JP2008016708A - Treatment coater - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To apply a treatment consisting of a cleaning fluid or developer discharged from a nozzle on a substrate rotating in a horizontal plane without causing a wet trace, a stripe of a liquid course trace, or a developing unevenness. <P>SOLUTION: In a treatment coater 10A in which a treatment 18 discharged from a nozzle 17 is applied onto a substrate K rotating on a horizontal plane, the treatment coater 10A comprises nozzle shift means 14 to 16 in which the cleaning fluid or developer serving as the treatment 18 is discharged from the nozzle 17. The nozzle 17 is shifted from an outer periphery of the substrate K to a center thereof, and a control means 19 which controls the nozzle shift means 14 to 16 in such a manner that the shift speed of the nozzle 17 increases linearly from the outer periphery of the substrate K to the center thereof. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  In the present invention, a cleaning solution or a developing solution is used as a processing solution, and the processing solution by the cleaning solution or the developing solution discharged from the nozzle causes liquid contact traces, liquid path traces, and uneven development on a substrate rotating in a horizontal plane. The present invention relates to a treatment liquid coating apparatus that can be applied without any problem.

  In the process of manufacturing a semiconductor element, a liquid crystal display element, an optical disk, etc., a processing liquid coating apparatus is used to discharge a processing liquid such as a cleaning liquid, a developer, a photoresist liquid, and a protective film liquid from a nozzle and rotate in a horizontal plane. It is applied on the substrate.

  Here, in a generally used processing liquid coating apparatus, a nozzle that discharges the processing liquid is fixedly installed above the center of the substrate and above the center of rotation, which is supported by a motor so as to be rotatable at high speed in a horizontal plane. The discharged processing liquid is dropped on the central part of the substrate rotating at high speed, the processing liquid is diffused from the central part of the substrate toward the outer peripheral part by centrifugal force, and excess processing liquid on the substrate is removed. It is scattered from the outer peripheral edge of the substrate.

  However, since a large amount of processing liquid is required by continuing to drop the processing liquid onto the central portion of the substrate from a nozzle fixedly installed above the central portion of the substrate, waste of the processing liquid is generated and the central portion of the substrate The neighborhood is processed more excessively than other parts. For example, in the case of the cleaning liquid, a difference in wettability occurs between the surface in the vicinity of the central portion and the other surface, leaving a stain. In the case of a developer, the line width in the vicinity of the central portion is different from other portions. As described above, it is known that a stain or uneven development due to the processing liquid occurs in the vicinity of the center of the substrate, leaving a defect.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the processing liquid is ejected from the substrate while moving the nozzle from the outer peripheral portion toward the central portion without fixing the nozzle for discharging the processing liquid above the central portion of the substrate. There is a processing liquid coating method in which coating is performed from the outer peripheral portion toward the central portion (see, for example, Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2).
JP-A-8-97118 JP 2004-72061 A

  FIGS. 5A and 5B are a top view and a front view showing a processing liquid coating apparatus applied to a conventional processing liquid coating method.

  A processing liquid coating apparatus 10C applied to the conventional processing liquid coating method shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B is disclosed in the above-mentioned Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2, and here, patents are used. This will be described with reference to Document 1 and Patent Document 2.

  As shown in FIGS. 5 (a) and 5 (b), in the processing liquid coating apparatus 10C applied to the conventional processing liquid coating method, the motor drive circuit unit 11 is provided on the shaft 12a of the motor 12 that is rotatable in the direction of arrow A. A spin chuck 13 is attached, and a lower surface Ka of a substrate K using a wafer, a glass master, or the like is vacuum-sucked on the spin chuck 13. The substrate K vacuum-sucked on the spin chuck 13 is rotatable in the horizontal plane by driving the motor 11.

  A traveling rail 14 is provided outside the substrate K, and a traveling member 15 incorporating a moving mechanism is provided along the traveling rail 14 so as to be linearly movable from the outer peripheral portion of the substrate K toward the central portion. Yes.

  One end of the arm 16 is connected to the traveling member 15, and the nozzle 17 is attached to the other end of the arm 16 so as to be positioned above the upper surface Kb of the substrate K.

  Further, the treatment liquid 18 (shown only in FIG. 5B) is ejected from the nozzle 17 toward the upper surface Kb of the substrate K. At this time, in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2 described above, a photoresist liquid is used as the processing liquid 18.

  With the above configuration, the nozzle 17 attached to the traveling member 15 guided along the traveling rail 14 via the arm 16 is linearly moved in the direction of arrow B from the outer peripheral portion of the substrate K toward the central portion. Therefore, since the photoresist liquid as the processing liquid 18 discharged from the nozzle 17 is applied from the outer peripheral portion to the central portion on the upper surface Kb of the substrate K, a large amount of photoresist liquid is not required. In addition, it is disclosed that the photoresist liquid can be applied to the entire upper surface Kb of the substrate K while preventing uneven application of the photoresist liquid.

  By the way, using the processing liquid coating apparatus 10C applied to the above-described conventional processing liquid coating method, a photoresist liquid as the processing liquid 18 discharged from the nozzle 17 is applied from the outer peripheral portion of the substrate K toward the central portion. However, since the photoresist liquid does not have a function of causing chemical and physical modification of the coating surface, the processing liquid 18 discharged from the nozzle 17 can be used. The liquid contact trace generated on the substrate K by the photoresist liquid need not be a problem, and the liquid trace trace generated on the substrate K need not be a problem.

  The above-mentioned “liquid contact trace” is a trace generated when the processing liquid discharged from the nozzle comes into contact with the substrate, and the above “liquid path trace” is generated along the path of the processing liquid. It is a trace.

  On the other hand, when a cleaning solution or a developing solution applied on the substrate K with a thin film thickness is used, a trace of contact with the cleaning solution or a developing solution or a trace of a liquid path is generated on the substrate K. Thereafter, the process of processing the substrate K is hindered, and a good product cannot be completed, which causes a problem.

  Therefore, since the cleaning liquid or developer has a high function of modifying the coating surface, when these are used, the traces of liquid contact or liquid path traces and development generated on the substrate by the cleaning liquid or developer as the processing liquid are developed. A processing liquid coating apparatus that can reduce unevenness is desired.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and the invention according to claim 1 is a processing liquid coating apparatus for coating a processing liquid discharged from a nozzle on a substrate rotating in a horizontal plane.
Nozzle moving means for moving the nozzle from the outer peripheral portion toward the central portion of the substrate while discharging a cleaning liquid or a developer from the nozzle as the processing liquid;
Control means for controlling the nozzle moving means so that the moving speed of the nozzle increases linearly from the outer peripheral part of the substrate toward the central part;
Is a treatment liquid coating apparatus.

  According to the processing liquid coating apparatus of claim 1, in particular, when the nozzle is moved from the outer peripheral portion of the substrate toward the central portion while discharging the cleaning liquid or the developing solution to be applied with a thin film thickness as the processing liquid from the nozzle. Since the movement speed of the nozzle is controlled so as to increase linearly from the outer peripheral portion of the substrate toward the central portion, the traces of liquid contact and liquid traces generated on the substrate by the cleaning liquid or developer as the processing liquid are controlled. Since streaks and development unevenness do not occur at all, a cleaning solution or a developing solution can be satisfactorily applied as a processing solution on a substrate, and a highly reliable processing solution coating apparatus can be provided. Of course, even when a photoresist liquid or a protective film liquid to be applied thickly is used as the processing liquid in the processing liquid coating apparatus according to the present invention, uneven application of the photoresist liquid or the protective film liquid does not occur on the substrate. is there.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of a treatment liquid coating apparatus according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

1 (a) and 1 (b) are a top view and a front view showing a processing liquid coating apparatus according to the present invention,
2A and 2B are relationship diagrams schematically showing states in which the control unit controls the nozzle moving speed with respect to the nozzle moving position in the processing liquid coating apparatus according to the present invention.

  The processing liquid coating apparatus 10A according to the present invention shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B has a configuration of a processing liquid coating apparatus 10C applied to the conventional processing liquid coating method described above with reference to FIG. The structure is the same except for a part, and here, for convenience of explanation, the same reference numerals are given to the structural members shown above, and new structural members that are different from the conventional ones are denoted by new reference numerals. To do.

  As shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, also in the treatment liquid coating apparatus 10A according to the present invention, the spin chuck 13 is attached to the shaft 12a of the motor 12 rotatable in the direction of arrow A by the motor drive circuit unit 11. The lower surface Ka of the substrate K using a wafer, a glass master, or the like is vacuum-sucked on the spin chuck 13. The substrate K vacuum-sucked on the spin chuck 13 is rotatable in the horizontal plane by driving a motor 11 that rotates at a low rotational speed within a range of 5 to 20 rpm, for example, as will be described later.

  At this time, the motor drive circuit unit 11, the motor 12, and the spin chuck 13 serve as substrate rotating means for rotating the substrate K in a horizontal plane.

  A traveling rail 14 is provided outside the substrate K, and a traveling member 15 incorporating a moving mechanism is provided along the traveling rail 14 so as to be linearly movable from the outer peripheral portion of the substrate K toward the central portion. Yes.

  One end of the arm 16 is connected to the traveling member 15, and the nozzle 17 is attached to the other end of the arm 16 so as to be positioned above the upper surface Kb of the substrate K.

  At this time, the traveling rail 14, the traveling member 15, and the arm 16 serve as nozzle moving means for moving the nozzle 17 from the outer peripheral portion of the substrate K toward the central portion.

  Further, the treatment liquid 18 {shown only in FIG. 1B} is discharged from the nozzle 17 toward the upper surface Kb of the substrate K. In this embodiment, a cleaning solution or a developing solution for applying a thin film thickness is used as the processing solution 18.

  With the above configuration, the nozzle 17 attached to the traveling member 15 guided along the traveling rail 14 via the arm 16 in the direction of the arrow B from the outer peripheral portion of the substrate K toward the center portion, as in the conventional example. Since it is moved linearly, the cleaning liquid or developer as the processing liquid 18 discharged from the nozzle 17 is applied on the upper surface Kb of the substrate K from the outer peripheral portion toward the central portion.

  Here, the difference from the conventional example will be described. The inventor discharges the processing liquid 18 from the outer peripheral portion on the upper surface Kb of the substrate K while discharging the cleaning liquid or the developing liquid as the processing liquid 18 from the nozzle 17. When applying toward the center, various experiments were performed so that no traces of liquid contact or traces of liquid path caused by the cleaning liquid or the developing liquid as the processing liquid 18 or streaks of development or uneven development were generated on the upper surface Kb of the substrate K. However, the present inventors have found a method for controlling the moving speed of the nozzle 17 so as to increase substantially linearly from the outer peripheral portion toward the central portion.

  Therefore, by adding a control unit 19 that controls the moving speed of the traveling member 15, the moving speed of the nozzle 17 that moves integrally with the traveling member 15 and the arm 16 from the outer peripheral portion of the substrate K toward the center portion is also increased. It is controlled by the control unit 19.

At this time, as shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, the radius of the substrate K is set to R, and the dimension of R is set as the processing liquid discharge end position (the central portion of the substrate) and the processing liquid discharge start position. R ₀ (R ₀ = 0) (outer peripheral portion of the substrate), R _{n in} the middle of processing liquid discharge, and the distance from the processing liquid discharge start position (outer peripheral portion of substrate) R ₀ to the processing liquid discharging middle position R _n X _n , the moving speed of the nozzle at the processing liquid discharge start position (outer peripheral portion of the substrate) R ₀ is V ₀ (V ₀ = 0), the moving speed of the nozzle at the processing liquid discharge halfway position R _n is V _n , the processing When the moving speed of the nozzle at the liquid discharge end position (center portion of the substrate) R is V, the control section 19 controls the moving speed of the traveling member 15 so that the following (Equation 1) is substantially satisfied. Yes.

[Equation 1]
V _n ≈V × (X _n / R) (Equation 1)

  At this time, the processing liquid discharge end position (the center portion of the substrate) R described above is a position in calculation when obtaining (Equation 1), and when the processing liquid 18 is actually applied, this processing liquid discharge is performed. The application of the treatment liquid 18 is completed by stopping the nozzle 17 at a position slightly outside the end position (center portion of the substrate) R.

  Further, the starting position for discharging the processing liquid 18 from the nozzle 17 may be a place to be used as an element to be manufactured later on the substrate K, that is, an outer peripheral portion of the substrate K that does not include the effective area of the element. It is.

  Then, when the movement speed of the nozzle 17 is controlled so as to increase substantially linearly from the outer peripheral portion of the substrate K toward the central portion based on (Equation 1), the upper surface of the substrate K in Examples 1 and 2 described below. It has been found that the clean solution or developer can be satisfactorily applied as the treatment liquid 18 without causing streaks or development unevenness of the liquid trace or the trace of the liquid path due to the clean solution or developer as the treatment liquid 18 on Kb.

  Of course, even when a photoresist liquid or a protective film liquid to be applied thickly is used as the processing liquid 18 in the above-described processing liquid coating apparatus 10A according to the present invention, uneven coating of the photoresist liquid or the protective film liquid on the substrate K is performed. It was confirmed that no occurred.

  Using the processing liquid coating apparatus 10A according to the present invention shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, from a nozzle 17 that moves from the outer periphery toward the center above the substrate K having a radius R of, for example, 200 mm. Pure water (cleaning liquid) was discharged as a treatment liquid 18 at 0.3 l / min. Here, a glass master was used as the substrate K. The distance between the nozzle 17 and the substrate K was 15 mm.

At this time, as shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, the moving speed V ₀ of the nozzle 17 at the processing liquid discharge start position (outer peripheral portion of the substrate) R ₀ is set to ₀ mm / sec, and the processing liquid discharge end position is set. to set the moving speed V, for example, 10 mm / sec of the nozzle 17 in the R (center of the substrate) showed the moving velocity _{V n} of the nozzles 17 in the treatment liquid ejection intermediate position _{R n} above (equation 1) Based on this, the control unit 19 controlled the distance from the outer peripheral portion to the central portion so as to increase substantially linearly.

Further, the number of rotations of the substrate K is selectively switched between 5 rpm, 10 rpm, 20 rpm, 50 rpm, and 100 rpm, and the traces of liquid contact and liquid path traces generated on the substrate K by pure water (cleaning liquid) as the processing liquid 18 are obtained. As a result of visual inspection of the degree of reduction, the results shown in Table 1 below were obtained. At this time, since the nozzle 17 is moved from the outer peripheral portion toward the central portion, the uneven application of the processing liquid 18 does not occur at all as in the conventional example.

  As is clear from the results shown in Table 1 above, when the nozzle 17 is increased substantially linearly from the outer periphery toward the center, liquid contact traces on the substrate K appear regardless of the rotation speed of the substrate K. It was found that it did not occur at all. On the other hand, it was confirmed that no streaks of the liquid path on the substrate K occurred at all when the rotation speed of the substrate K was within the range of 5 rpm to 20 rpm, which is a low rotation speed. As a result, a processing liquid coating apparatus 10A having good performance can be provided.

Using the processing liquid coating apparatus 10A according to the present invention shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, from a nozzle 17 that moves from the outer periphery toward the center above the substrate K having a radius R of, for example, 200 mm. 1. When discharging pure water (cleaning liquid) as the treatment liquid 18, the discharge amount is 0.2 l / min, 0.3 l / min, 0.5 l / min, 1.0 l / min, 1.5 l / min,
In addition to selectively switching between 1 / min and discharging, the number of rotations of the substrate K was set to the upper limit value of 20 rpm within the allowable range (5 rpm to 20 rpm). Of course, in the second embodiment, the nozzle 17 is controlled so as to increase substantially linearly from the outer peripheral portion toward the central portion based on the same speed setting as in the first embodiment. As a result of visual inspection of the situation in which the trace of wetted liquid on the substrate K due to) was generated, the results shown in Table 2 below were obtained.

  As is clear from the results shown in Table 2 above, if the discharge amount of pure water discharged from the nozzle 17 is within the range of 0.2 l / min to 0.5 l / min, the nozzle 17 is centered from the outer periphery. It was confirmed that the trace of liquid contact on the substrate K due to pure water (cleaning liquid) as the processing liquid 18 was not generated at all by increasing substantially linearly toward the portion. As a result, a processing liquid coating apparatus 10A having good performance can be provided.

  Next, a modified example in which the treatment liquid coating apparatus 10A according to the present invention is partially modified will be briefly described with reference to FIG.

  FIGS. 3A and 3B are a top view and a front view showing a modified example in which the treatment liquid coating apparatus according to the present invention is partially modified.

  As shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, the processing liquid coating apparatus 10B according to the modified example is different from the processing liquid coating apparatus 10A described above with reference to FIG. The only difference is the nozzle moving means for moving the nozzle 17 for discharging the ink from the outer peripheral portion of the substrate K toward the center portion.

  In other words, in this modification, a turning member 20 having a turning mechanism built in the outside of the substrate K is provided to be rotatable in the direction of the arrow B ′, and one end of the arm 16 is connected to the turning member 20. In addition, a nozzle 17 is attached to the other end of the arm 16 so as to be positioned above the upper surface Kb of the substrate K.

  Accordingly, when the rotating member 20 is rotated in the direction of the arrow B ′, the nozzle 17 can move from the outer peripheral portion of the substrate K toward the central portion via the arm 16 connected to the rotating member 20. Yes. At this time, the movement locus of the nozzle 17 can be moved substantially linearly by adjusting the length of the arm 16.

  In this modification, the arm 16 and the rotating member 20 serve as nozzle moving means for moving the nozzle 17 from the outer peripheral portion of the substrate K toward the center portion.

  Further, the control unit 19 increases the moving speed of the nozzle 17 that discharges the processing liquid 18 substantially linearly from the outer peripheral portion of the substrate K toward the central portion based on (Expression 1). Since the control unit 19 controls the nozzle moving means 16 and 20, also in this modified example, the traces of liquid contact and liquid path traces and development by the cleaning liquid or the developing liquid as the processing liquid 18 on the upper surface Kb of the substrate K are developed. Without the occurrence of unevenness, the cleaning liquid or the developer can be satisfactorily applied as the processing liquid 18, thereby providing the processing liquid coating apparatus 10 </ b> B with good performance.

  In the processing liquid coating apparatuses 10A and 10B described above, when the substrate K is rotated, the back surface Ka of the substrate K is vacuum-sucked by the spin chuck 13, but not limited to this, as shown in FIG. The outer peripheral end face Kc of the substrate K may be supported and rotated.

  Specifically, as shown in FIG. 4, the turntable 12 fixed to the shaft 12 a of the motor 12 has a circular concave portion 21 a formed in the upper surface side, and the circular concave portion 21 a A substrate outer peripheral end surface support portion 21b is formed on the outer periphery in a stepped ring shape having substantially the same diameter as the outer peripheral end surface Kc of the substrate K. Then, the substrate K is rotated in the direction of arrow A by driving the motor 12 with the outer peripheral end surface Kc of the substrate K supported by the substrate outer peripheral end surface support portion 21b of the turntable 12.

  Even in this case, the processing liquid 18 discharged from the nozzle 17 is applied onto the substrate K while controlling the moving speed of the nozzle 17 so as to increase substantially linearly from the outer peripheral portion to the central portion of the substrate K. .

(A), (b) is the top view and front view which showed the process liquid coating device which concerns on this invention. (A), (b) is the relationship figure which showed typically the state which controls the moving speed of the nozzle with respect to the moving position of a nozzle with a control part in the process liquid coating device which concerns on this invention. (A), (b) is the top view and front view which showed the modification which deform | transformed partially the process liquid coating device based on this invention. In the processing liquid coating apparatus according to the present invention and the processing liquid coating apparatus of a modification, it is a longitudinal sectional view showing a state in which the outer peripheral edge of the substrate is supported when the substrate is rotated. (A), (b) is the top view and front view which showed the process liquid coating device applied to the conventional process liquid coating method.

Explanation of symbols

10A ... Treatment liquid coating apparatus according to the present invention,
10B ... Treatment liquid coating apparatus of a modification,
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 ... Motor drive circuit part, 12 ... Motor, 12a ... Shaft, 13 ... Spin chuck,
14 ... running rail, 15 ... running member, 16 ... arm, 17 ... nozzle,
18 ... treatment liquid, 19 ... control unit, 20 ... rotating member,
21 ... Turntable, 21a ... Circular concave portion 21, 21b ... Substrate outer peripheral end surface support portion,
K ... substrate, Ka ... lower surface, Kb ... upper surface, Kc ... outer peripheral end surface,
R: Radius of substrate and processing liquid discharge end position (center of substrate),
R ₀ ... processing liquid discharge start position (outer peripheral portion of substrate),
R _n ... processing liquid discharge halfway position,
X _n ... distance from the processing liquid discharge start position (outer peripheral portion of the substrate) R ₀ to the processing liquid discharge intermediate position R _n ,
V ₀ ... the moving speed of the nozzle at the processing liquid discharge start position R ₀ ,
V _n ... the moving speed of the nozzle at the processing liquid discharge midway position R _n ,
V: The moving speed of the nozzle at the processing liquid discharge end position (center portion of the substrate) R.

Claims (1)

In a processing liquid coating apparatus for coating a processing liquid discharged from a nozzle on a substrate rotating in a horizontal plane,
Nozzle moving means for moving the nozzle from the outer peripheral portion toward the central portion of the substrate while discharging a cleaning liquid or a developer from the nozzle as the processing liquid;
Control means for controlling the nozzle moving means so that the moving speed of the nozzle increases linearly from the outer peripheral part of the substrate toward the central part;
A treatment liquid coating apparatus comprising:

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