JPH08187427A - Apparatus for supplying liquid to be treated - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide a supplying apparatus of a liquid to be treated which efficiently adjusts the temperature of the liquid to be evaporated by bubbling in a tank and can be employed even for a combustible liquid to be treated. CONSTITUTION: In this supplying apparatus which introduces N2 gas to a liquid to be treated in a tank 3 in order to evaporate the liquid and supplies the resultant gas together with N2 as to a treatment apparatus 1, a heat exchanging apparatus 12 composed of a spirally installed pipe is installed in the tank 3. Water is introduced to the pipe through a fluid introducing pipe 13 installed in the lower part of the heat exchanging apparatus 12 and discharged out of a fluid discharging pipe 14 installed in the upper part. Since all of the heat of the heat exchange apparatus 12 can be heat-exchanged with the liquid to be treated in the tank 3, the process is carried out highly efficiently, and further no electricity is employed, so the process is highly safe.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a processing liquid supply device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a semiconductor device manufacturing process, for example, a treatment liquid is vaporized into a carrier gas by, for example, bubbling, and the treatment liquid is supplied together with the carrier gas to a treatment apparatus for a semiconductor wafer to be treated. A liquid supply device is used. For example, HMDS (hexamethyldisilazane) used for surface treatment of a semiconductor wafer is also sprayed on the surface of the semiconductor wafer by the treatment liquid supply device.

By the way, the above-mentioned spraying needs to be carried out uniformly, and therefore the amount of HMDS vaporized in a carrier gas, for example, nitrogen gas, must also be maintained at a predetermined amount. Therefore, conventionally, a method has been proposed in which, when the carrier gas is blown into the treatment liquid for bubbling, the blowing amount is controlled, or the treatment liquid is maintained at a predetermined temperature and the evaporation amount thereof is controlled. For example, in the processing liquid supply apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-164325, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-222601, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-283340, the temperature of the processing liquid in the tank is adjusted, A heating unit that heats the tank by supplying electric power is provided outside the tank that stores the liquid.

[0004]

However, if the heating means is provided outside the tank in this way, the heat is also radiated to the surroundings, which is not efficient. Further, there is a possibility that heat may adversely affect surrounding equipment and devices, and the processing liquid supply device itself is enlarged, which is not preferable. Furthermore, HM
Since DS is flammable, it may lead to an unexpected situation if it leaks outside, and there was room for improvement.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and it is possible to efficiently control the temperature of the processing liquid in the tank, and further, it is safe and does not affect the surroundings, and the processing liquid supply device can be made compact. Is provided to solve the above-mentioned problem.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, according to claim 1, a chemically stable gas is introduced into a tank for storing the treatment liquid, and the treatment liquid is vapor-phased into the gas. In the processing liquid supply apparatus configured to supply a gas in which the processing liquid is vaporized to the processing liquid supply system, a tubular heat exchanger is provided in the tank, and the heat exchanger is
A fluid is configured to flow through the pipe to exchange heat between the fluid and the processing liquid, and the fluid is configured to flow from a lower portion to an upper portion of the heat exchanger. A processing liquid supply device is provided.

According to the present invention, a chemically stable gas is introduced into the tank for storing the treatment liquid to vaporize the treatment liquid into the gas, and the treatment liquid is vaporized into the gas phase. In the treatment liquid supply apparatus configured to supply the treatment liquid to the treatment liquid supply system, a tubular heat exchanger is provided in the tank, and the heat exchanger exchanges the fluid and the treatment with a fluid flowing in a pipe line. It is configured to exchange heat with a liquid, and further, the fluid is configured to flow from the lower part to the upper part of the heat exchanger, and the fluid is used for temperature control in another processing apparatus. A treatment liquid supply device is provided.

The chemically stable gas referred to in each of the processing liquid supply devices is, for example, N ₂ gas (nitrogen gas).
Other various inert gases such as He (helium) gas and Ar (argon) gas can also be used. The fluid flowing in the pipe of the heat exchanger of each treatment liquid supply device may be liquid or gas, and is preferably chemically stable and in contact with the treatment liquid in the tank. Also, a substance that does not cause a chemical reaction is preferable.

[0009]

In the processing liquid supply apparatus according to claim 1,
Since a tubular heat exchanger is provided in the tank that stores the processing liquid, "liquid-liquid" heat exchange or "gas-liquid" heat exchange with the fluid flowing through the pipe line is performed, resulting in extremely high efficiency. The temperature of the processing liquid can be adjusted well. Moreover, since the heat exchanger itself is provided in the tank, the radiant heat is not directly transmitted to the external device. Since it is not a method of generating heat by power supply, the processing liquid does not ignite and is safe.

Further, since the fluid flowing in the pipe flows from the lower part to the upper part of the heat exchanger, even if the amount of the treatment liquid decreases and the liquid level thereof lowers, the heat is still still generated in the heat exchanger. Since heat is exchanged with the fluid that has not been exchanged, temperature control is easy and efficient.

Further, according to the treatment liquid supply apparatus of the second aspect, since the fluid flowing through the pipe of the heat exchanger is used for temperature control of another treatment apparatus, it is separately used. It is not necessary to secure the fluid, and the fluid can be effectively used.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. This embodiment is as shown in FIG.
A process of performing an AD process (adhesion process; a pre-process of a photoresist coating process for improving adhesion and adhesion between a photoresist and a wafer) on a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter, referred to as “wafer”) W which is an object to be processed. In the device 1, HM
This is an example applied to the HMDS supply device 2 for supplying DS (hexamethyldisilazane).

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, this HMDS supply device 2 has a tank 3 for storing HMDS, and this tank 3 is PFA (perfluoroalkoxy fluororesin) excellent in HMDS resistance. It consists of A bubbler (bubble generator) 4 made of, for example, a porous member is provided at the bottom of the tank 3, and N ₂ gas is supplied to the bubbler 4 from a joint 5 provided outside the bottom of the tank 3. Then, fine N ₂ gas bubbles are generated in the stored HMDS, and the HMDS is melted in the bubbles in a vapor state. As shown in FIG. 1, the amount of the bubbles can be controlled by an MFC (mass flow controller; flow rate control device) 7 provided in an N ₂ gas supply pipe 6 connected to the joint 5. The temperature of the N ₂ gas itself may be directly controlled to control the evaporation amount of HMDS.

A heat exchanger 12 made up of a spirally formed tube 11 is housed in the tank 3.
This tube 11 is also made of PFA, which is the same material as the tank 3. At the bottom of the heat exchanger 12, the tank 3
A fluid introduction pipe 13 communicating with the outside is provided, and a fluid discharge pipe 14 communicating with the outside of the tank 3 is provided above the heat exchanger 12. As shown in FIG. 3, the heat exchanger 12 itself, which is formed in a spiral shape, has its upper portion located below the upper limit level HL of HMDS stored in the tank 3 and its lower portion located above the lower limit level LL. Is set to.

In this embodiment, since the heat exchanger 12 is formed in such a spiral shape, for example, H to be stored.
The float sensor 15 installed in the tank 3 for detecting the amount of MDS does not interfere with the vertical movement.

At the top opening of the tank 3, a lid member 21 is airtightly attached by an airtight material 22 and a lock member 23. Further, the lid member 21 has an HMD
An injection port 24 for S injection, a supply hole 25 for supplying vaporized HMDS to the pretreatment device 1, an air hole 26 for introducing the atmosphere, and a spare hole which is usually fitted with a blind plug. Hole 2
7 are formed.

As shown in FIG. 1, the inlet 24 is connected to an HMDS supply pipe 32 having a valve 31 interposed therein, and the supply hole 25 is connected to be switched to an air supply system. A supply pipe 34 in which a switching valve 33 is interposed is connected, and further, the atmosphere hole 26 is provided with an introduction pipe 3 for introducing the atmosphere.
5 are connected to each.

The supply pipe 34 communicates with the top of the chamber 41 of the above-mentioned processing apparatus 1. At the bottom of the chamber 41, a mounting table 42 for mounting a wafer W to be processed is placed.
Is provided. The vaporized HMDS supplied from the supply pipe 34 is uniformly sprayed onto the wafer W. Also, the above-mentioned table 42
The wafer W has a built-in heating device (not shown) for setting the temperature of the wafer W to a predetermined temperature.
The wafer W is subjected to AD processing by spraying HMDS while being maintained at a predetermined temperature.

An exhaust pipe 43 for exhausting the gas after processing is connected to the bottom of the chamber 41 of the processing apparatus 1, and the exhaust pipe 43 is provided with a negative pressure inside the chamber 41. An ejector (pneumatic vacuum device) 44 is provided via an opening / closing valve 45, and a drive air supply pipe 46 for supplying pressurized air for driving is provided to the ejector 44 via an opening / closing valve 47. ing.

The above-mentioned fluid introduction pipe 13 and fluid discharge pipe 14
As shown in FIG. 4, at the joint portions of the fluid supply pipe 53 and the discharge pipe 54 connected to the joints 51 and 52, respectively,
It is supported by the front cover member 21 by the stays 55 and 56 and the support member 57, and even if there is vibration or the like, the fluid introduction pipe 13 and the fluid discharge pipe 14, and further the heat exchanger 1
The second pipe 11 is prevented from coming into contact with the tank 3 or other objects, or being damaged due to an excessive load being applied to the penetrating portion of the tank 3.

Then, the wafer W is connected to the fluid supply pipe 53.
On the other hand, the water for temperature control and cooling of the processing device that performs another process is supplied via the flow rate control device 61 and the temperature control device 62. That is, in the vicinity of the processing apparatus 1 that performs the above-described AD processing on the wafer W, various processing apparatuses such as a processing apparatus for a photoresist coating processing which is a subsequent processing and a cleaning apparatus are usually arranged. FIG.
As described above, in this embodiment, the water for temperature control and cooling used in such another processing apparatus is used as the fluid for the heat exchanger 12. That is, in the processing devices 72 and 73 for dropping the processing liquid onto the wafer W from the nozzle 71, pumps are used for controlling the temperature of the nozzle 71, and in the processing devices 75 and 76 for heat-treating the wafer W on the susceptor 74, respectively, for cooling the susceptor 74. The water supplied by the water 77 is used, and the water that has passed through the susceptor 74 of the processing device 76 is supplied to the fluid supply pipe 5.
3. The fluid is introduced into the heat exchanger 12 through the fluid introducing pipe 13. On the contrary, the heat exchanger 1
The water that has passed through 2 may be configured to be circulated to the respective processing devices 72, 73, 75, 76.

The HMDS supply device 2 and its peripheral processing devices and equipment according to the present embodiment are configured as described above. When supplying HMDS to the processing device 1 for performing AD processing on the wafer W, First, open / close valve 45, 4
7 is opened to send driving pressure air from the driving air supply pipe 46 to the ejector 44, and the chamber 41 of the processing apparatus 1 is opened.
The atmosphere is sucked and exhausted to reduce the pressure. Then open / close valve 7
Is opened and N ₂ gas is introduced into the tank 3 from the bubbler 4, the introduced N ₂ gas flows into the HMDS as fine bubbles, and the HMDS is vaporized in the bubbles of the N ₂ gas. mixing. And the N ₂ gas mixed with HMDS is
The wafer W is supplied from the supply pipe 34 into the chamber 41 of the processing apparatus 1 and is sprayed onto the wafer W on the susceptor 42 set to a predetermined temperature, so that AD
Processing is performed.

In such a case, it is necessary to maintain the amount of HMDS to be supplied to a predetermined amount. Therefore, in addition to controlling the flow rate of N ₂ gas, the temperature of HMDS in the tank 3 is set to a predetermined value in order to control the evaporation amount of HMDS. Temperature, eg room temperature of 23 ° C
However, in this embodiment, the heat exchanger 12 is housed in the tank 3, and the water and the HMDS are constantly heated by the water of 23 ° C. flowing in the pipe 11 of the heat exchanger 12, for example. It has been replaced and it is possible to maintain a very stable temperature. And the water flowing in the pipe 11 of the heat exchanger 12 is
Since it flows from the lower part to the upper part, even if the liquid level of HMDS drops, it is possible to carry out heat exchange with temperature-controlled water that has not yet released heat (heat exchange) in the tank 3. , HMDS temperature control is easy.

The heat exchanger 12 itself is the HMD in the tank 3.
Since it is located in S, heat dissipation to other parts (heat exchange)
In addition, the temperature of the HMDS can be controlled and maintained extremely efficiently, and there is no direct radiation of heat to surrounding equipment. Moreover, since water circulates in the heat exchanger 12, even if it is flammable like HMDS, it is extremely safe and easy to handle. HMDS supply device 2
Overall, it is compact, and because it does not have a heating means like the conventional one outside, the degree of freedom in the layout of peripheral devices is also improved.

Further, in this embodiment, since the pipes 11 constituting the heat exchanger 12 are spirally arranged, the contact area with the HMDS is wide, and the heat exchange efficiency is also good in this respect. Further, it does not hinder the vertical movement of the float sensor 15.
Of course, the structure of the heat exchanger 12 does not need to be spiral like that, and an appropriate form using a tube can be selected.

Further, as the water of the heat exchanger 12 used in this embodiment, water for temperature control used for the other processing devices 72, 73, 75 and 76 and water for cooling are diverted. There is no need to separately secure a dedicated fluid for heat exchange, and the entire system has a lean structure.

In the above embodiment, the fluid introducing pipe 13 and the fluid discharging pipe 14 penetrate the side wall of the tank 3, but instead of such a constitution, for example, as shown in FIG.
The lid member 21 has a fluid introduction pipe 81 and a fluid discharge pipe 82, respectively.
It is also possible to have a structure in which According to this structure, the structure of the tank 3 itself is simplified, its strength and shape are preferable, and there is an advantage that maintenance is easy.

Although the above-mentioned embodiment is an example applied to the HMDS supply device, the present invention is not limited to this, and is applicable to a device which vaporizes the processing liquid in the tank and supplies it to another processing device. However, it is effective when the treatment liquid is efficiently set and maintained at a predetermined temperature. Therefore, it can be configured as a supply device for a developing solution, a resist solution, a magnetic powder solution, other processing solution, and a chemical solution.

[0029]

According to the treatment liquid supply apparatus of the first aspect, the heat of the fluid can be transferred to the treatment liquid extremely efficiently, so that the temperature of the treatment liquid can be efficiently and easily adjusted. In addition, there is no possibility that the equipment around the tank will be adversely affected by heat. Even if the treatment liquid is flammable, it does not ignite and is safe. Since the heat exchanger itself is located in the tank, the device can be made compact.

According to the treatment liquid supply apparatus of the second aspect, it is not necessary to separately secure a dedicated fluid, the fluid can be effectively used, and the running cost can be reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a system such as a processing device for AD processing in which an HMDS supply device according to an embodiment of the present invention is adopted.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory plan view of the HMDS supply device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional explanatory view of the HMDS supply device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a front explanatory view of the HMDS supply device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional explanatory view of an HMDS supply device according to another embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Processing Equipment 2 HMDS Supply Equipment 3 Tank 4 Bubbler 6 N ₂ Gas Supply Pipe 11 Pipe 12 Heat Exchanger 13 Fluid Inlet Pipe 14 Fluid Discharge Pipe 34 Supply Pipe

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A chemically stable gas is introduced into a tank for storing a treatment liquid to vaporize the treatment liquid into the gas, and the gas obtained by vaporizing the treatment liquid is supplied to the treatment liquid supply system. In the treatment liquid supply apparatus configured to supply the heat treatment liquid, a tubular heat exchanger is provided in the tank, and the heat exchanger is configured such that a fluid circulates in a pipe line to generate heat between the fluid and the treatment liquid. A treatment liquid supply apparatus, which is configured to be exchanged, and further configured to allow the fluid to flow from a lower portion to an upper portion of the heat exchanger. 2. A chemically stable gas is introduced into a tank for storing the treatment liquid to vaporize the treatment liquid into the gas, and the gas obtained by vaporizing the treatment liquid is supplied to the treatment liquid supply system. In the treatment liquid supply apparatus configured to supply the heat treatment liquid, a tubular heat exchanger is provided in the tank, and the heat exchanger is configured such that a fluid circulates in a pipe line to generate heat between the fluid and the treatment liquid. It is configured to be exchanged, and further, the fluid is configured to flow from the lower part to the upper part of the heat exchanger, and the fluid is used for temperature control in another processing device, Processing liquid supply device.