JP5284004B2 - Substrate processing equipment - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus for supplying and processing a processing liquid while rotating the substrate.

  For example, in the manufacturing process of a liquid crystal display device or a semiconductor device, there are a film forming process and a photo process for forming a circuit pattern on a substrate such as a rectangular glass substrate or a semiconductor wafer. In these processes, a substrate is processed with a chemical solution using a spin processing apparatus, then cleaned with a processing solution having a cleaning action, and then the processing solution is removed and dried.

  The processing apparatus has a processing tank as is well known, and a cup body is provided in the processing tank, and a rotary table that is rotationally driven by a drive source is provided in the cup body. The substrate is removably supplied and held on the rotary table.

  While the substrate is being rotationally driven together with the rotary table at a predetermined rotational speed, a processing liquid is supplied to the plate surface and the substrate is cleaned. After performing the cleaning process for a predetermined time, the substrate is rotated at a higher speed than during the cleaning. As a result, the cleaning liquid containing dirt remaining on the substrate is removed by centrifugal force, and the substrate is dried.

  When the substrate is cleaned with the processing liquid, the processing liquid is supplied in the form of a mist in order to enhance the cleaning effect. That is, the processing liquid and the high-pressure gas are supplied to the cleaning nozzle used for cleaning. Thereby, the processing liquid and the high-pressure gas are mixed in the cleaning nozzle, so that the processing liquid becomes mist and is sprayed from the cleaning nozzle toward the substrate.

  When the processing liquid is sprayed in the form of a mist from the cleaning nozzle, the fine particles of the processing liquid in the mist form surely enter between the patterns formed on the substrate. The cleaning effect can be enhanced.

  Normally, the cleaning nozzle is provided at the tip of an arm body that is driven to rotate in the horizontal direction above the substrate held on the rotary table. The arm body is rotationally driven, and the cleaning nozzle moves in a direction crossing the substrate, so that a mist-like processing liquid can be sprayed and supplied from the cleaning nozzle to the upper surface of the substrate. ing.

Patent Document 1 discloses that a cleaning nozzle is provided at the tip of the arm body, and the processing liquid is supplied from the cleaning nozzle to the substrate in the form of a mist.
JP 2002-113429 A

  When the cleaning nozzle provided at the tip of the arm body is driven above the substrate in a direction crossing the substrate and the mist processing liquid is sprayed and supplied to the upper surface of the substrate, the cleaning process is performed as described above. In some cases, the cleaning effect can be enhanced as compared with the case where the processing liquid is supplied to the substrate in a liquid state.

  However, when the treatment liquid is supplied in the form of a mist, the supply amount of the treatment liquid is smaller than when the treatment liquid is supplied in a liquid state. In particular, in order to improve the cleaning effect by reducing the mist particles, it is necessary to reduce the amount of the processing liquid out of the processing liquid and gas supplied to the cleaning nozzle, which is also supplied to the substrate. The amount of processing liquid to be reduced is reduced.

  When the amount of the processing liquid supplied to the substrate decreases, the substrate may rotate together with the rotary table, so that the upper surface of the substrate may be easily dried. In particular, since the processing liquid supplied to the upper surface of the rotating substrate flows from the central portion toward the peripheral portion, when the supply of the mist processing liquid by the cleaning nozzle shifts from the central portion to the peripheral portion, the central portion is changed. Sometimes it is easy to dry. In addition, the dirt once removed may be reattached to the dried central portion of the substrate.

The present invention, when cleaning the substrate with a processing solution, that particularly the center of the substrate is difficult to dry, increase the cleaning effect center is washed off the portion contamination of the substrate is prevented from reattaching It is an object of the present invention to provide a substrate processing apparatus that can be used.

The present invention is a substrate processing apparatus for processing with a processing liquid while rotating the substrate,
A rotary table that is driven to rotate while holding the substrate;
Having an arm body that performs a circular arc motion in the horizontal direction above the rotary table with the base end as a fulcrum;
At the tip of this arm body,
A treatment liquid supply means for supplying the processing liquid to the substrate while being driven in a direction across said substrate,
Toward the center portion of the substrate; and a drying prevention means for supplying the treatment liquid to swing in accordance with the separate arcuate movement of the arm body and the treatment liquid supply means,
The substrate is characterized in that the processing liquid is supplied toward the central portion of the substrate by the drying preventing means when a portion other than the central portion of the substrate is being processed by the processing liquid supply means. In the processing unit.

According to the present invention, since the substrate is prevented from being dried by the processing liquid supplied to the central portion of the substrate, the dirt removed from the substrate by the processing liquid reattaches to the substrate and causes dirt. Can be prevented.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
1 to 5 show a first embodiment of the present invention, and the spin processing apparatus shown in FIG. A cup body 2 is disposed in the processing tank 1. The cup body 2 includes a lower cup 3 provided on the bottom plate of the processing tank 1 and an upper cup 4 provided to the lower cup 3 so as to be movable up and down by a vertical drive mechanism (not shown).

  A plurality of discharge pipes 5 are connected to the bottom wall of the lower cup 3 at predetermined intervals in the circumferential direction. These discharge pipes 5 communicate with an exhaust pump 6. The exhaust pump 6 is controlled by the control device 7 to start and stop and to rotate.

  A base plate 8 is disposed on the lower surface side of the cup body 2. An attachment hole 9 is formed in the base plate 8 at a position corresponding to the lower cup 3. The upper end portion of the stator 12 of the control motor 11 constituting the driving means is fitted and fixed in the mounting hole 9. The control motor 11 is controlled by the control device 7 to start and stop and to rotate.

  The stator 12 has a cylindrical shape, and a cylindrical rotor 13 is also rotatably inserted in the stator 12. A cylindrical connecting body 14 is integrally fixed to the upper end surface of the rotor 13 with the lower end surface in contact therewith. A flange 15 having a diameter larger than the inner diameter of the stator 12 is formed at the lower end of the connecting body 14. The flange 15 is slidably in contact with the upper end surface of the stator 12, thereby preventing the rotor 13 from falling off the stator 12 without preventing the rotor 13 from rotating. .

  A through hole 3 a is formed in the lower cup 3 at a portion corresponding to the rotor 13, and the connecting body 14 projects into the cup body 2 from the through hole 3 a. A turntable 16 is attached to the upper end of the connecting body 14. At the periphery of the turntable 16, six (two only shown) columnar holding members 17 are rotatably provided by a drive mechanism (not shown) at predetermined intervals in the circumferential direction, in this embodiment at intervals of 60 degrees. ing.

  A support pin 18 having a tapered surface is provided on the upper end surface of the holding member 17 at a position eccentric from the rotation center of the holding member 17. A semiconductor wafer W as a substrate is supplied to the turntable 16 so that the lower surface of the peripheral edge is in contact with the tapered surface of the support pin 18. If the holding member 17 is rotated in this state, the support pins 18 are eccentrically rotated, so that the semiconductor wafer W supplied to the rotary table 16 is held by the support pins 18.

  The rotary table 16 is covered with a turbulent flow prevention cover 21. The turbulent flow prevention cover 21 has an outer peripheral wall 22 that covers the outer peripheral surface of the turntable 16 and an upper surface wall 23 that covers the upper surface. The outer peripheral wall 22 has a small diameter portion 22a on the upper side and a large diameter portion 22b on the lower side. Is formed. When the rotary table 16 is rotated, the turbulent flow prevention cover 21 prevents turbulent flow from occurring on the upper surface of the rotary table 16. The upper surface of the upper cup 4 is open, and a ring-shaped member 25 is provided on the inner peripheral surface thereof.

  When the unprocessed semiconductor wafer W is supplied to the turntable 16 or the dried semiconductor wafer W is taken out, the upper cup 4 is lowered as described later.

  An opening 31 is formed in the upper wall of the processing tank 1. The opening 31 is provided with a fan / filter unit 32 such as ULPA or HEPA. The fan / filter unit 32 further cleans the air in the clean room and introduces it into the processing tank 1, and the amount of clean air introduced is controlled by the controller 7 of the drive unit 33 of the fan / filter unit 32. To do it. That is, the supply amount of clean air into the processing tank 1 can be controlled by controlling the rotational speed of the fan (not shown) of the fan / filter unit 32 by the driving unit 33.

  An entrance / exit 34 is formed on one side of the processing tank 1. The entrance / exit 34 is opened and closed by a shutter 35 provided on one side of the processing tank 1 so as to be slidable in the vertical direction. The shutter 35 is driven by a cylinder 36 that operates with compressed air. That is, the cylinder 36 is provided with a control valve 37 for controlling the flow of compressed air, and the control valve 37 is switched by the control device 7 so that the shutter 35 can be moved up and down. ing.

  A cylindrical fixed shaft 41 is inserted into the rotor 13 of the control motor 11. At the upper end of the fixed shaft 41, a nozzle head 43 that protrudes from the through hole 42 formed in the rotary table 16 to the upper surface side of the rotary table 16 is provided. The nozzle head 43 is provided with a pair of nozzles 44 for injecting a chemical solution and pure water as a processing solution toward the lower surface of the semiconductor wafer W held on the rotary table 16.

  An opening 45 is formed in the upper surface wall 23 of the turbulent flow prevention cover 21 so as to face the nozzle head 43, and the processing liquid sprayed from the nozzle 44 can reach the lower surface of the semiconductor wafer W through the opening 45. It has become.

  Above the semiconductor wafer W held on the rotary table 16, a first nozzle body 46 is disposed as a processing liquid supply means for supplying the processing liquid in the form of a mist to the upper surface of the semiconductor wafer W during the cleaning process. Yes. The first nozzle body 46 is attached to the tip of an arm body 47 disposed horizontally with an axis line vertical via an attachment member 48.

  The base end of the arm body 47 is connected to the upper end portion of the rotating shaft 49 arranged with the axis line vertical. The lower end of the rotation shaft 49 is connected to the output shaft 52 of the rotation drive source 51. The rotation angle of the output shaft 52 of the rotation drive source 51 is controlled by the control device 7. Thereby, the first nozzle body 46 provided at the tip of the arm body 47 passes through the center O from the radial end E1 of the semiconductor wafer W as shown by an arrow R in FIG. In this way, an arc motion is performed across the semiconductor wafer W in the radial direction.

  A second nozzle body 54 is provided near the first nozzle body 46 at the distal end of the arm body 47 so that the ejection angle can be controlled by a swing mechanism 55. The swing mechanism 55 has a linear motor 56 provided on the arm body 47 as shown in FIGS. The linear motor 56 is attached to the arm body 47 with the axis of the operation shaft 57 driven linearly being horizontal. An upper end which is one end of a mounting rod 58 is pivotally attached to the tip of the operating shaft 57. That is, a long hole 58a is formed at the upper end of the mounting rod 58, and a support shaft 57a provided at the tip of the operating shaft 57 is movably engaged with the long hole 58a.

  The attachment rod 58 is pivotally supported by a support shaft 59 whose middle part is horizontal, and the second nozzle body 54 is attached to the lower end which is the other end. The support shaft 59 is pivotally supported by a support member 60 that extends from the side surface of the tip of the arm body 47 toward the side.

  As a result, when the operating shaft 57 of the linear motor 56 is reciprocated in the horizontal direction, the mounting rod 58 rotates in the direction indicated by the arrow N1 in FIG. By the movement, the first nozzle body 46 is swung along substantially the same direction as the moving direction of the first nozzle body 46 indicated by the arrow N2.

When the mounting rod 58 is in a vertical neutral position shown by a solid line in FIG. 2, the axis O2 of the second nozzle body 54 and the axis O1 of the first nozzle body 46 are held by the rotary table 16. The second nozzle 54 is attached to the mounting rod 58 so as to coincide with the upper surface of the semiconductor wafer W. When the arm body 47 is driven to rotate, the mounting rod 58 is driven to swing within a predetermined range as shown by a chain line in FIG.

  That is, the second nozzle body 54 is connected to the linear motor via the mounting rod 58 so that the axis O2 always faces the center of the semiconductor wafer W according to the rotation angle of the arm body 47 when the arm body 47 rotates. 56 is driven to swing. The driving of the linear motor 56 is controlled by the control device 7.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the first nozzle body 46 is supplied with a cleaning liquid such as pure water and an inert gas such as a nitrogen gas through a liquid supply pipe 61 and an air supply pipe 62, respectively. The liquid supply pipe 61 and the air supply pipe 62 are provided with on-off valves 61 a and 62 a that are controlled to open and close by the control device 7. As a result, the processing liquid is misted by the nitrogen gas and sprayed from the first nozzle body 46 toward the semiconductor wafer W held on the turntable 16.

  A liquid supply pipe 64 for supplying a cleaning liquid such as pure water is connected to the second nozzle body 54. An opening / closing valve 64 a that is controlled to open and close by the control device 7 is provided in the middle of the liquid supply pipe 64. Accordingly, the processing liquid is ejected from the second nozzle body 54 in a liquid state.

Next, a case where the semiconductor wafer W is cleaned by the processing apparatus having the above configuration will be described.
When the semiconductor wafer W is held on the turntable 16 and the turntable 16 is rotated at a predetermined number of rotations, a mist-like shape is formed from the first nozzle body 46 provided on the mounting member 48 at the tip of the arm body 47. The processing liquid is sprayed toward the semiconductor wafer W.

  At the same time, a liquid processing liquid is supplied from the second nozzle body 54 toward the semiconductor wafer W while operating the rotational drive source 51 to rotate the arm body 47 along the radial direction of the semiconductor wafer W.

  By doing so, the fine portion of the semiconductor wafer W is also well cleaned by the mist-like processing liquid supplied from the first nozzle body 46. However, if the processing liquid is supplied in the form of a mist, the amount of the processing liquid is reduced, so that it is difficult for the processing liquid to flow from the central portion in the radial direction on the upper surface of the semiconductor wafer W toward the peripheral portion. For this reason, the central portion of the semiconductor wafer W, particularly where the amount of the processing liquid flowing, is easy to dry, so that the dirt once washed and removed may be reattached to the central portion.

  However, the control device 7 controls the drive of the linear motor 56 so that the axis of the second nozzle body 54 always faces the center of the semiconductor wafer W regardless of the rotation angle of the arm body 47. Therefore, even when the first nozzle body 46 sprays the mist-like processing liquid from the second nozzle body 54 to a portion other than the central portion of the semiconductor wafer W, A liquid processing liquid is jetted and supplied.

  Since the liquid processing liquid supplied to the central portion of the semiconductor wafer W by the second nozzle body 54 flows from the central portion of the semiconductor wafer W toward the peripheral portion, it is jetted and supplied from the first nozzle body 46. When the mist-like processing liquid is supplied to a portion off the central portion of the semiconductor wafer W, the central portion of the semiconductor wafer W is prevented from drying.

  In addition, since the liquid processing liquid supplied to the central portion of the semiconductor wafer W by the second nozzle body 54 flows from the central portion toward the peripheral portion, the dirt removed by the mist processing liquid due to the flow is reduced. The wafer W is reliably discharged from the upper surface. Therefore, the cleaning effect of the semiconductor wafer W can be improved also by this.

  FIG. 6 is a modified example of the swing mechanism showing the second embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, a pair of swing mechanisms 55A are provided symmetrically with the arm body 47 interposed therebetween. The swing mechanism 55 </ b> A has a motor 71 provided on the arm body 47 with the rotation shaft 72 vertical, and a cam body 73 is fitted and fixed to the rotation shaft 72.

  One end of a mounting rod 75 whose middle portion is pivotally supported by a support shaft 74 is in contact with the cam surface, which is the outer peripheral surface of the cam body 73. Each attachment rod 75 is biased by a spring 76 so that one end thereof elastically contacts the outer peripheral surface of the cam body 73. A second nozzle body 54 is provided at the other end of the mounting rod 75.

  Then, the rotating shaft 72 of the motor 71 is driven by the control device 7 according to the rotation angle of the arm body 47, so that the mounting rod 75 is tilted at an angle θ indicated by a solid line, and is in a vertical state indicated by a chain line. Swings between.

  When the arm body 47 rotates from E1 to O of the semiconductor wafer W shown in FIG. 5, the angle of one second nozzle body 54 positioned forward in the rotation direction faces the center of the semiconductor wafer W. When the driving of the one motor 71 is controlled by the control device 7 and the arm body 47 rotates from O to E2, the angle of the other second nozzle body 54 located rearward in the rotation direction is set to the semiconductor wafer W. The drive of the other motor 71 is controlled by the control device 7 so as to face the center of.

  Accordingly, when the first nozzle body 46 supplies the mist-like processing liquid to a portion other than the central portion of the semiconductor wafer W, the liquid processing liquid is supplied to the semiconductor wafer W by the pair of second nozzle bodies 54. Can be fed into the center of

  The support shaft 74 that pivotally supports the attachment rod 75 is provided on an inverted T-shaped attachment member 77 that is attached to the arm body 47 and indicated by a chain line in FIG. 6, and biases the attachment rod 75. One end of the spring 76 is also connected to the mounting member 77.

  Thus, if the arm body 47 is provided with a pair of second nozzle bodies 54, the range in which the processing liquid is supplied to the semiconductor wafer W can be halved as compared with the case where one arm is provided. Accordingly, the swing angle of the second nozzle body 54 can also be halved.

  If the swing angle is increased by using one second nozzle body 54, the injection direction of the liquid processing liquid injected from the second nozzle body 54 is the axial direction of the second nozzle body 54. Therefore, the processing liquid may not be reliably supplied to the central portion of the semiconductor wafer W.

  Therefore, even when the semiconductor wafer W has a large diameter, by providing two second nozzle bodies 54, the swing angle of the second nozzle body 54 can be reduced to about half compared to the case of one. Thus, the liquid processing liquid can be reliably supplied to the central portion of the semiconductor wafer W.

  In the second embodiment, the arm body 47 is rotated from E1 on one end side in the radial direction of the semiconductor wafer W shown in FIG. 5 toward the center O, and then the outer side E2 in the radial direction from the center O. It was made to rotate toward.

  When the substrate W is wet in the previous process, the arm body 47 may be rotated as described above. However, when the substrate W is not wet in the previous process, the arm body 47 is positioned at the center of the substrate W. It is preferable to rotate from O to the outside in the radial direction. In this way, since the liquid film is first formed in the central portion of the substrate W, it becomes possible to increase the discharge of dirt from the central portion of the substrate W.

  FIG. 7 shows a modification of the swing mechanism showing the third embodiment of the present invention. The swing mechanism 55 </ b> B of this embodiment is provided with a first motor 81 on the arm body 47. A screw shaft 82 is connected to the rotation shaft 81 a of the first motor 81. The threaded shaft 82 is screwed with a movable body 83 provided so as to be movable in a vertical direction in a non-rotatable state by a guide (not shown).

  The movable body 83 is provided with a second motor 84. A mounting rod 85 is connected to the rotating shaft 84a of the second motor 84, and the second nozzle body 54 tilts the axis at a predetermined angle θ with respect to the vertical line at the lower end of the mounting rod 85. Attached.

  The driving of the second motor 84 is controlled by the control device 7 in accordance with the rotation angle of the arm body 47. Accordingly, the swing angle of the second nozzle body 54 is controlled so that the liquid processing liquid spray direction is directed toward the center of the semiconductor wafer W regardless of the rotation angle of the arm body 47.

  Further, when the first motor 81 is operated, the height of the second nozzle body 54 provided integrally with the second motor 84 can be changed. Accordingly, the flying distance of the liquid processing liquid ejected from the second nozzle body 54 can be changed according to the diameter of the semiconductor wafer W.

  That is, when the diameter of the semiconductor wafer W is different, the processing liquid can be supplied to the central portion of the semiconductor wafer W whose height position is changed even if the swing angle of the second nozzle body 54 is the same. .

  In each of the above-described embodiments, the semiconductor wafer is described as an example of the substrate. However, the substrate may be a rectangular glass plate used in a liquid crystal display device, and is required to be cleaned cleanly. The present invention can be applied to any plate-like material.

  Further, the swing mechanism that changes the inclination angle of the second nozzle body in accordance with the rotation of the arm body is not limited to the configuration described in each of the above embodiments, and may have other configurations. .

  In each of the above embodiments, the processing liquid supplied from the first nozzle body to the substrate is made mist, and the processing liquid supplied from the second nozzle body to the substrate is in a liquid state. The processing liquid supplied from the nozzle body to the substrate may be in a liquid state, and the processing liquid supplied from the second nozzle body to the substrate may be mist-shaped. Further, a liquid or mist processing liquid may be supplied to the substrate from both the first and second nozzle bodies.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The schematic block diagram of the washing | cleaning apparatus of the board | substrate which shows 1st Embodiment of this invention. The front view which shows schematic structure of the swing mechanism provided in the front-end | tip of a horizontal arm. The side view which shows schematic structure of the swing mechanism provided in the front-end | tip of a horizontal arm. The piping system figure of the 1st, 2nd nozzle body. Explanatory drawing which shows the locus | trajectory of the 1st nozzle body on a semiconductor wafer. The block diagram of the swing mechanism which shows 2nd Embodiment of this invention. The block diagram of the swing mechanism which shows the 3rd Embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 7 ... Control apparatus, 16 ... Rotary table, 46 ... 1st nozzle body (1st process liquid supply means), 47 ... Arm body, 54 ... 2nd nozzle body (drying prevention means), 55, 55A, 55B ... swing mechanism.

Claims (3)

A substrate processing apparatus for processing with a processing liquid while rotating a substrate,
A rotary table that is driven to rotate while holding the substrate;
Having an arm body that performs a circular arc motion in the horizontal direction above the rotary table with the base end as a fulcrum;
At the tip of this arm body,
A treatment liquid supply means for supplying the processing liquid to the substrate while being driven in a direction across said substrate,
Toward the center portion of the substrate; and a drying prevention means for supplying the treatment liquid to swing in accordance with the separate arcuate movement of the arm body and the treatment liquid supply means,
The substrate is characterized in that the processing liquid is supplied toward the central portion of the substrate by the drying preventing means when a portion other than the central portion of the substrate is being processed by the processing liquid supply means. Processing equipment. A swing mechanism for driving and swinging the drying prevention means, and a neck of the drying prevention means so that the processing liquid from the drying prevention means is supplied to the central portion of the substrate in accordance with the arc motion of the arm body. the substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that a control means for controlling the swing angle. 3. The substrate according to claim 1, wherein the processing liquid supply means sprays the processing liquid in a mist, and the drying prevention means jets the processing liquid in a liquid state. Processing equipment.

Images