surface of the upper rotating plate 21, and four lifting / lowering driving means 52 are correspondingly provided. Be placed. Then, by controlling the rotation stop position of the upper rotating plate 41, the engaging portion 51 and the portal arm 56 are engaged.

Further, the lifting unit 50 and the upper rotating plate 41
Above is a so-called punching plate provided with a plurality of small holes in, for example, a stainless steel plate in series with the inner base plate 57, and a flow path resistance member 57b having an opening formed on the center side is disposed. I have. This flow path resistance member 57b is
A partition wall 57a extends downward from the inner peripheral edge thereof, and the partition wall 57a is close to the outer peripheral surface of the partition wall 41b. The outer peripheral edge of the inner base plate 57 is
Connected to. The inner base plate 57 and the flow path resistance member 57b substantially close the upper part of the apparatus 2 and divide the upper part into two parts, so that the air (air flow) drawn in according to the negative pressure accompanying the exhaust through the exhaust structure described later. ), And serves to limit the scattering of air containing mist discharged from the processing space S.

The flow path resistance member 57b is not limited to the punching plate as in the present embodiment, and may be, for example, a plurality of plate members arranged in close proximity to each other while being inclined in the vertical direction. The flow path resistance may be varied by changing the inclination angle of the plate material.

On the upper surface of the inner base plate 57, a contact / separation mechanism 430 for the liquid nozzle 43 is arranged. The liquid nozzle 43 is supported by a support arm 431, and the support arm 431 is
It is turned and moved up and down by 30. This support arm 43
The liquid nozzle 43 is configured to be brought into contact with and separated from the substrate W by moving up and down 1. The contact / separation mechanism 430 that realizes such contact / separation movement is configured by a mechanism using a screw shaft or the like, or an air cylinder.

A liquid supply pipe 43 is provided in the hollow portion of the liquid nozzle 43.
2, through which the processing liquid can be supplied from the lower end to the vicinity of the center of rotation of the upper surface of the substrate W held by the rotation support plate 21. The liquid supply pipe 432 is connected to the pipe 87 in communication. The base end of the pipe 87 is branched, and one branch pipe 87a is connected to a chemical solution supply source 81, and the other branch pipe 87b is connected to a pure water supply source 82. On / off valves 88a and 88b are provided in each of the branch pipes 87a and 87b.
8a and 88b are switched to open and close the liquid nozzle 43.
It is possible to selectively switch between a chemical solution and pure water.

The inner peripheral surface of the liquid nozzle 43 and the liquid supply pipe 4
A gap between the outer peripheral surface of the gas turbine 32 and the outer peripheral surface of the gas turbine 32 serves as a gas supply path 433. The gas supply path 433 is connected to a gas supply source 85 via a pipe 89 provided with an opening / closing valve 89a.
It is configured such that clean gas can be supplied to the space between the substrate and the upper surface of the substrate W.

The cup portion 60 is provided with a ring-shaped exhaust cup 61 which is open to a discharge port which is a gap between the outer peripheral end of the rotary support plate 21 and the upper rotary plate 41, and includes the following exhaust structure. The exhaust cup 61 extends below the rotation support plate 21 and is connected to an exhaust pipe 62 arranged in parallel with the rotation axis of the rotation support plate 21 (the cylindrical shaft 31 in this embodiment). Through the exhaust means outside the apparatus. A drain pipe 63 for discharging the processing liquid discharged together with the air is connected to the bottom outer peripheral side of the exhaust cup 61. Reference numeral 64 denotes the exhaust cup 61
Is a lifting drive means for moving up and down.

The unit housing 70 includes the base member 7
1, a frame 72 having a size surrounding the cup portion 60 and a substrate loading / unloading port 73 are formed in the frame 72. With this configuration, when the elevation drive unit 52 moves up and down, the upper rotating plate 41 moves up, and at the same time, when the elevation drive unit 64 moves up and down, the exhaust cup 61 descends. Accordingly, the rotation support plate 21 is attached to the frame 7.
The substrate W can be carried into the apparatus 2 from outside by facing the carry-in port 73 of the second apparatus.

Next, the operation of the embodiment 2 having the above-described configuration will be described. When the substrate W to be processed is carried into the apparatus 2 of the present embodiment, the upper rotating plate 41 and the liquid nozzle 43 are at the upper retreat position. When the upper rotary plate 41 is in the retracted position, the drive pin 23 and the holding pin 44 are vertically separated, and only the drive pin 23 is provided on the rotary support plate 21. Thus, the upper rotating plate 41 and the rotating support plate 21
In between, a carry-in route for the substrate W is secured. The substrate W transferred by the substrate transfer device 7 through the substrate loading / unloading port 73
Is supported by the driving pin 23. The transfer arm 6 of the substrate transfer device 7 enters the inside of the processing device 2, places the unprocessed substrate W on the drive pin 23, and then retreats outside the processing device 2.

Next, in this state, a chemical solution is supplied to the lower surface of the substrate W from the nozzle hole 34a of the liquid nozzle 34 to start the chemical solution processing process of the present invention. That is, by opening the on-off valve 83a, the etching liquid as the cleaning chemical is discharged from the nozzle hole 34a of the liquid nozzle 34. Thus, the etchant is supplied from a short distance toward the center of the lower surface of the substrate W. The supplied etchant is guided outward in the radial direction of rotation by the centrifugal force generated by the rotation of the substrate W, and as a result, the entire area of the lower surface of the substrate W can be thoroughly washed with the chemical solution.

At the time of this chemical treatment, the chemical that is shaken off from the periphery of the rotating substrate W and scattered around is received by the exhaust cup 61, guided to the drain pipe 62, and discharged. At this time, since the upper rotating plate 41 is separated from the substrate W, it is possible to prevent the chemical solution from scattering and adhering to the upper rotating plate 41.

The etching solution supplied from the chemical supply source 9 to the substrate W is, for example, HF, BHF (dilute hydrofluoric acid), H ₃ PO ₄ , HNO ₃ , HF + H ₂ O ₂ (hydrogen peroxide). , H ₃ PO ₄ + H ₂ O ₂ (hydrogen phosphate), H
₂ SO ₄ + H ₂ O ₂ (sulfuric acid / hydrogen peroxide), HCl + H ₂ O ₂
(Ammonia hydrogen _{peroxide), H 3 PO 4 + CH} 3 COOH + H
Examples include NO ₃ , iodine + ammonium iodide, oxalic acid and citric acid organic acids, and organic alkalis such as TMAH (tetramethyl ammonium hydroxide) and choline.

The exhaust cup 61 scattered from the substrate W
A part of the chemical solution hit by the mist becomes a mist and floats. However, in this device, the mist floating near the rotation support plate 21 moves between the casing 37 and the cylindrical shaft 31.
Even if the mist moves, the mist is prevented from entering the drive unit 30 by the seal unit 90.

When a predetermined chemical cleaning time has elapsed, supply of the etching liquid from the liquid nozzle 34 is stopped. Subsequently, the control unit 50 controls the lifting unit 50 to lower the upper rotating plate 41. As a result, the upper rotating plate 41 at the retreat position moves down to the processing position, and the upper rotating plate 41
Press pin 44 is fitted and connected to the drive pin 23 of the rotation support plate 21. In addition, the contact / separation mechanism 430 is controlled, and the liquid nozzle 4 is controlled.
3 is lowered from above the central opening 42a.
In this state, the on-off valve 83a is closed to end the chemical solution treatment process, and the on-off valves 83b and 88b are opened.

Thus, the liquid nozzles 34, 43
Pure water is supplied as a cleaning liquid toward the center of the upper and lower surfaces of the substrate W. Therefore, a cleaning process is performed in which pure water is supplied to the upper and lower surfaces of the substrate W and the chemical liquid attached to the substrate W is washed away with the pure water. Thus, the cleaning process for washing away the etching liquid existing on the upper and lower surfaces of the substrate W after the chemical solution processing step is performed. In addition, ozone water, electrolytic ion water, etc. may be used as the cleaning liquid.

Further, a drive control signal is given and the motor 33
To rotate. Accordingly, the cylinder shaft 31 is rotated, and the rotation support plate 21 fixed to the cylinder shaft 31 rotates around the vertical axis passing through the center. The rotational force of the rotation support plate 21 is transmitted to the substrate W via the drive pins 23, and the substrate W rotates with the rotation support plate 21. Further, the rotational force of the rotation support plate 21 is applied to the upper rotation plate 4 via the holding pin 44.
1 and the upper rotary plate 41 also rotates together with the rotary support plate 21.

After the supply of the cleaning liquid is stopped, the rotation supporting plate 21 is driven to rotate at a high speed, so that the cleaning liquid adhering to the substrate W is shaken off. The mist of the cleaning liquid shaken off from the substrate W flows radially outward in the processing space S by the flow of air, and the rotation support plate 21 and the upper rotation plate 41
Is discharged from the gap. Simultaneously with the start of the drying, the exhaust means outside the apparatus communicating with the exhaust pipes 62, 62 is operated to exhaust the exhaust cup portion 61. Then, the air containing the mist of the discharged cleaning liquid is discharged out of the apparatus 2 through the exhaust cup 61 and the exhaust pipes 62 and 62.

During this drying step, the on-off valves 84a, 89a
Is opened, and nitrogen gas is supplied from the gas supply paths 35 and 433 to the upper and lower surfaces of the substrate W. Thus, the air in the processing space S is immediately replaced with the nitrogen gas, so that an undesired oxide film does not grow on the upper and lower surfaces of the substrate W after the cleaning processing.

In particular, on the back surface side of the substrate W, nitrogen gas is injected from the discharge port 35c to the vicinity of the center of the back surface of the substrate W. Therefore, even if the peripheral speed is slow at the rotation center and the drying by the centrifugal force is not promoted, the vicinity of the center of the back surface of the substrate W is sufficiently dried. At this time, the nitrogen gas to be injected has a configuration in which the discharge ports 35c are dispersedly arranged around the nozzle 34a, but after being uniformly distributed in the gas storage 35a, the nitrogen gas is injected to cause dry spots. Not even.

Further, the gap (processing space S) between the rotation support plate 21 and the upper rotation plate 41 is narrowed on the outer peripheral end side, and the upper and lower spaces are narrower than those on the rotation center side.
The amount of air discharged from the outer periphery is regulated. In accordance with this, the amount of air sucked from the rotation support plate 21 side into the lower space which is the processing space S with the substrate W by the pump effect is also adjusted by the flow control valve 86a. The amount of air sucked into the upper space, which is the processing space S with the substrate W, is regulated by the flow path resistance member 42.

After the drying step, the rotation of the motor 33 is stopped, and the upper rotating plate 41 and the liquid nozzle 4
The substrate 3 is returned to the retracted position, and the processed substrate W is carried out of the apparatus by the substrate transfer device 7. Hereinafter, as described above, the unprocessed substrate W is carried in and the processing is repeatedly performed.

As described above, according to the above-described embodiment, this substrate processing apparatus is an apparatus that performs processing on the front and back surfaces of the substrate W while rotating the substrate W in a horizontal plane. The processing liquid can be supplied to the rotation center of the substrate W, and the gas can be supplied to the vicinity of the center. As a result, the processing surface of the substrate is not uneven,
A washing treatment, a drying treatment, or the like can be performed.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, but can be modified as follows. (1) The injection of the nitrogen gas from the gas supply path 35 is not limited to the drying process, and may be performed in parallel with the supply of each processing liquid at the time of chemical solution processing or cleaning processing.

(2) Further, in the above-described embodiment, an example is shown in which the configuration of the present invention is applied to only the liquid nozzle 34 disposed on the back surface of the substrate W. The nozzle 43 may have the same configuration.

(3) In the above embodiment, the gas supply path 35 is formed integrally with the liquid nozzle 34.
The gas supply path 35 may be configured separately.

(4) Further, in the above-described embodiment, the description has been made of the example of the chemical treatment in which the etching liquid is supplied to the substrate, but the stripping liquid may be supplied.

[0063]

As described above, according to the present invention,
A substrate processing apparatus capable of holding a substrate and performing favorable processing is provided. That is, a processing liquid discharge nozzle is disposed to face the center of the substrate, and the processing liquid is supplied from the processing liquid discharge nozzle, and an inert gas is injected from the periphery of the processing liquid discharge nozzle to the vicinity of the center of the substrate. You. Therefore,
Substrate processing can be performed without unevenness over the entire surface.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of an embodiment of a substrate processing system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a schematic configuration of an embodiment of the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view showing a configuration of a liquid nozzle 34.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a configuration of a liquid nozzle 34.

FIG. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a conventional device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 W substrate S processing space 2 substrate processing apparatus 20 rotation support unit 21 rotation support plate 30 drive unit 34, 43, 130, 150 liquid nozzle 31, 140 cylinder shaft 35 gas supply path 34a nozzle hole 35a gas storage unit 34b, 35b conduit 35c Discharge port 40 Upper shielding part 41 Upper rotating plate 60 Cup part 61 Exhaust cup 81 Chemical supply source 82 Pure water supply source 85 Gas supply source

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) H01L 21/304 643 H01L 21/304 643C 651 651B 21/306 21/306 J

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A substrate processing apparatus for performing a required process on a substrate while rotating a substrate supplied with a processing liquid, comprising: a substrate holding unit for holding the substrate; and a processing surface of the substrate held by the substrate holding unit. A processing liquid discharge nozzle is disposed to face the vicinity of the center of the substrate, and processing liquid supply means for supplying a processing liquid toward the vicinity of the center of the processing surface of the substrate; A substrate processing apparatus comprising: an inert gas jetting unit having a discharge port for jetting an inert gas toward a vicinity of a center of a surface. 2. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processing liquid supply unit has a plurality of processing liquid supply sources, and switches and supplies the processing liquid to the processing liquid discharge nozzle. . 3. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the inert gas ejecting unit includes: a gas storage portion formed in an annular shape around a processing liquid discharge nozzle; A substrate processing apparatus, wherein a plurality of conduits directed to near the center of a processing surface of a substrate are connected to a discharge port.