JP2024173570A - Substrate processing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a mechanism in which positional adjustment of a nozzle can be accurately performed while having a compact structure in a substrate processing apparatus having the nozzle arranged below a substrate.SOLUTION: A substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention comprises: a rolling mechanism that holds a circular substrate in a horizontal position, and rotates the substrate around a vertical axis which passes through a center of the substrate; and a nozzle mechanism that has a nozzle body which is arranged below the substrate and discharges a process liquid from a discharge port toward a bottom surface peripheral part of the substrate, a support unit which supports the nozzle body so as to be able to change a position of the discharge port in a radial direction of the substrate, and a positional adjustment unit that adjusts the position of the discharge port by moving the nozzle body relative to the support unit. The support unit and the positional adjustment unit are arranged inside a virtual circular arc which passes through the discharge port while having the vertical axis as a center.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 9

Description

This invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus that supplies a processing liquid to the peripheral portion of a substrate in the internal space of a chamber to process the peripheral portion.

One type of processing for circular or nearly circular substrates such as semiconductor wafers involves removing only the thin film formed on the periphery of the substrate from the thin film formed on at least one of the main surfaces of the substrate. For example, a technique is known in which an etching solution is supplied to the periphery of the substrate while rotating it, and only the thin film outside the position where the etching solution is supplied is removed. This type of thin film removal process is sometimes called a bevel etching process.

For example, in Patent Document 1, a lower peripheral nozzle is provided below a substrate in a substrate processing apparatus housed in a processing chamber to etch the peripheral portion of the lower surface of a horizontally oriented substrate. In this lower peripheral nozzle, multiple nozzles are attached to a nozzle support member, and each of these nozzles ejects a processing liquid such as a chemical liquid or a rinse liquid upward toward the peripheral portion of the lower surface of the substrate.

JP 2022-052835 A

In such processes, the width of the area of the thin film to be removed (etching width) must be adjusted to a predetermined target value. For this reason, in the substrate processing apparatus, adjustment work must be performed after assembly or before use after parts replacement so that the specified etching width is obtained. Furthermore, the etching width required in the process is not necessarily constant, and may change depending on the purpose. The above-mentioned prior art does not disclose in detail the nozzle attachment structure to the nozzle support member, and it is unclear how the adjustment is performed.

In particular, in recent years, the precision required for adjusting the etching width has increased in order to miniaturize devices and improve yields, and adjustments on the order of several tens of microns are now required. As of now, a mechanism that can be applied to enable such adjustments has not yet been established.

In addition, in this type of substrate processing system, it is common to stack processing chambers housing substrate processing units in multiple tiers to reduce the footprint. Also, in order to reduce the amount of gas used in each processing chamber and reduce the environmental load, it is necessary to reduce the size of each processing chamber, for example, the planar size and height when viewed vertically from above. For this reason, it is desirable for the nozzle and the mechanism for adjusting its position to be as compact as possible.

This invention was developed in consideration of the above problems, and aims to provide a mechanism for substrate processing equipment in which nozzles are positioned below substrates, which is capable of adjusting the nozzle position with high precision while contributing to reducing environmental impact.

One aspect of the present invention is characterized in that it comprises a rotation mechanism that holds a circular substrate in a horizontal position and rotates it around a vertical axis that passes through the center of the substrate, a nozzle body that is disposed below the substrate and discharges a processing liquid from a discharge port toward the peripheral portion of the underside of the substrate, a support section that supports the nozzle body so that the position of the discharge port in the radial direction of the substrate can be changed, and a nozzle mechanism having a position adjustment section that adjusts the position of the discharge port by moving the nozzle body relative to the support section, and the support section and the position adjustment section are disposed inside a virtual arc that passes through the discharge port and has the vertical axis as its center.

In the invention configured in this way, the nozzle body is supported by the support so that the position of the discharge port can be changed in the radial direction of the substrate. Then, the position adjustment unit moves the nozzle body relative to the support. This movement of the nozzle body adjusts the position of the discharge port. Therefore, the landing position of the processing liquid discharged from the discharge port on the substrate changes, and the etching width is adjusted. Moreover, the nozzle body and the position adjustment unit are arranged inside a virtual arc that passes through the discharge port with the vertical axis as its center, and are always inside the discharge port in the radial direction when viewed vertically from above. As a result, with a compact structure, it is possible to adjust the etching width for the peripheral portion of the substrate with high precision. This contributes to reducing the amount of gas used in the substrate processing apparatus and enables a reduction in the environmental load.

In addition, the processing liquid supplied to the peripheral portion of the underside of the substrate will splash in the radial direction. If all or part of the nozzle body and the position adjustment unit are located radially outside the discharge port, the processing liquid splashed from the peripheral portion of the underside may be scattered and returned to the substrate. However, in a substrate processing apparatus having the above structure, the nozzle body and the position adjustment unit are always located inside the discharge port, so the above problem can be reliably prevented.

In the above invention, the term "circular substrate" refers not only to a substrate whose main surface is strictly circular in plan view, but also to a "substantially circular substrate" whose envelope shape is circular but whose outer periphery has a portion that differs from the circumference, such as an orientation flat or a notch.

According to this invention, in a substrate processing apparatus in which a nozzle is disposed below a substrate, it is possible to adjust the nozzle position with high precision while maintaining a compact structure.

1 is a plan view showing a schematic configuration of a substrate processing system equipped with an embodiment of a substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention; 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a main part of a substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention; 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a main part of a substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention; FIG. 13 is a diagram showing the upper cup in a raised state. FIG. 2 shows the structure and arrangement of a processing mechanism. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing a structure of one processing liquid discharge nozzle. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a cross-sectional structure of a processing liquid discharge nozzle. 11A and 11B are diagrams for explaining a nozzle position adjustment function in a processing mechanism. 4 is a diagram showing the positional relationship between the discharge port, the base member, the male threaded portion, the coil spring, and the adjustment nut as viewed vertically from above. FIG. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of a substrate observation mechanism. 11A and 11B are diagrams illustrating nozzle position adjustment in a fine adjustment mode. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a modified example of the nozzle block. 13 is a diagram showing the structure and arrangement of a processing mechanism provided in an automatically adjusting type substrate processing apparatus, which is an example of another embodiment of the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention; FIG. 13 is a perspective view showing the structures of the processing liquid discharge nozzle and the nozzle moving mechanism when the processing liquid discharge nozzle is entirely retracted; FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a cross-sectional structure of the processing liquid discharge nozzle and the nozzle moving mechanism when the processing liquid discharge nozzle is entirely retracted. FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing the structure of the processing liquid discharge nozzle and the nozzle moving mechanism when only one processing liquid discharge nozzle advances; FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a cross-sectional structure of the processing liquid discharge nozzle and the nozzle moving mechanism when only one processing liquid discharge nozzle advances. FIG. FIG. 13 is an exploded view showing a method of mounting a pair of glide rings to a fixed support portion. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of a glide ring. 11A and 11B are diagrams illustrating nozzle position adjustment in an automatic adjustment mode. 5A to 5C are diagrams illustrating the configuration and operation of a nozzle moving unit. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing the structure and arrangement of a processing mechanism provided in an automatically adjusting type substrate processing apparatus, which is an example of another embodiment of a substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a configuration of a main part of an automatically adjusting type substrate processing apparatus, which is an example of still another embodiment of the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention.

Figure 1 is a plan view showing the schematic configuration of a substrate processing system equipped with one embodiment of a substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention. This is not a view showing the external appearance of the substrate processing system 100, but a schematic view showing the internal structure of the substrate processing system 100 by removing the outer wall panels and other parts of the system. The substrate processing system 100 is a single-wafer processing apparatus that is installed, for example, in a clean room and processes substrates S one by one. The main configuration of the substrate processing system 100 shown here is similar to that described in Japanese Patent Application No. 2022-134816, which was filed by the applicant of the present application.

The substrate processing system 100 includes multiple processing units (substrate processing apparatus) 1, each of which is responsible for processing a substrate S. In FIG. 1, four processing units 1 are shown arranged horizontally, but the processing units 1 are also stacked vertically in multiple tiers. For example, when the processing units 1 are stacked in six tiers, the substrate processing system 100 includes a total of 24 processing units 1.

In each of the multiple processing units 1 equipped in the substrate processing system 100, substrate processing is performed using a processing liquid. In this specification, the surface facing downward of the two main surfaces of the substrate is referred to as the "lower surface" and is assigned the symbol Sb. The surface facing upward is referred to as the "upper surface" and is assigned the symbol St.

The "substrate" in this embodiment can be any of a variety of substrates, including semiconductor wafers, glass substrates for photomasks, glass substrates for liquid crystal displays, glass substrates for plasma displays, substrates for FEDs (Field Emission Displays), substrates for optical disks, substrates for magnetic disks, and substrates for magneto-optical disks. In the following, a substrate processing apparatus used primarily for processing semiconductor wafers will be described with reference to the drawings, but the apparatus can also be used for processing the various substrates exemplified above.

As described below, the processing unit 1 of this embodiment receives a substrate S having a thin film of a metal or metal compound formed on one main surface, and performs a process of removing only the peripheral portion of the thin film formed on the substrate S by etching. This type of etching process is sometimes called a "bevel etching process" or simply a "bevel process." Note that all of the multiple processing units 1 included in the substrate processing system 100 may perform this type of bevel etching process, or multiple types of processing units performing different processes may be combined.

As shown in FIG. 1, the substrate processing system 100 has a substrate processing area 110 where substrates S are processed. An indexer unit 120 is provided adjacent to the substrate processing area 110. The indexer unit 120 has a container holding unit 121 that can hold multiple containers C (FOUPs (Front Opening Unified Pods), SMIF (Standard Mechanical Interface) pods, OCs (Open Cassettes), etc., that contain multiple substrates S in a sealed state) for containing substrates S. The indexer unit 120 also has an indexer robot 122 that accesses the containers C held by the container holding unit 121 to remove unprocessed substrates S from the containers C and store processed substrates S in the containers C. Each container C contains multiple substrates S in a substantially horizontal position.

The indexer robot 122 comprises a base 122a fixed to the device housing, a multi-joint arm 122b rotatable about a vertical axis relative to the base 122a, and a hand 122c attached to the tip of the multi-joint arm 122b. The hand 122c is structured so that a substrate S can be placed on its upper surface and held thereon. Indexer robots having such multi-joint arms and hands for holding substrates are well known, so a detailed description will be omitted.

In the substrate processing area 110, the placement table 112 is provided so that the substrate S from the indexer robot 122 can be placed thereon. In addition, in a plan view, the substrate transport robot 111 is disposed almost in the center of the substrate processing area 110. Furthermore, a plurality of processing units 1 are disposed so as to surround the substrate transport robot 111. Specifically, a plurality of processing units 1 are disposed facing the space in which the substrate transport robot 111 is disposed. The substrate transport robot 111 randomly accesses the placement table 112 for these processing units 1, and transfers the substrate S between the placement table 112. Meanwhile, each processing unit 1 performs a predetermined process on the substrate S, and corresponds to the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention. In this embodiment, these processing units (substrate processing apparatus) 1 have the same function. Therefore, parallel processing of a plurality of substrates S is possible. Note that if the substrate transport robot 111 can directly transfer the substrate S from the indexer robot 122, the placement table 112 is not necessarily required.

Figures 2 and 3 are diagrams showing the configuration of the main parts of a substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention. More specifically, Figure 2 is a side view showing the internal structure of a processing unit 1, which is one embodiment of a substrate processing apparatus, and Figure 3 is a plan view thereof. In Figures 2 and 3 and the figures referred to below, the dimensions and numbers of each part may be exaggerated or simplified for ease of understanding. The substrate processing apparatus (processing unit) 1 has a structure in which a substrate processing section SP is arranged in an internal space 12 within a chamber 11.

Base support members 16, 16 are fixed to the upper surface of the bottom plate 11a of the chamber 11 with fastening parts such as bolts while being spaced apart from each other. In other words, the base support member 16 is erected from the bottom plate 11a. A base member 17 is fixed to the upper ends of these base support members 16, 16 with fastening parts such as bolts. This base member 17 has a planar size smaller than the bottom plate 11a and is made of a metal plate that is thicker and more rigid than the bottom plate 11a. As shown in FIG. 2, the base member 17 is raised vertically upward from the bottom plate 11a by the base support members 16, 16. In other words, a so-called raised floor structure is formed at the bottom of the internal space 12 of the chamber 11. A substrate processing unit SP that performs substrate processing on the substrate S is installed on the upper surface of this base member 17. Each part that constitutes this substrate processing unit SP is electrically connected to a control unit 10 that controls the entire device, and operates according to instructions from the control unit 10.

As shown in FIG. 2, a fan filter unit (FFU) 13 is attached to the ceiling surface 11f of the chamber 11. This fan filter unit 13 further purifies the air in the clean room in which the processing unit 1 is installed and supplies it to the internal space 12 in the chamber 11. The fan filter unit 13 is equipped with a fan and a filter (e.g., a HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Air) filter) for taking in air in the clean room and sending it out into the chamber 11, and sends the clean air through an opening 11f1 provided in the ceiling surface 11f. This creates a downflow of clean air in the internal space 12 in the chamber 11. In addition, a punching plate 14 with a large number of blowing holes is provided directly below the ceiling surface 11f to uniformly distribute the clean air supplied from the fan filter unit 13.

As shown in FIG. 3, in the processing unit 1, a transfer opening 11b1 is provided in the side wall 11b facing the substrate transfer robot 111 out of the four side walls 11b-11e, and the internal space 12 is connected to the outside of the chamber 11. This allows the hand (not shown) of the substrate transfer robot 111 to access the substrate processing section SP through the transfer opening 11b1. In other words, the substrate S can be loaded and unloaded from the internal space 12 through the transfer opening 11b1. In addition, a shutter 15 for opening and closing this transfer opening 11b1 is attached to the side wall 11b.

A shutter opening/closing mechanism (not shown) is connected to the shutter 15, and opens and closes the shutter 15 in response to an opening/closing command from the control unit 10. More specifically, in the processing unit 1, when an unprocessed substrate S is loaded into the chamber 11, the shutter opening/closing mechanism opens the shutter 15, and the unprocessed substrate S is loaded into the substrate processing section SP by the hand of the substrate transport robot 111. When the hand of the substrate transport robot 111 retreats from the chamber 11 after the substrate is loaded, the shutter opening/closing mechanism closes the shutter 15. Then, processing of the substrate S is performed by the substrate processing section SP within the internal space 12 of the chamber 11. After the processing is completed, the shutter opening/closing mechanism opens the shutter 15 again, and the hand of the substrate transport robot 111 unloads the processed substrate S from the substrate processing section SP.

As shown in FIG. 3, side wall 11d is located on the opposite side of side wall 11b across the substrate processing unit SP (FIG. 2) installed on base member 17. This side wall 11d is provided with a maintenance opening 11d1. During maintenance, as shown in the figure, maintenance opening 11d1 is opened. This allows an operator to access the substrate processing unit SP from outside the apparatus through maintenance opening 11d1. On the other hand, during substrate processing, a cover member 19 is attached to cover maintenance opening 11d1. Thus, in this embodiment, cover member 19 is freely attached and detached to side wall 11d.

A heated gas supply unit 47 is attached to the outer surface of the side wall 11e to supply heated inert gas (nitrogen gas in this embodiment) to the substrate processing unit SP. This heated gas supply unit 47 has a built-in heater 471.

As described above, the shutter 15, the lid member 19, and the heating gas supply unit 47 are arranged on the outer wall side of the chamber 11. On the other hand, inside the chamber 11, i.e., in the internal space 12, a substrate processing unit SP is installed on the upper surface of a base member 17 having a raised floor structure. The configuration of the substrate processing unit SP arranged on the base member 17 will be described below.

In the following, in order to clarify the positional relationship and operation of each part of the device, a coordinate system is appropriately provided in which the Z direction is the vertical direction and the XY plane is the horizontal plane. In the coordinate system in FIG. 3, the horizontal direction corresponding to the up-down direction of the paper is the "X direction", and the horizontal direction perpendicular to it is the "Y direction". More specifically, the directions from the internal space 12 of the chamber 11 toward the transfer opening 11b1 and the maintenance opening 11d1 are respectively referred to as the "+X direction" and the "-X direction", the directions from the internal space 12 of the chamber 11 toward the side walls 11c and 11e are respectively referred to as the "-Y direction" and the "+Y direction", and the directions vertically upward and vertically downward are respectively referred to as the "+Z direction" and the "-Z direction".

As shown in Figures 2 and 3, the substrate processing section SP is equipped with a holding and rotating mechanism 2, a scattering prevention mechanism 3, an upper surface protection and heating mechanism 4, a processing mechanism 5, an atmosphere separation mechanism 6, a lifting mechanism 7, a centering mechanism 8, and a substrate observation mechanism 9. These mechanisms are provided on a base member 17. In other words, the holding and rotating mechanism 2, scattering prevention mechanism 3, upper surface protection and heating mechanism 4, processing mechanism 5, atmosphere separation mechanism 6, lifting mechanism 7, centering mechanism 8, and substrate observation mechanism 9 are arranged in a predetermined positional relationship relative to each other, based on the base member 17, which has a higher rigidity than the chamber 11.

The holding and rotating mechanism 2 includes a substrate holding part 2A that holds the substrate S in a substantially horizontal position with the film-forming surface of the substrate S facing downward, and a rotation mechanism 2B that synchronously rotates the substrate holding part 2A holding the substrate S and a part of the shatter prevention mechanism 3. Therefore, when the rotation mechanism 2B operates in response to a rotation command from the control unit 10, the substrate S and the rotating cup part 31 of the shatter prevention mechanism 3 are rotated around a rotation axis AX that extends parallel to the vertical direction Z.

The substrate holding unit 2A is equipped with a spin chuck 21, which is a disk-shaped member smaller than the substrate S. The spin chuck 21 is arranged so that its upper surface is approximately horizontal and its central axis coincides with the rotation axis AX. A cylindrical rotating shaft unit 22 is connected to the lower surface of the spin chuck 21. The rotating shaft unit 22 extends in the vertical direction Z with its axis coincident with the rotation axis AX. A rotation mechanism 2B is also connected to the rotating shaft unit 22.

The rotation mechanism 2B has a motor 23 that generates a rotational driving force for rotating the substrate holding part 2A and the rotating cup part 31 of the shatter prevention mechanism 3, and a power transmission part 24 for transmitting the rotational driving force. The motor 23 has a rotating shaft 231 that rotates in response to the generation of the rotational driving force, and is attached to the base member 17 in a position in which the rotating shaft 231 extends vertically downward.

A first pulley 241 is attached to the tip of the rotating shaft 231 that protrudes downward from the base member 17. A second pulley 242 is attached to the lower end of the rotating shaft portion 22 of the substrate holding unit 2A. More specifically, the lower end of the rotating shaft portion 22 is inserted into a through hole provided in the base member 17 and protrudes below the base member 17. The second pulley 242 is provided on this protruding portion. An endless belt 243 is stretched between the first pulley 241 and the second pulley 242. In this manner, in this embodiment, the power transmission unit 24 is configured by the first pulley 241, the second pulley 242, and the endless belt 243.

When a power transmission unit 24 having such a configuration is used, a long timing belt can be selected as the endless belt 243, and the life of the endless belt 243 can be extended. Also, as shown in FIG. 3, in this embodiment, the motor 23 is disposed in a position facing the maintenance opening 11d1 in the chamber 11. Therefore, when the cover member 19 is removed from the chamber 11 and the maintenance opening 11d1 is opened, the power transmission unit 24 and the motor 23 are exposed to the outside through the maintenance opening 11d1. As a result, maintenance work by the operator is facilitated, and the efficiency of the maintenance work can be improved.

Moreover, while the other mechanisms described below are positioned above the base member 17, the power transmission unit 24 is positioned below the base member 17. By adopting such an arrangement, the operator can perform maintenance work more efficiently without having to worry about interference with other mechanisms.

The upper surface of the spin chuck 21 has an adsorption hole 211, and the pump 26 is connected to the internal space of the adsorption hole 211 via a pipe 25 with a valve (not shown). The pump 26 and the valve are electrically connected to the control unit 10 and operate according to commands from the control unit 10. This allows negative pressure and positive pressure to be selectively applied to the spin chuck 21. For example, when the substrate S is placed on the upper surface of the spin chuck 21 in a substantially horizontal position, the pump 26 applies negative pressure to the adsorption hole 211 of the spin chuck 21, and the spin chuck 21 adsorbs and holds the substrate S from below. On the other hand, when the pump 26 applies positive pressure to the adsorption hole 211, the substrate S can be removed from the upper surface of the spin chuck 21. When the suction of the pump 26 is stopped, the substrate S can be moved horizontally on the upper surface of the spin chuck 21.

A nitrogen gas supply unit 29 is connected to the spin chuck 21 via a pipe 28 provided in the center of the rotating shaft 22. The nitrogen gas supply unit 29 supplies room temperature nitrogen gas, supplied from a utility of the factory in which the substrate processing system 100 is installed, to the spin chuck 21 at a flow rate and timing according to a gas supply command from the control unit 10, and causes the nitrogen gas to flow radially outward from the center on the underside Sb of the substrate S. Note that although nitrogen gas is used in this embodiment, other inert gases may also be used.

The rotation mechanism 2B has a power transmission unit 27 not only to rotate the spin chuck 21 integrally with the substrate S, but also to rotate the rotating cup portion 31 in synchronization with the rotation. The power transmission unit 27 has a disk member 27a made of a non-magnetic material or resin, a spin chuck side magnet 27b embedded in the peripheral portion of the disk member 27a, and a cup side magnet 27c embedded in the lower cup 32, which is one component of the rotating cup portion 31. The disk member 27a is attached coaxially with the rotating shaft portion 22 and is rotatable around the rotation axis AX together with the rotating shaft portion 22.

On the outer periphery of the disk member 27a, multiple spin chuck side magnets 27b are arranged radially around the rotation axis AX and at equal angular intervals. In this embodiment, one of two adjacent spin chuck side magnets 27b is arranged so that the outer and inner sides are north and south poles, respectively, and the other is arranged so that the outer and inner sides are south and north poles, respectively.

Similar to these spin chuck side magnets 27b, multiple cup side magnets 27c are arranged radially around the rotation axis AX and at equal angular intervals. These cup side magnets 27c are built into the lower cup 32. The lower cup 32 is a component of the anti-scattering mechanism 3 described next, and has an annular shape. That is, the lower cup 32 has an inner peripheral surface that can face the outer peripheral surface of the disk member 27a. The inner diameter of this inner peripheral surface is larger than the outer diameter of the disk member 27a. The lower cup 32 is arranged concentrically with the rotating shaft portion 22 and the disk member 27a, with the inner peripheral surface facing the outer peripheral surface of the disk member 27a at a predetermined distance. An engagement pin and a connecting magnet (not shown) are provided on the upper surface of the outer peripheral edge of the lower cup 32, which connect the upper cup 33 to the lower cup 32, and this connecting body functions as the rotating cup portion 31.

The lower cup 32 is supported on the upper surface of the base member 17 by bearings (not shown in the drawings) so as to be rotatable about the rotation axis AX while remaining in the above-mentioned arrangement. On the inner peripheral edge of this lower cup 32, the cup side magnets 27c are arranged radially around the rotation axis AX and at equal angular intervals, as described above. The arrangement of the two adjacent cup side magnets 27c is similar to that of the spin chuck side magnets 27b. In other words, on one hand, they are arranged so that the outer and inner sides are the north and south poles, respectively, and on the other hand, they are arranged so that the outer and inner sides are the south and north poles, respectively.

In the power transmission unit 27 configured in this manner, when the motor 23 rotates the disk member 27a together with the rotating shaft portion 22, the magnetic action between the spin chuck side magnet 27b and the cup side magnet 27c causes the lower cup 32 to rotate in the same direction as the disk member 27a while maintaining an air gap (the gap between the disk member 27a and the lower cup 32). In this manner, the power transmission unit 27 has the spin chuck side magnet 27b and the cup side magnet 27c forming a so-called magnetic coupling, and the rotational driving force for the spin chuck 21 is transmitted to the rotating cup portion 31 via the magnetic coupling. This causes the rotating cup portion 31 to rotate around the rotation axis AX. When the substrate S rotates due to the rotation of the spin chuck 21, the rotating cup portion 31 rotates in the same direction as the substrate S in synchronization.

The anti-scattering mechanism 3 has a rotating cup portion 31 that can rotate around the rotation axis AX while surrounding the outer periphery of the substrate S held by the spin chuck 21, and a fixed cup portion 34 that is fixedly provided to surround the rotating cup portion 31. The rotating cup portion 31 is provided to be rotatable around the rotation axis AX while surrounding the outer periphery of the rotating substrate S by connecting an upper cup 33 to a lower cup 32.

The lower cup 32 has an annular shape. As shown in FIG. 2, its outer diameter is larger than that of the substrate S, and the lower cup 32 is arranged to be freely rotatable about the rotation axis AX in a state where it protrudes radially from the substrate S held by the spin chuck 21 when viewed vertically from above. In the protruding area, i.e., the peripheral portion of the upper surface of the lower cup 32, engagement pins (not shown) standing vertically upward along the circumferential direction and flat lower magnets (not shown) are attached alternately.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 2, the upper cup 33 has a lower annular portion 331, an upper annular portion 332, and an inclined portion 333 connecting them. The outer diameter of the lower annular portion 331 is approximately the same as the outer diameter of the lower cup 32, and the lower annular portion 331 is located vertically above the peripheral portion 321 of the lower cup 32. The inner peripheral surface of the upper annular portion 332 and the inner peripheral surface of the lower annular portion 331 are connected by the inclined portion 333 over the entire circumference of the upper cup 33. Therefore, the inner peripheral surface of the inclined portion 333, that is, the surface surrounding the substrate S, is an inclined surface 334. Therefore, the inclined portion 333 surrounds the outer periphery of the rotating substrate S and can collect droplets scattered from the substrate S, and the space surrounded by the upper cup 33 and the lower cup 32 functions as a collection space.

The inclined portion 333 is inclined from the lower annular portion 331 upward toward the peripheral portion of the substrate S. Therefore, the droplets collected in the inclined portion 333 flow along the inclined surface 334 to the lower end of the upper cup 33, i.e., the lower annular portion 331, and are then discharged outside the rotating cup portion 31 through the gap with the lower cup 32.

The fixed cup portion 34 is provided to surround the rotating cup portion 31. The fixed cup portion 34 has a liquid receiving portion 341 and an exhaust portion 342 provided inside the liquid receiving portion 341. The liquid receiving portion 341 has a cup structure that is open so as to surround the gap between the upper cup 33 and the lower cup 32 from the outside. In other words, the internal space of the liquid receiving portion 341 functions as an exhaust space. Therefore, the liquid droplets collected by the rotating cup portion 31 are guided to the liquid receiving portion 341 together with the gas components. The liquid droplets are then collected at the bottom of the liquid receiving portion 341 and drained from the fixed cup portion 34.

On the other hand, the gas components are collected in the exhaust part 342. This exhaust part 342 is partitioned from the liquid receiving part 341 via the partition wall 343. In addition, a gas guide part 344 is arranged above the partition wall 343. The gas guide part 344 extends from a position directly above the partition wall 343 in a substantially horizontal direction, covering the partition wall 343 from above to form a flow path for the gas components having a labyrinth structure. Therefore, the gas components of the fluid that flows into the liquid receiving part 341 are collected in the exhaust part 342 via the flow path. This exhaust part 342 is connected to the exhaust part 38. Therefore, the exhaust part 38 operates in response to a command from the control unit 10 to adjust the pressure of the fixed cup part 34, and the gas components in the exhaust part 342 are efficiently exhausted.

The upper surface protection and heating mechanism 4 has a blocking plate 41 arranged above the upper surface St of the substrate S held by the spin chuck 21. This blocking plate 41 has a disk portion 42 held in a horizontal position. The disk portion 42 incorporates a heater 421 whose drive is controlled by a heater drive unit 422. This disk portion 42 has a diameter slightly shorter than that of the substrate S. The disk portion 42 is supported by a support member 43 so that the lower surface of the disk portion 42 covers from above the surface area of the upper surface St of the substrate S, excluding the peripheral edge portion Ss.

The lower end of the support member 43 is attached to the center of the disk portion 42. A cylindrical through hole is formed so as to penetrate the support member 43 and the disk portion 42 from top to bottom. A central nozzle 45 is inserted vertically into the through hole. As shown in FIG. 2, this central nozzle 45 is connected to a heating gas supply unit 47 via a pipe 46. The heating gas supply unit 47 heats room temperature nitrogen gas supplied from the utility power of the factory in which the substrate processing system 100 is installed, using a heater 471, and supplies the gas to the substrate processing unit SP at a flow rate and timing according to a heating gas supply command from the control unit 10.

If the heater 471 is placed in the internal space 12 of the chamber 11, the heat radiated from the heater 471 may adversely affect the substrate processing section SP, particularly the processing mechanism 5 and the substrate observation mechanism 9, as described below. Therefore, in this embodiment, the heated gas supply section 47 having the heater 471 is placed outside the chamber 11, as shown in FIG. 3. Also, in this embodiment, a ribbon heater 48 is attached to a part of the piping 46. The ribbon heater 48 generates heat in response to a heating command from the control unit 10 to heat the nitrogen gas flowing in the piping 46.

The nitrogen gas thus heated (hereinafter referred to as "heated gas") is pumped toward the central nozzle 45 and discharged from the central nozzle 45. For example, when the disk portion 42 is positioned at a processing position close to the substrate S held by the spin chuck 21 and the heated gas is supplied, the heated gas flows from the center to the periphery of the space between the upper surface St of the substrate S and the disk portion 42 with the built-in heater. This makes it possible to prevent the atmosphere around the substrate S from entering the upper surface St of the substrate S. As a result, it is possible to effectively prevent the liquid droplets contained in the atmosphere from being caught in the space between the substrate S and the disk portion 42. In addition, the upper surface St is heated overall by the heating by the heater 421 and the heated gas, and the in-plane temperature of the substrate S can be made uniform. This makes it possible to prevent the substrate S from warping.

2, the upper end of the support member 43 is fixed to a beam member 49 extending horizontally. This beam member 49 is connected to a lifting mechanism 7 attached to the upper surface of the base member 17, and is raised and lowered by the lifting mechanism 7 in response to a command from the control unit 10. For example, in FIG. 2, the beam member 49 is positioned downward, and the disk portion 42 connected to the beam member 49 via the support member 43 is located at the processing position. On the other hand, when the lifting mechanism 7 raises the beam member 49 in response to a lift command from the control unit 10, the beam member 49, the support member 43, and the disk portion 42 rise together, and the upper cup 33 also rises in conjunction with the upper cup 32 and separates from it. This widens the gap between the spin chuck 21 and the upper cup 33 and the disk portion 42, making it possible to load and unload the substrate S from the spin chuck 21.

The atmosphere separation mechanism 6 has a lower sealed cup member 61 and an upper sealed cup member 62. The lower sealed cup member 61 and the upper sealed cup member 62 both have a cylindrical shape that opens at the top and bottom. The inner diameters of the lower and upper sealed cup members are larger than the outer diameter of the rotating cup portion 31. The atmosphere separation mechanism 6 is disposed so as to completely surround the spin chuck 21, the substrate S held by the spin chuck 21, the rotating cup portion 31, and the upper surface protection and heating mechanism 4 from above. More specifically, as shown in FIG. 2, the upper sealed cup member 62 is fixedly disposed at a position directly below the punching plate 14 so that its upper opening covers the opening 11f1 of the ceiling surface 11f from below. Therefore, the downflow of clean air introduced into the chamber 11 is divided into one that passes through the inside of the upper sealed cup member 62 and one that passes through the outside of the upper sealed cup member 62.

The lower end of the upper sealed cup member 62 has a flange portion 621 that has a circular shape folded inward. An O-ring 63 is attached to the upper surface of this flange portion 621. Inside the upper sealed cup member 62, the lower sealed cup member 61 is arranged so as to be freely movable in the vertical direction.

The upper end of the lower sealing cup member 61 has a flange portion 611 having a ring shape that is folded outward. This flange portion 611 overlaps with the flange portion 621 in a plan view from vertically above. Therefore, when the lower sealing cup member 61 descends, the flange portion 611 of the lower sealing cup member 61 is engaged with the flange portion 621 of the upper sealing cup member 62 via the O-ring 63. This positions the lower sealing cup member 61 at its lowest position. At this lowest position, the upper sealing cup member 62 and the lower sealing cup member 61 are connected in the vertical direction, and the downflow introduced into the upper sealing cup member 62 is guided toward the substrate S held by the spin chuck 21.

The lower end of the lower sealing cup member 61 has a flange portion 612 having an annular shape with an outwardly enlarged diameter. In a plan view from vertically above, this flange portion 612 overlaps with the upper end of the fixed cup portion 34 (the upper end of the liquid receiving portion 341). Therefore, at the lower limit position, the flange portion 612 of the lower sealing cup member 61 is engaged with the fixed cup portion 34 via the O-ring 64. This connects the lower sealing cup member 61 and the fixed cup portion 34 in the vertical direction, and a sealed space 12a is formed by the upper sealing cup member 62, the lower sealing cup member 61, and the fixed cup portion 34. In this sealed space 12a, bevel processing of the substrate S can be performed.

In other words, by positioning the lower sealed cup member 61 at the lowest position, the sealed space 12a is separated from the outer space 12b of the sealed space 12a (atmosphere separation). Therefore, bevel processing can be performed stably without being affected by the external atmosphere. In addition, a processing liquid is used to perform the bevel processing, and it is possible to reliably prevent the processing liquid from leaking from the sealed space 12a to the outer space 12b. This increases the degree of freedom in the selection and design of the parts to be placed in the outer space 12b.

The lower sealed cup member 61 is configured to be movable vertically upward. Also, as shown in Figures 2 and 3, the upper surface protection and heating mechanism 4 is fixed to the middle part of the lower sealed cup member 61 via the beam member 49. That is, as shown in Figure 4, the lower sealed cup member 61 is connected to one end and the other end of the beam member 49 at two different points in the circumferential direction. Then, when the lifting mechanism 7 lifts and lowers the one end and the other end of the beam member 49, the lower sealed cup member 61 also lifts and lowers accordingly.

As shown in Figs. 2 and 3, on the inner peripheral surface of the lower sealing cup member 61, a plurality of (four) protrusions 613 are provided protruding inward as engagement portions that can engage with the upper cup 33. Each protrusion 613 extends to the space below the upper annular portion 332 of the upper cup 33. Each protrusion 613 is attached so as to move downward away from the upper annular portion 332 of the upper cup 33 when the lower sealing cup member 61 is positioned at the lowest position. Then, as the lower sealing cup member 61 rises, each protrusion 613 can engage with the upper annular portion 332 from below. Even after this engagement, the upper cup 33 can be detached from the lower cup 32 by further rising the lower sealing cup member 61.

Figure 4 is a diagram showing the upper cup in a raised state. More specifically, Figure 4 shows the state in which the lower sealed cup member 61 has raised the upper cup 33 by the operation of the lifting mechanism 7, and in that sense is a counterpart to Figure 2, which shows the upper cup 33 in a lowered state. Note that Figures 2 and 4 only differ in some positional relationships, and the components themselves are basically the same. Therefore, in Figure 4, some of the components shown in Figure 2 that are not directly related to the explanation here are omitted.

In this embodiment, after the lower sealed cup member 61 starts to rise together with the upper surface protection and heating mechanism 4 by the lifting mechanism 7, as shown in FIG. 4, the protrusion 613 of the lower sealed cup member 61 engages, causing the upper cup 33 to rise together. This causes the upper cup 33 and the upper surface protection and heating mechanism 4 to move upward away from the spin chuck 21. The movement of the lower sealed cup member 61 to the retracted position forms a transport space for the hand of the substrate transport robot 111 to access the spin chuck 21. Then, the substrate S can be loaded onto the spin chuck 21 and unloaded from the spin chuck 21 via the transport space. Thus, in this embodiment, the substrate S can be accessed from the spin chuck 21 by the minimum lifting of the lower sealed cup member 61 by the lifting mechanism 7.

The lifting mechanism 7 has two lifting drive units, namely, a first lifting drive unit 71 and a second lifting drive unit 72. In the lifting drive unit 71, a first lifting motor (not shown) is attached to the base member 17. The first lifting motor operates in response to a drive command from the control unit 10 to generate a rotational force. A lifting unit 712 is connected to this first lifting motor. The lifting unit 712 is connected to one end of the beam member 49 via the side surface of the lower sealed cup member 61, and when it receives the rotational force from the first lifting motor, it raises and lowers one end of the beam member 49 in the vertical direction Z according to the amount of rotation of the first lifting motor.

In the lift drive unit 72, a second lift motor (not shown) is attached to the base member 17. A lift unit 722 is connected to the second lift motor. The second lift motor operates in response to a drive command from the control unit 10 to generate a rotational force, which is applied to the lift unit 722. The lift unit 722 is connected to the other end of the beam member 49 via the side surface of the lower sealed cup member 61, and raises and lowers the other end of the beam member 49 in the vertical direction in response to the amount of rotation of the second lift motor.

The lifting and lowering drive units 71, 72 move the side surface of the lower sealed cup member 61 vertically in synchronization with two different points in the circumferential direction. Therefore, the upper surface protection and heating mechanism 4 and the lower sealed cup member 61 can be raised and lowered stably. Furthermore, the upper cup 33 can also be raised and lowered stably in conjunction with the raising and lowering of the lower sealed cup member 61.

Next, the centering mechanism 8 will be briefly described, as it is basically publicly known. The centering mechanism 8 performs a centering process while suction by the pump 26 is stopped (i.e., while the substrate S is capable of horizontal movement on the upper surface of the spin chuck 21). This centering process eliminates eccentricity of the substrate S, and the center of the substrate S coincides with the rotation axis AX. As shown in FIG. 3, the centering mechanism 8 has a single abutment portion 81 and a multi abutment portion 82 arranged on opposite sides of the rotation axis AX of the spin chuck 21, and a centering drive portion 83 that moves the single abutment portion 81 and the multi abutment portion 82 in the abutment movement direction.

The centering drive unit 83 moves in the direction approaching the substrate S on the spin chuck 21 while interlocking the single contact unit 81 and the multi-contact unit 82, and adjusts the position of the substrate S so that one contact portion of the single contact unit 81 and two contact portions of the multi-contact unit 82 are both in contact with the edge surface of the substrate S. In this way, the eccentricity of the substrate S on the spin chuck 21 is eliminated and centering is achieved.

Next, the processing mechanism 5 will be described. As shown in FIG. 3, the processing mechanism 5 has a nozzle block 50 arranged on the underside Sb of the substrate S, and a processing liquid supply unit 59 that supplies processing liquid to the nozzle block 50. The nozzle block 50 has three sets of processing liquid discharge nozzles 51A, 51B, 51C (FIG. 5) that each discharge processing liquid, and a support mechanism 54 that supports them. As will be described later, the support mechanism 54 is configured to be able to adjust the positions of the processing liquid discharge nozzles 51A to 51C relative to the substrate S in the circumferential direction of the substrate S.

A processing liquid supply unit 59 is connected to the three sets of processing liquid discharge nozzles 51A to 51C. The processing liquid supply unit 59 is configured to be able to supply chemicals such as SC1 liquid, DHF (dilute hydrofluoric acid), and functional water (CO2 water, etc.) as processing liquids, and the three sets of processing liquid discharge nozzles 51A to 51C can independently discharge SC1 liquid, DHF, and functional water.

2, in this embodiment, in order to eject the processing liquid toward the peripheral portion of the lower surface Sb of the substrate S, a nozzle support portion 57 supporting the nozzle block 50 is provided below the substrate S held by the spin chuck 21. The nozzle support portion 57 has a thin cylindrical portion 571 extending in the vertical direction and a flange portion 572 having a ring shape folded outward in the radial direction at the upper end of the cylindrical portion 571. The cylindrical portion 571 has a shape that allows it to be freely inserted into the air gap formed between the disk member 27a and the lower cup 32. As shown in FIG. 2, the nozzle support portion 57 is fixedly disposed so that the cylindrical portion 571 is loosely inserted into the air gap and the flange portion 572 is located between the substrate S held by the spin chuck 21 and the lower cup 32. The nozzle block 50 is attached to a part of the upper surface peripheral portion of the flange portion 572.

Figure 5 shows the structure and arrangement of the processing mechanism. Figure 6 is an exploded perspective view showing the structure of one processing liquid discharge nozzle, and Figure 7 shows its cross-sectional structure. In the following, the horizontal and outward direction from the rotation axis AX of the spin chuck 21 may be referred to as the radial direction R. This radial direction R corresponds to the radial direction of the substrate S held by the spin chuck 21, in particular the direction outward from the center of the substrate S.

As shown in FIG. 5, the nozzle block 50 is attached to a substantially annular flange portion 572 provided on the upper portion of the nozzle support portion 57. The support mechanism 54 of the nozzle block 50 has a base member 541 and a pressing member 542. The base member 541 collectively supports the three sets of processing liquid discharge nozzles 51A to 51C.

Elongated holes 541a, 541b are provided at both ends of the base member 541, and fastening members 551, 551 such as screws are inserted through these holes and screwed into threaded holes provided in the flange portion 572, thereby fixing the base member 541 to the flange portion 572. Therefore, the mounting position of the base member 541 relative to the flange portion 572 can be changed within a specified range. This makes it possible to adjust the positions of the three processing liquid discharge nozzles 51A to 51C as a whole.

Each of the processing liquid discharge nozzles 51A to 51C has the same shape. Here, the structure of one processing liquid discharge nozzle 51A will be described with reference to Figs. 6 and 7. In the following, when there is no need to distinguish between the processing liquid discharge nozzles 51A to 51C, they may be simply referred to as "processing liquid discharge nozzles 51". Fig. 7(a) is a vertical cross-sectional view of the processing liquid discharge nozzle 51, and as shown in this figure and Fig. 6, the nozzle body 510, which is the main part of the processing liquid discharge nozzle 51, has an elongated shape along the radial direction R, and has a nozzle head portion 51a, a large diameter shaft portion 51b, a small diameter shaft portion 51c, and a male thread portion 51d, in this order, along the (-R) direction.

The nozzle head portion 51a provided on the (+R) side of the processing liquid discharge nozzle 51 has a discharge port 511 at the tip thereof for discharging the processing liquid. The discharge port 511 discharges the processing liquid supplied from the processing liquid supply portion 59 via the internal manifold portion 512 obliquely upward at an elevation angle of 45 degrees and outward when viewed from the rotation axis AX. The processing liquid is discharged toward the lower surface peripheral portion Ss of the substrate S.

When a metal thin film or a metal compound thin film is formed on the underside Sb of the substrate S and the discharged treatment liquid is soluble in the coating, the thin film in the area of the underside Sb of the substrate where the treatment liquid lands is etched away. When the substrate S is rotating, centrifugal force causes the treatment liquid to spread outward from the landing position, resulting in the thin film being removed from the outside of the landing position.

A reflecting member 513, whose (+R) end face is a flat reflecting surface, is attached to the bottom of the nozzle head portion 51a. The reflecting member 513 is used, for example, when measuring the nozzle position with a laser displacement meter, and enables accurate and stable position measurement by reflecting the laser light emitted from the laser displacement meter.

The large diameter shaft portion 51b engages with a groove provided in the base member 541. As shown in FIG. 7(b) or 7(c), the cross section of the large diameter shaft portion 51b has a fixed non-circular shape, and a groove corresponding to this cross-sectional shape is formed in the base member 541. Therefore, the treatment liquid discharge nozzle 51 can move along the radial direction R to a certain extent relative to the base member 541, but rotation in the direction indicated by the thick arrow in FIG. 7(b) and FIG. 7(c) is restricted. This prevents the discharge direction of the treatment liquid from fluctuating.

The cross-sectional shape of the large diameter shaft portion 51b is not limited to these, and can be various non-circular shapes. It is preferable that the shape not only does not rotate in the groove of the base portion, but also does not cause any rattling. The shapes shown in Figures 7(b) and 7(c) are examples of preferred shapes that have the effect of restricting the lateral displacement of the large diameter shaft portion 51b when the pressing member 542 is attached.

The upper part of the large diameter shaft portion 51b is held down by a holding member 542, which is fixed to the base member 541 by a fastening member 552 such as a screw. This prevents the large diameter shaft portion 51b from displacing upward and falling off the base member 541. A fixing screw 553 is further attached to the holding member 542, and when the fixing screw 553 is tightened after the position is adjusted, the fixing screw 553 presses the large diameter shaft portion 51b via an appropriate cushion member 554. This prevents the processing liquid discharge nozzle 51 from being displaced in the R direction.

The small diameter shaft section 51c is connected to the (-R) side of the large diameter shaft section 51b, and the male threaded section 51d is connected to the (-R) side of the small diameter shaft section 51c. A coil spring 514 is provided on the small diameter shaft section 51c, and the male threaded section 51d extends further to (-R) through a through hole provided at the (-R) side end of the base member 541. An adjustment nut 515 is screwed into the male threaded section 51d.

The processing liquid discharge nozzle 51 is therefore biased in the (+R) direction by the coil spring 514, while the displacement caused by this biasing force is regulated by the adjust nut 515. Therefore, when the operator rotates the adjust nut 515 in either direction, the position of the discharge port 511 will be displaced in the (+R) direction or the (-R) direction in response to the rotation. This makes it possible to adjust the position of the discharge port 511 in the radial direction of the substrate S.

The adjustment nut 515 determines the nozzle position by resisting the biasing force of the coil spring 514 to prevent displacement, making it possible to achieve nozzle position adjustment that is less susceptible to backlash or rattle.

The treatment liquid discharge nozzles 51 (51A to 51C) and the support mechanism 54 are made of a material with excellent chemical resistance, such as a resin material. For example, polyethylene resin, PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene) resin, PEEK (polyetheretherketone) resin, etc. can be appropriately selected and used depending on the purpose. Of these, the coil spring 514 in particular requires an appropriate degree of elasticity, so PEEK resin can be suitably used as such a material.

Figure 8 is a diagram explaining the nozzle position adjustment function in the processing mechanism. As shown by arrow A in the upper diagram of Figure 8, when the adjust nut 515 is rotated in a direction that loosens the male thread portion 51d (in the case of a right-handed thread), the adjust nut 515 moves in the (-R) direction relative to the nozzle body 510, that is, to the right in the diagram. In reality, the biasing force of the coil spring 514 biases the entire processing liquid discharge nozzle 51 in the (+R) direction relative to the base member 541. For this reason, the position of the adjust nut 515 does not change, and the nozzle body 510 is displaced in the (+R) direction.

As a result, the discharge port 511 is displaced to the left in the figure, that is, in the (+R) direction, as shown by the dashed arrow. As a result, the landing position of the processing liquid discharged from the discharge port 511 on the bottom surface Sb of the substrate also moves in the (+R) direction, that is, toward the outside of the substrate S. Therefore, the etching width becomes smaller.

On the other hand, as shown by arrow B in the lower diagram of Figure 8, when the adjust nut 515 is rotated in the direction tightening (in the case of a right-handed thread) relative to the male thread portion 51d, the adjust nut 515 moves in the (+R) direction relative to the nozzle body 510, that is, to the left in the diagram. Again, due to the action of the coil spring 514, the position of the adjust nut 515 does not actually change, and the nozzle body 510 is displaced in the (-R) direction.

As a result, the discharge port 511 is displaced to the right in the figure, that is, in the (-R) direction, as shown by the dashed arrow. As a result, the landing position of the processing liquid discharged from the discharge port 511 on the underside surface Sb of the substrate also moves in the (-R) direction, that is, toward the center of the substrate S. Therefore, the etching width becomes larger. In this way, the etching width can be increased or decreased by moving the nozzle position in the R direction.

As shown in FIG. 6, the outer peripheral surface of the adjust nut 515 has periodic projections and recesses. Specifically, ten projections 515a and ten recesses 515b are alternately arranged at equal angular intervals on the outer peripheral surface of the adjust nut 515. These projections and recesses function as a scale that quantitatively indicates the amount of displacement of the nozzle body 510 when adjusting the nozzle position.

The amount of displacement of the nozzle body 510 in the R direction is determined by the relationship between the rotation angle of the adjust nut 515 and the pitch of the thread on the male thread portion 51d. For example, if the pitch of the male thread portion 51d is 0.5 mm, the nozzle body 510 displaces 0.5 mm each time the adjust nut 515 rotates once. Therefore, if the pair of projections and recesses arranged to divide the outer peripheral surface of the adjust nut 515 into 10 equal parts as described above is considered to be one scale, the nozzle body 510 moves 50 μm each time the adjust nut 515 is rotated one scale.

The circumferential lengths of the convex portion 515a and the concave portion 515b do not have to be equal, but by making them the same, it can be considered as a scale dividing one circumference into 20 equal parts, in which case the amount of movement per scale is 25 μm. In this way, by providing a scale on the outer peripheral surface of the adjustment nut 515, the amount of movement of the nozzle body 510, and therefore the amount of change in the etching width, can be visualized during the adjustment work. This makes it possible to reduce the number of times the work of measuring the etching width after the adjustment work and adjusting it again is repeated, and the adjustment work can be performed more efficiently.

Returning to FIG. 5, the description will be continued. Each of the processing liquid discharge nozzles 51A to 51C has the above-mentioned structure. The base member 541 of the support mechanism 54 supports the nozzles 51A to 51C at equal angular intervals so that the longitudinal directions of the nozzles 51A to 51C coincide with the radial direction R. Therefore, in this nozzle block 50, by adjusting the position of the base member 541 relative to the nozzle support portion 57 (flange portion 572), it is possible to realize a rough adjustment mode in which the three processing liquid discharge nozzles 51A to 51C are moved integrally and with a large stroke, and a fine adjustment mode in which the three processing liquid discharge nozzles 51A to 51C are moved individually and finely relative to the base member 541. By combining these adjustment modes, in this embodiment, it is possible to precisely adjust the position of each of the processing liquid discharge nozzles 51A to 51C with a large stroke.

In addition, in order to enable the fine adjustment mode, in this embodiment, the base member 541, the male thread portion 51d, the coil spring 514, and the adjustment nut 515 have a predetermined positional relationship with respect to the outlets 511 of the treatment liquid discharge nozzles 51A to 51C. This point will be explained with reference to FIG. 9.

Figure 9 is a diagram showing the positional relationship of the discharge port, base member, male thread portion, coil spring, and adjustment nut as viewed vertically from above. The figure shows a case in which the discharge ports 511 of the treatment liquid discharge nozzles 51A to 51C are adjusted to be in the same position in the radial direction R (Figure (a)), and a case in which the discharge ports 511 of the treatment liquid discharge nozzles 51A to 51C are adjusted to be in different positions in the radial direction R (Figure (b)).

In these drawings, the dashed line indicates a virtual arc that passes through the discharge port 511 and is centered on the rotation axis AX (FIG. 5). The "virtual arc" refers to an arc that cuts out the discharge port 511 and its vicinity from a virtual circle that is centered on the rotation axis AX and has a radius equal to the distance from the rotation axis AX to the discharge port 511. In the case shown in FIG. 9(a), the virtual arcs VAa-VAc that correspond to the treatment liquid discharge nozzles 51A-51C are coincident. The base member 541, the male threaded portion 51d, the coil spring 514, and the adjustment nut 515 are disposed inside the virtual arcs VAa-VAc (upper side in FIG. 9(a)), and are always inside the discharge port 511 in the radial direction R when viewed vertically from above. 9B, the virtual arcs VAa to VAc corresponding to the processing liquid discharge nozzles 51A to 51C are different from each other, but are similar to the case shown in FIG. 9A. Although not shown in FIG. 9, even when the virtual arcs for the two processing liquid discharge nozzles 51 coincide, the base member 541, the male threaded portion 51d, the coil spring 514, and the adjustment nut 515 are disposed inside the virtual arcs VAa to VAc, and are always inside the discharge port 511 in the radial direction R when viewed vertically from above.

In this way, the configuration for adjusting the position of the discharge port 511 in the radial direction R is arranged inside the discharge port 511 to prevent spilling outward. Furthermore, in this embodiment, the discharge port 511 is provided so as to discharge the processing liquid diagonally upward at an elevation angle of 45 degrees and outward when viewed from the rotation axis AX. Therefore, the planar size can be reduced while realizing the fine adjustment mode, making it possible to make the substrate processing apparatus 1 more compact. As a result, the amount of gas used in the substrate processing apparatus 1 can be reduced, making it possible to reduce the environmental load.

In addition, the processing liquid supplied to the lower peripheral portion Ss of the substrate S will scatter. If all or part of the configuration for adjusting the position of the discharge port 511 is located outside the discharge port 511 in the radial direction R, they may scatter the processing liquid that has scattered from the lower peripheral portion Ss and return it to the substrate S. However, in the substrate processing apparatus 1 having the above structure, the base member 541, the male thread portion 51d, the coil spring 514, and the adjustment nut 515 are all always located inside the discharge port 511, so the above problem can be reliably prevented.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, the rotating cup part 31 rotates around the rotation axis AX while surrounding the outer periphery of the rotating substrate S, and collects droplets of the processing liquid scattered from the substrate S. Therefore, it is difficult to have all or part of the configuration for adjusting the position of the discharge port 511 outside the discharge port 511 in the radial direction R. In contrast, in the substrate processing apparatus 1 having the above structure, it is possible to have both the rotating cup part 31 and fine adjustment of the discharge port 511 of each of the processing liquid discharge nozzles 51A to 51C.

Returning to FIG. 5, the explanation will continue. The pipes 56 for supplying the processing liquid to the processing liquid discharge nozzles 51A to 51C are arranged as follows. That is, the pipes 561, 562, and 563 for conveying the processing liquid from the processing liquid supply unit 59 to each of the nozzles 51A, 51B, and 51C are made of flexible tubes, and each of the pipes 561, 562, and 563 is divided into an upstream pipe and a downstream pipe by a relay block 591 attached to the flange portion 572 of the nozzle support unit 57.

Specifically, the pipe 561 that supplies the SC1 liquid to the processing liquid discharge nozzle 51A is divided into an upstream pipe 561a upstream of the relay block 591 and a downstream pipe 561b downstream of the relay block 591. The upstream pipe 561a and the relay block 591 are connected by a joint 561c. The downstream pipe 561b and the relay block 591 are connected by a joint 561d. The upstream pipe 561a extends from below the chamber 11 through the air gap between the disk member 27a and the lower cup 32 to the top of the flange portion 572, and the SC1 liquid delivered from the processing liquid supply unit 59 is delivered inside the pipe 561a. The SC1 liquid is further delivered through the downstream pipe 561b and finally discharged from the processing liquid discharge nozzle 51A.

Similarly, the pipe 562 that supplies DHF to the processing liquid discharge nozzle 51B is divided into an upstream pipe 562a upstream of the relay block 591 and a downstream pipe 562b downstream of the relay block 591. The upstream pipe 562a and the relay block 591 are connected by a joint 562c. The downstream pipe 562b and the relay block 591 are connected by a joint 562d. The upstream pipe 562a extends from below the chamber 11 through the air gap between the disk member 27a and the lower cup 32 to the top of the flange portion 572, through which the DHF delivered from the processing liquid supply unit 59 passes, and the DHF passed through the downstream pipe 562b is finally discharged from the processing liquid discharge nozzle 51B.

The pipe 563 that supplies functional water (CO2 water) to the treatment liquid discharge nozzle 51C is divided into an upstream pipe 563a upstream of the relay block 591 and a downstream pipe 563b downstream of the relay block 591. The upstream pipe 563a and the relay block 591 are connected by a joint 563c. The downstream pipe 563b and the relay block 591 are connected by a joint 563d. The upstream pipe 563a extends from below the chamber 11 through the air gap between the disc member 27a and the lower cup 32 to the top of the flange portion 572, and the functional water sent from the treatment liquid supply unit 59 is sent inside it, and the functional water sent via the downstream pipe 563b is finally discharged from the treatment liquid discharge nozzle 51C.

By dividing the piping into the upstream side and downstream side by the relay block 591, it is possible to set the routing of each piping independently. This allows the piping to be accommodated in the narrow space around the spin chuck 21. In addition, the piping can be passed through without affecting the transmission of rotational force via the magnetic coupling. This also applies to the embodiments described later with reference to Figures 13, 20, and 21.

Next, we will explain the substrate observation mechanism 9. The substrate observation mechanism 9 is a mechanism for optically observing the peripheral portion Ss of the substrate S being processed in order to check whether the processing is being performed properly.

Figure 10 is a diagram showing the configuration of the substrate observation mechanism. More specifically, Figure 10(a) is a diagram showing a schematic of the operation of the substrate observation mechanism 9, and Figure 10(b) is an oblique view showing the observation head 93 of the substrate observation mechanism 9. The substrate observation mechanism 9 has a light source unit 91, an imaging unit 92, an observation head 93, and an observation head driving unit 94. The light source unit 91 and the imaging unit 92 are arranged side by side on the base member 17. The light source unit 91 irradiates illumination light toward the observation position in response to an illumination command from the control unit 10. This observation position is a position corresponding to the peripheral portion Ss of the substrate S, and corresponds to the position where the observation head 93 is indicated by a solid line in Figure 10(a).

The observation head 93 can move back and forth between the observation position and a retreat position (dotted line) that is spaced from the observation position radially outward of the substrate S. An observation head drive unit 94 is connected to the observation head 93. The observation head drive unit 94 is attached to the base member 17. The observation head drive unit 94 moves the observation head 93 back and forth in response to a head movement command from the control unit 10. More specifically, while the observation process of the substrate S is not being performed, the observation head drive unit 94 moves and positions the observation head 93 at the retreat position. Therefore, the observation head 93 leaves the transport path of the substrate S, and it is possible to effectively prevent the observation head 93 from interfering with the substrate S being carried in and out of the chamber 11. On the other hand, when the observation process of the substrate S is performed, the observation head drive unit 94 moves the observation head 93 to the observation position in response to a substrate observation command from the control unit 10.

As shown in FIG. 10(b), the observation head 93 has a diffusion illumination section 931 having a diffusion surface 931a, a guide section 932 consisting of three mirror members 932a to 932c, and a holding section 933.

The diffuse illumination unit 931 is made of, for example, PTFE. The diffuse illumination unit 931 has a plate shape extending in the horizontal direction, and a notch 9311 is formed at the end on the substrate S side. The vertical size of the notch 9311 is larger than the thickness of the substrate S, and when the observation head 93 is positioned at the observation position, the notch 9311 extends into the peripheral edge Ss of the substrate S and into an area radially inward from the peripheral edge Ss. This notch 9311 has an inverted C shape when viewed from the circumferential direction of the substrate S. In addition, the diffuse illumination unit 931 has an inclined surface along the notch 9311. The inclined surface is a tapered surface that is finished so as to incline in the direction in which the illumination light travels as it approaches the notch 9311.

The holding portion 933 is made of, for example, PEEK, and has a notch at the end on the substrate S side similar to that of the diffuse illumination portion 931. The holding portion 933 is also finished in a shape that allows it to fit together with the diffuse illumination portion 931.

When the observation head 93 configured in this manner is positioned at the observation position, the diffusion surface 931a is located in the illumination area provided by the light source unit 91. When the light source unit 91 is turned on in response to an illumination command from the control unit 10 in this positioning state, illumination light is irradiated onto the illumination area. At this time, the diffusion surface 931a diffuses and reflects the illumination light, illuminating the peripheral portion Ss of the substrate S and its adjacent area from various directions. As shown by the dotted arrow in FIG. 10(b) , a portion of the light reflected by the upper surface near the peripheral portion Ss of the substrate S is reflected by the mirror member 932a. Also, a portion of the light reflected by the edge surface of the substrate S is reflected by the mirror member 932b. Furthermore, a portion of the light reflected by the lower surface of the substrate S is reflected by the mirror member 932c. These reflected lights are guided to the imaging unit 92.

The imaging unit 92 has an observation lens system composed of an object-side telecentric lens, and a CMOS camera. Therefore, of the reflected light guided from the observation head 93, only light rays parallel to the optical axis of the observation lens system are incident on the sensor surface of the CMOS camera, and an image of the peripheral portion Ss of the substrate S and adjacent areas is formed on the sensor surface. In this way, the imaging unit 92 images the peripheral portion Ss and adjacent areas of the substrate S, and obtains images of the top, side, and bottom surfaces of the substrate S. The imaging unit 92 then transmits image data representing the images to the control unit 10.

The observation head 93 is positioned close to the peripheral edge of the substrate S as necessary, but the light source unit 91 and the imaging unit 92 are positioned farther away from the substrate S than the observation head 93. Therefore, even if liquid adheres to the substrate S, the risk of this adhering to the light source unit 91 and the imaging unit 92 and interfering with imaging is extremely low.

The control unit 10 has an arithmetic processing section 10A, a memory section 10B, a reading section 10C, an image processing section 10D, a drive control section 10E, a communication section 10F, and an exhaust control section 10G. The memory section 10B is composed of a hard disk drive or the like, and stores a program for executing the bevel processing by the substrate processing apparatus 1. The program is stored, for example, in a computer-readable recording medium RM (for example, an optical disk, a magnetic disk, a magneto-optical disk, etc.), read from the recording medium RM by the reading section 10C, and stored in the memory section 10B. In addition, the provision of the program is not limited to the recording medium RM, and the program may be configured to be provided, for example, via an electric communication line. The image processing section 10D performs various processes on the image captured by the substrate observation mechanism 9. The drive control section 10E controls each drive section of the substrate processing apparatus 1. The communication section 10F communicates with a control section that integrally controls each section of the substrate processing system 100. The exhaust control section 10G controls the exhaust section 38.

The control unit 10 is also connected to a display unit 10H (e.g., a display) that displays various information, and an input unit 10J (e.g., a keyboard and a mouse) that accepts input from an operator.

The calculation processing unit 10A is configured by a computer having a CPU (Central Processing Unit), RAM (Random Access Memory), etc., and realizes a predetermined operation by controlling each part of the substrate processing apparatus 1 according to a program stored in the storage unit 10B. For example, it can execute the bevel processing described above.

Next, the nozzle position adjustment process in the processing unit 1 configured as described above will be described. In bevel processing, which removes the thin film from the peripheral portion Ss of the substrate S, the nozzle position must be adjusted in advance to achieve the target etching width. This is because, as described above, the etching width is determined by the landing position of the processing liquid from the nozzle, and the landing position is affected by the nozzle position.

The nozzle position adjustment work can be performed, for example, as follows. First, the nozzle block 50, with the processing liquid discharge nozzles 51A to 51C temporarily attached to the support mechanism 54, is attached to the flange portion 572 by the fixing member 551. At this time, the attachment position of the support mechanism 54 to the flange portion 572 is adjusted as a coarse adjustment mode according to the required etching width. This allows the position of multiple nozzles to be adjusted as a whole with a large stroke, although the accuracy is not necessarily high. For example, an adjustment width of about 20 mm can be ensured.

Following this, the position of each of the processing liquid discharge nozzles 51 to 53 is adjusted in fine adjustment mode. For example, the positions of the processing liquid discharge nozzles 51A to 51C can be finely adjusted as follows.

Figure 11 is a diagram showing nozzle position adjustment in fine adjustment mode. In fine adjustment mode, a laser measurement unit 53 is introduced. The laser measurement unit 53 includes laser displacement meters 53A, 53B, and 53C corresponding to the three sets of processing liquid discharge nozzles 51A, 51B, and 51C, respectively, and a support frame 531 that supports them. The support frame 531 can be attached to, for example, a base member 17 that supports the substrate processing unit SP.

That is, by forming a female screw for fixing the support frame 531 in advance in the base member 17 and fixing the support frame 531 to the base member 17 using a fastening member 555 as necessary, the laser displacement meters 53A, 53B, and 53C can be positioned in appropriate positions corresponding to each of the three sets of processing liquid discharge nozzles 51A, 51B, and 51C.

The laser displacement meter 53A irradiates the corresponding treatment liquid discharge nozzle 51A with a laser beam for measuring distance. Specifically, as shown by the dotted arrow in the figure, the laser beam is irradiated toward a reflecting member 513 provided at the tip of the (+R) side of the treatment liquid discharge nozzle 51A, and the laser beam reflected by the reflecting member 513 is received by the laser displacement meter 53A. This allows the position of the treatment liquid discharge nozzle 51A, or more specifically, the distance to the treatment liquid discharge nozzle 51A as seen from the laser displacement meter 53A, to be determined.

The operator performing the adjustment work rotates the adjustment nut 515 provided on the processing liquid discharge nozzle 51A based on the measurement results from the laser displacement meter 53A, thereby adjusting the nozzle position to the desired target position. In this way, the position of the processing liquid discharge nozzle 51A can be fine-tuned to adjust the etching width. The adjustment accuracy at this time can be on the order of microns, for example.

Similarly, the laser displacement meter 53B irradiates the corresponding processing liquid discharge nozzle 51B with a laser beam for measuring distance, receives the reflected light, and measures the position of the processing liquid discharge nozzle 51B. The laser displacement meter 53C irradiates the corresponding processing liquid discharge nozzle 51C with a laser beam for measuring distance, receives the reflected light, and measures the position of the processing liquid discharge nozzle 51C. Using these measurement results, the operator can fine-tune the positions of the processing liquid discharge nozzles 51B and 51C.

Each of the processing liquid discharge nozzles 51A to 51C is provided with a reflecting member 513 having a reflective surface with a simple shape, for example, a flat surface on the surface facing the laser displacement meter, and distance measurement can be performed reliably by making the laser light enter and be reflected by this reflecting member 513. In addition, by separately providing such a reflecting member 513, a high degree of freedom in designing the shape of the nozzle body 510 itself can be ensured.

It is also possible to provide only one laser displacement meter for multiple nozzles by switching the nozzle to be measured for each nozzle position adjustment. However, if the laser displacement meter 53A, 53B, and 53C are individually arranged for each processing liquid discharge nozzle 51A, 51B, and 51C as described above, the following advantages are obtained. First, even if the position of another nozzle changes while adjusting the position of one nozzle, the operator can understand this and make appropriate corrections. In addition, the arrangement positions of the laser displacement meters 53A, 53B, and 53C can be set with high accuracy and excellent reproducibility, so that excellent accuracy can be obtained when detecting the position of each nozzle. The point of providing only one laser displacement meter for multiple nozzles and the action and effect of providing individual laser displacement meters are the same in the embodiment described later.

The laser measurement unit 53 is installed temporarily during the adjustment work, and is not part of the processing unit 1 as a final product. Therefore, even if the number of laser displacement meters installed is increased, it does not affect the equipment cost of the processing unit 1. In other words, after the adjustment work is completed, the laser measurement unit 53 is removed. By installing the nozzle block 50 and the laser measurement unit 53 in a position close to the maintenance opening 11d1, it is possible to perform the nozzle position adjustment work and the installation and removal work of the laser measurement unit 53 with excellent workability. The same applies to the embodiments described later.

As described above, the processing unit 1 of this embodiment corresponds to one embodiment of the "substrate processing apparatus" of the present invention. In this embodiment, each of the processing liquid supply nozzles 51A-51C, particularly the nozzle body 510, corresponds to the "nozzle body" of the present invention, and the support mechanism 54 corresponds to the "support portion" of the present invention. These function together as the "nozzle mechanism" of the present invention. Furthermore, the large diameter shaft portion 51b of the nozzle body 510 corresponds to the "middle portion" of the present invention. Furthermore, the rotation axis AX corresponds to the "vertical axis" of the present invention.

While the coil spring 514 functions as the "biasing portion" of the present invention, the male thread portion 51d and the adjustment nut 515 function together as the "position adjustment portion" of the present invention. The adjustment nut 515 corresponds to the "nut" of the present invention. The holding and rotating mechanism 2 functions as the "rotation mechanism" of the present invention. The nozzle support portion 57, particularly the flange portion 572, functions as the "fixing member" of the present invention.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made to the above without departing from the spirit of the invention. For example, in the above embodiment, in order to achieve a thin nozzle block 50, emphasizing the need to reduce the height of the processing unit 1 as mentioned above, the nozzle body 510 is made to have a roughly rod-like shape with the radial direction R as the longitudinal direction. For this reason, the adjustment nut 515 is arranged toward the center of the substrate S relative to the nozzle body 510.

As a result, when adjusting the nozzle position, the operator needs to reach beyond the nozzle head portion 51a through the maintenance opening 11d1 to operate the adjustment nut 515. Alternatively, it is possible to further improve workability by positioning the adjustment nut below the nozzle head portion and facing the maintenance opening 11d1, for example, as follows.

Figure 12 is a diagram showing a modified example of the nozzle block. In describing this modified example of the processing liquid discharge nozzle 51D with reference to Figure 12, the components corresponding to those of the processing liquid discharge nozzle 51A shown in Figure 7(a) will be given the same reference numerals and detailed description will be omitted. Note that the shape of some components may differ from that shown in Figure 7(a), but the same reference numerals will be used for those components as long as it is not considered to impede understanding.

In this treatment liquid discharge nozzle 51D, instead of the small diameter shaft portion 51c and male thread portion 51d provided on the (-R) side of the large diameter shaft portion 51b in the configuration of FIG. 7(a), an extension portion 51e is provided that extends downward from the lower portion of the nozzle head portion 51a. The extension portion 51e is provided with a through hole 51f that penetrates in the R direction.

On the other hand, the base member 541 of the support mechanism 54 is also provided with an extension portion 543 that extends downward. A shaft portion 544 protrudes in the (+R) direction from the (+R) side surface of the extension portion 543, and its tip portion is a male thread portion 545. The shaft portion 544 is inserted into the coil spring 514, and the coil spring 514 generates a biasing force between the extension portion 51e on the nozzle body side and the shaft portion 544 on the base member 541 side in a direction that separates them from each other.

The male thread portion 545 protrudes beyond the (+R) side surface of the extension portion 51e through the through hole 51f, and the adjust nut 515 is attached to this. Therefore, the adjust nut 515 regulates the rest position of the extension portion 51e relative to the base member 541 against the biasing force of the coil spring 514, and by rotating the adjust nut 515, the rest position changes along the radial direction R. As a result, as in the above embodiment, it is possible to adjust the etching width by moving the position of the discharge port 511 provided at the top of the nozzle head portion 51a along the radial direction R.

With this structure, the adjust nut 515 is positioned facing the maintenance opening 11d1, greatly improving the ease of adjustment by the operator. On the other hand, the overall height is greater than that of the configuration shown in FIG. 7(a), which is disadvantageous in terms of making the device thinner. These structures can be appropriately selected and adopted depending on the purpose that is most important.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 12, a configuration for adjusting the position of the discharge port 511 in the radial direction R is disposed inside the discharge port 511 to prevent it from protruding outward. Therefore, the same effect as in the previous embodiment can be obtained.

For example, the processing unit 1 in the above embodiment is an apparatus that performs bevel etching by supplying a processing liquid to the lower surface Sb side of the peripheral portion Ss of the substrate S. However, in addition to this, the present invention can also be applied to an apparatus that performs bevel etching on the upper surface side of the substrate S.

In addition, in the above embodiment, a groove provided in the base member 541 of the support mechanism 54 corresponding to the cross-sectional shape of the large diameter shaft portion 51b of the nozzle body 510 functions as the "engagement portion" of the present invention on the support mechanism 54 side, and the pressing member 542 prevents the nozzle body 510 from falling off the base member 541. However, instead of a structure in which the nozzle body 510 is supported by a combination of a groove-shaped engagement portion and the pressing member 542 in this manner, a through hole shaped to match the cross-sectional shape of the large diameter shaft portion 51b may be provided in the base member 541, and the nozzle body 510 may be inserted through this through hole.

In addition, the processing unit 1 of the above embodiment is provided with three sets of processing liquid ejection nozzles 51A to 51C, each of which ejects a different processing liquid, on the nozzle block 50. However, the number of nozzles is not limited to this, and the number can be any number.

The nozzle block 50 of the above embodiment is structured to be capable of implementing a coarse adjustment mode and a fine adjustment mode when adjusting the nozzle position. However, it is not essential to have these two adjustment modes, and it is possible to widen the adjustment range in the fine adjustment mode, for example, by making the male thread longer than the above.

As described above by way of example of specific embodiments, in the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention, for example, in the position adjustment unit, one of the nozzle body and the support part may be provided with a male screw extending along the radial direction, and the other may be provided with a through hole through which the male screw is inserted, and a nut may further be provided to screw onto the male screw. With this configuration, the relative positional relationship between the nozzle body and the support part can be changed by rotating the nut, and therefore the position of the nozzle body relative to the support part can be easily adjusted. Furthermore, the position regulation by the nut and the biasing force by the biasing part work together to stably maintain the position of the nozzle body relative to the support part.

In this case, for example, the nozzle body may have a columnar intermediate section with a constant cross-sectional shape in the radial direction, a nozzle head section connected to one end of the intermediate section in the radial direction and having an outlet for discharging the treatment liquid, and a male thread section connected to the other end of the intermediate section in the radial direction and having a male thread, and the support section may have a groove or through hole shaped to fit the cross-sectional shape of the intermediate section as an engagement section on the support section side, and the intermediate section may be an engagement section on the nozzle body side.

With this configuration, the intermediate portion of the nozzle body, which has a constant radial cross-sectional shape, and the corresponding groove or through hole of the support part engage with each other as an engagement portion, so that the support part can movably support the nozzle body in the radial direction of the substrate while restricting displacement in other directions.

In particular, if the cross-sectional shape of the middle part is non-circular, the nozzle body is prevented from rotating around its axis while supported by the support part, making it possible to suppress fluctuations in the ejection direction of the treatment liquid.

For example, the nut may have a scale at equal angular intervals formed on its outer periphery. Since there is a correlation between the amount of rotation of the nut and the amount of displacement of the nozzle body via the pitch of the male thread, providing such a scale on the nut makes it possible to visualize the amount of displacement of the nozzle body relative to that rotation, improving the convenience of the adjustment work.

For example, the nozzle body, support, and nut are preferably made of resin. These components, which are located below the substrate, are likely to be exposed to the processing liquid or its vapor atmosphere, so they are preferably made of a resin material that is highly resistant to chemicals. If these components were made of metal, for example, friction could cause fine powder to be generated when adjusting the nut, which could lead to contamination, but if they are made of a stable resin material with high chemical resistance, this risk is low.

For example, the support part may be attached to a fixed member that does not follow the rotation of the substrate, and the attachment position of the support part relative to the fixed member may be changeable. With such a configuration, it is possible to change the approximate position of the nozzle body relative to the substrate by changing the attachment position of the support part relative to the fixed member. For example, by combining the coarse adjustment by this configuration with the fine adjustment by the position adjustment part described above, it is possible to widen the adjustment range of the nozzle position and improve the adjustment accuracy.

In particular, when multiple nozzle bodies are supported by one support part, the multiple nozzle bodies can be moved together by changing the mounting position of the support part, making it easy to adjust the approximate position of each nozzle body.

In addition, in the above embodiment, the nozzle body is moved in the radial direction R to adjust the discharge port, but it may also be moved in an inclined direction inclined to the radial direction R within a horizontal plane.

In the nozzle block 50 of the above embodiment, the position of the processing liquid discharge nozzle 51 etc. is adjusted by the operator rotating the adjustment nut 515. Alternatively, the position adjustment unit may be configured to have a nozzle movement mechanism that positions the discharge port in the radial direction by driving the nozzle body in the radial direction with a driving source such as a stepping motor or a linear motor. Also, the position adjustment unit may be configured to have a nozzle movement mechanism that positions the discharge port in the radial direction by driving the nozzle body in an inclined direction inclined from the radial direction with the driving source. In these embodiments, the position of the discharge port can be automatically adjusted by operating the nozzle movement mechanism, and the above-mentioned workability problem does not occur.

An embodiment equipped with the nozzle movement mechanism (hereinafter referred to as an "automatic adjustment type substrate processing apparatus") will be described with reference to the drawings.

Figure 13 is a diagram showing the structure and arrangement of a processing mechanism provided in an automatically adjusting type substrate processing apparatus, which is an example of another embodiment of the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention. In this embodiment, the processing mechanism 5 has a nozzle block 50 arranged on the lower surface Sb side of the substrate S, and a processing liquid supply unit 59 that supplies processing liquid to the nozzle block 50. The nozzle block 50 has three sets of processing liquid discharge nozzles 51A, 51B, 51C, each of which discharges processing liquid, and a nozzle movement mechanism 58 that moves these independently. As described below, the nozzle movement mechanism 58 moves each of the processing liquid discharge nozzles 51A to 51C independently in the radial direction of the substrate S. This adjusts the position of each processing liquid discharge nozzle 51A to 51C relative to the substrate S (hereinafter referred to as the "nozzle position").

As in the embodiment already described (hereinafter referred to as the "previous embodiment"), a processing liquid supply unit 59 is connected to the three sets of processing liquid discharge nozzles 51A to 51C. In this embodiment as well, a nozzle block 50 is attached to a portion of the upper peripheral edge of the flange portion 572 in order to discharge processing liquid toward the peripheral edge of the lower surface Sb of the substrate S.

Figures 14A, 14B, 15A, and 15B are diagrams showing the configuration of the processing liquid discharge nozzle and nozzle movement mechanism. Of these, Figures 14A and 14B show a fully retracted state when the entire processing liquid discharge nozzle is retracted, the former being a perspective view showing the structure of the processing liquid discharge nozzle and nozzle movement mechanism in the fully retracted state, and the latter being a diagram showing the cross-sectional structure of the processing liquid discharge nozzle and nozzle movement mechanism in the fully retracted state. On the other hand, Figures 15A and 15B show a partially advanced state when only one processing liquid discharge nozzle is advanced, the former being a perspective view showing the structure of the processing liquid discharge nozzle and nozzle movement mechanism in the partially advanced state, and the latter being a diagram showing the cross-sectional structure of the advanced processing liquid discharge nozzle and nozzle movement mechanism.

As shown in FIG. 13, the nozzle block 50 is attached to a substantially annular flange portion 572 provided on the upper portion of the nozzle support portion 57. The nozzle block 50 is provided with a nozzle movement mechanism 58 for each of the processing liquid discharge nozzles 51A to 51C. In the following, the three nozzle movement mechanisms that move the processing liquid discharge nozzles 51A to 51C in the radial directions R1 to R3, respectively, are collectively referred to as "nozzle movement mechanisms 58". On the other hand, when referring to the three nozzle movement mechanisms individually, the nozzle movement mechanism for the processing liquid discharge nozzle 51A is referred to as "nozzle movement mechanism 58A", the nozzle movement mechanism for the processing liquid discharge nozzle 51B is referred to as "nozzle movement mechanism 58B", and the nozzle movement mechanism for the processing liquid discharge nozzle 51C is referred to as "nozzle movement mechanism 58C".

These three nozzle movement mechanisms 58A-58C basically have the same configuration, except that the nozzle movement directions are radial directions R1-R3, respectively. Furthermore, each of the processing liquid discharge nozzles 51A-51C has the same shape. Therefore, in this specification, one processing liquid discharge nozzle 51C and its nozzle movement mechanism 58C will be described in this order. The same or equivalent components of the other discharge nozzles 51A, 51B and nozzle movement mechanisms 58A, 58B will be denoted by the same or equivalent reference numerals and will not be described.

The configuration of the treatment liquid discharge nozzle 51C will be described with reference to Figures 14A, 14B, 15A, and 15B. The nozzle body 510, which is the main part of the treatment liquid discharge nozzle 51C, is configured to be freely attached and detached to the nozzle head part 582 of the nozzle movement mechanism 58C. The nozzle body 510 has a discharge port 511 at the tip for discharging the treatment liquid. The discharge port 511 discharges the treatment liquid supplied from the treatment liquid supply part 59 obliquely upward at an elevation angle of 45 degrees and outward when viewed from the rotation axis AX. The treatment liquid is discharged toward the lower surface peripheral part Ss of the substrate S. The treatment liquid discharge nozzles 51 (51A to 51C) are made of a material with excellent chemical resistance, such as a resin material. For example, polyethylene resin, PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene) resin, PEEK (polyetheretherketone) resin, etc. can be appropriately selected and used depending on the purpose.

When a thin metal film or a thin metal compound film is formed on the underside Sb of the substrate S and the discharged treatment liquid is soluble in the coating, the thin film in the area of the underside Sb of the substrate where the treatment liquid lands is etched away. When the substrate S is rotating, centrifugal force causes the treatment liquid to spread outward from the landing position, resulting in the thin film being removed from the outside of the landing position.

A reflecting member 513, whose (+R3) end surface is a flat reflecting surface, is attached to the (+R3) end of the nozzle head portion 582. The reflecting member 513 is used, for example, when measuring the nozzle position with a laser displacement meter, and enables accurate and stable position measurement by reflecting the laser light emitted from the laser displacement meter.

Next, the configuration and operation of the nozzle movement mechanism 58C will be described. The nozzle movement mechanism 58C has a fixed support part 581, a nozzle head part 582, a nozzle drive part 583, a pair of glide rings 584, 585, and a guide shaft 586. As with the treatment liquid discharge nozzle 51, the materials constituting the fixed support part 581, the nozzle head part 582, and the nozzle drive part 583 (excluding the motor 583a and wiring 583b described later) can be polyethylene resin or the like, which can be appropriately selected according to the purpose. The guide shaft 586 can be made of a stainless steel rod coated with PTFE.

The fixed support part 581 corresponds to an example of the "support part" of the present invention, and is fixed on the flange part 572 of the nozzle support part 57. Through holes 581a, 581b are respectively provided at the upper end and the lower end of the fixed support part 581, extending in the radial direction R3. A motor 583a, which is the drive source of the nozzle drive part 583, is inserted into the through hole 581a with its rotation axis facing the nozzle head part 582. The motor 583a is connected to the motor drive part 583c via a wiring 583b covered with a fluorine shrink tube. The opening on the (-R3) direction side of the through hole 581a is sealed with a caulking agent or the like, except for the wiring 583b.

In the through hole 581a, the (-R3) end of the shaft member 583d of the nozzle drive unit 583 is attached to the rotation shaft. A glide ring 587 is attached adjacent to the opening on the (+R) direction side of the through hole 581a, and supports the shaft member 583d so that it can rotate freely around the rotation axis of the rotation shaft. The configuration of the glide ring 587 will be explained later.

A male screw is threaded on the outer circumferential surface of the shaft member 583d on the (+R3) side of the glide ring 587, and functions as a male screw portion. The male screw portion is screwed into a female screw portion provided on the nozzle head portion 582. Therefore, when a nozzle movement command is given from the control unit 10 to the motor drive portion 583c, the motor drive portion 583c rotates the rotation shaft of the motor 583a accordingly. Depending on the rotation direction and rotation amount at this time, the nozzle head portion 582, the processing liquid discharge nozzle 51C attached to the (+R3) side end of the nozzle head portion 582, and the reflecting member 513 move back and forth together in the radial direction R3. For example, when the rotation shaft rotates in the forward direction, the nozzle head portion 582 and the like move from the position shown in FIG. 14A and FIG. 14B to the position shown in FIG. 15A and FIG. 15B. Conversely, when the rotation shaft rotates in the reverse direction, the nozzle head portion 582 and the like move in the reverse direction.

In this way, the motor 583a is used as an example of the "actuator" of the present invention to move the processing liquid discharge nozzle 51C in the radial direction R3, but this alone does not provide stability in positioning the processing liquid discharge nozzle 51C. Therefore, in this embodiment, a pair of glide rings 584, 585 and a guide shaft 586 are added as the main components of the guide mechanism to guide the movement of the processing liquid discharge nozzle 51C along the radial direction R3. More specifically, it is configured as follows.

Figure 16 is an exploded view showing how to attach a pair of glide rings to the fixed support. The through hole 581b provided at the lower end of the fixed support 581 has an inner diameter that increases from the (-R3) direction side to the (+R3) direction side, as shown in Figure 16. As a result, two steps are formed inside the through hole 581b. The inner diameter of the narrowest region of the through hole 581b, that is, the through region closest to the (-R3) direction (hereinafter referred to as the "anti-head side through region"), is slightly wider than the outer diameter of the guide shaft 586. The inner diameter of the adjacent through region on the (+R3) direction side (hereinafter referred to as the "intermediate through region") is wider than the inner diameter of the anti-head side through region, and is the same as or slightly smaller than the outer diameter of the glide rings 584 and 585. Furthermore, the inner diameter of the adjacent through-hole region on the (+R3) direction side (hereinafter referred to as the "head-side through-hole region") is wider than the inner diameter of the intermediate through-hole region, and is finished to be the same as the outer diameter of the spacers 588 and 589. Therefore, the spacers 588 and 589 can be fitted into the head-side through-hole region.

Figure 17 shows the structure of the glide ring. The glide ring 584 is a seal ring that is formed by integrating a first ring member made of a resin material that is resistant to chemicals and water from the treatment liquid with a second ring member made of an elastic material that is resistant to chemicals and water, and is finished into a ring shape as a whole. More specifically, the glide ring 584 has a ring-shaped resin member (first ring member) 584a having an inner diameter equal to the outer diameter of the guide shaft 586, and a ring-shaped elastic member (second ring member) 584b having an outer diameter equal to or slightly wider than the inner diameter of the intermediate through region. The ring-shaped elastic member 584b is fitted to the ring-shaped resin member 584a. Therefore, in the glide ring 584, the inner peripheral surface 584a1 of the ring-shaped resin member 584a functions as a ring-shaped sliding contact portion that slides over the entire circumference against the outer peripheral surface of the guide shaft 586, while the outer peripheral surface 584b1 of the ring-shaped elastic member 584b functions as a ring-shaped contact portion that adheres over the entire circumference to the inner peripheral surface of the intermediate through-hole region. The glide ring 585 has exactly the same structure as the glide ring 584, and is positioned at a fixed distance from the glide ring 584 in the (+R3) direction by the spacer 588, as described below.

As shown in FIG. 16, the spacers 588 and 589 have a cylindrical shape that can be fitted into the head-side through-hole. The through-hole provided in the spacer 588 has through-holes with different inner diameters. One of them is a (-R3) side through-hole provided up to a position a distance away from the (-R3) side corresponding to the separation distance between the glide rings 584 and 585. The remaining one is a (+R3) side through-hole provided extending from the (-R3) side through-hole in the (+R3) direction by a distance corresponding to the thickness of the glide ring 585. The other spacer 589 has a ring shape with an inner diameter slightly wider than the outer diameter of the guide shaft 586.

Then, as shown in FIG. 16, glide ring 584, spacer 588, glide ring 584, and spacer 589 are fitted in this order from the (+R3) direction side to the (-R3) direction side toward through hole 581b. Glide ring 584 is fitted into the intermediate through region of through hole 581b and is engaged with a step portion formed between the intermediate through region and the anti-head side through region. Furthermore, glide ring 584 is sandwiched between the step portion and spacer 588 in the radial direction R3 and positioned within through hole 581b.

The glide ring 585 is fitted into the (+R3) side through region of the spacer 588 fitted into the head side through region. After that, the spacer 589 is fitted into the head side through region. As a result, the glide ring 585 is positioned in the through hole 581b between the spacer 589 and the step portion formed between the (+R3) side through region and the (-R3) side through region in the radial direction R3. Thus, the pair of glide rings 584, 585 are separated from each other by the length of the (-R3) side through region in the radial direction R3.

As described above, the glide rings 584, 585 are attached to the fixed support portion 581 by fitting the glide ring 584, the spacer 588, the glide ring 584, and the spacer 589. The (-R3) end of the guide shaft 586 is then inserted into the pair of glide rings 584, 585 so as to be freely slidable. More specifically, the outer circumferential surface of the guide shaft 586 is supported while being in sliding contact with the ring-shaped sliding contact portions of the glide rings 584, 585 over the entire circumference. The (+R3) end of the guide shaft 586 is press-fitted into a hole previously provided in the nozzle head portion 582 and fixed to the nozzle head portion 582. Therefore, the guide shaft 586 moves in the radial direction R3 together with the processing liquid discharge nozzle 51C and the nozzle head portion 582, with the (-R3) end extended to the through hole 581b along the radial direction R3. Moreover, the (-R3) end of the guide shaft 586 is always supported by a pair of glide rings 584, 585 so that it can slide freely in the radial direction R3. Therefore, the processing liquid discharge nozzle 51C moves stably in the radial direction R3, and this allows the processing liquid discharge nozzle 51C to be positioned with high precision.

The outer peripheral surface (ring-shaped contact portion) of the glide ring 584 is in direct contact with the fixed support portion 581, and the outer peripheral surface (ring-shaped contact portion) of the glide ring 585 is in contact with the fixed support portion 581 via the spacer 588. That is, each of the glide rings 584, 585 is interposed between the outer peripheral surface of the guide shaft 586 and the inner peripheral surface of the through hole 581b to seal the ring-shaped space between the guide shaft 586 and the through hole 581b. As a result, the processing liquid can be effectively prevented from entering the ring-shaped space.

Such a sealing effect can also be obtained in the through hole 581a by installing the glide ring 587 in the through hole 581a. In this embodiment, as shown in Figures 14B and 15B, an annular groove is provided near the (+R3) side opening of the through hole 581a, and the glide ring 587 is fitted into the groove. The glide ring 587 is configured in the same manner as the glide rings 584 and 585. In other words, the glide ring 587 has a ring-shaped resin member (first ring member) having an inner diameter equal to the outer diameter of the (-R3) side end of the shaft member 583d, and a ring-shaped elastic member (second ring member) having an outer diameter equal to or slightly wider than the inner diameter of the through hole 581a (Figure 16). The ring-shaped elastic member is exteriorly covered with a ring-shaped resin member. Therefore, by fitting the glide ring 587 into the groove, the inner peripheral surface of the ring-shaped resin member functions as a ring-shaped sliding contact portion that slides over the entire circumference with the outer peripheral surface of the (-R3) side end of the shaft member 583d, while the outer peripheral surface of the ring-shaped elastic member functions as a ring-shaped contact portion that adheres over the entire circumference to the inner peripheral surface of the groove. In other words, the glide ring 587 is interposed between the outer peripheral surface of the shaft member 583d and the inner peripheral surface of the through hole 581a to seal the ring-shaped space between the shaft member 583d and the through hole 581a. As a result, it is possible to effectively prevent the processing liquid from entering the ring-shaped space, and it is possible to position the nozzle with high precision without being affected by the processing liquid.

The above describes the nozzle movement mechanism 58C that moves the treatment liquid discharge nozzle 51C in the radial direction R3, but the other nozzle movement mechanisms 58A and 58B are configured in a similar manner. This makes it possible to position the nozzle with high precision without being affected by the treatment liquid.

In addition, in this embodiment, a configuration for adjusting the position of the discharge port 511 in the radial direction R, i.e., the nozzle position, is arranged inside the discharge port 511 to prevent spillover to the outside. In addition, in this embodiment, the discharge port 511 is provided so as to discharge the processing liquid diagonally upward at an elevation angle of 45 degrees and outward when viewed from the rotation axis AX. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the planar size while realizing a mode for automatically adjusting the nozzle position, making it possible to make the substrate processing apparatus 1 more compact. As a result, it is possible to reduce the amount of gas used in the substrate processing apparatus 1, thereby reducing the environmental load.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, the rotating cup part 31 rotates around the rotation axis AX while surrounding the outer periphery of the rotating substrate S, and collects droplets of the processing liquid scattered from the substrate S. Therefore, it is difficult to have all or part of the configuration for adjusting the position of the discharge port 511 outside the discharge port 511 in the radial direction R. In contrast, in the substrate processing apparatus 1 having the above structure, it is possible to coexist the rotating cup part 31 and independent position adjustment of each of the processing liquid discharge nozzles 51A to 51C.

Returning to FIG. 13, the explanation will continue. The pipes 56 for supplying the processing liquid to the processing liquid discharge nozzles 51A to 51C are arranged in the same manner as in the previous embodiment. In FIG. 13, reference numeral 561 denotes a pipe for supplying SC1 liquid to the processing liquid discharge nozzle 51A, reference numeral 562 denotes a pipe for supplying DHF to the processing liquid discharge nozzle 51B, and reference numeral 563 denotes a pipe for supplying functional water (CO2 water) to the processing liquid discharge nozzle 51C.

Next, the nozzle position adjustment process in the processing unit 1 configured as described above will be described. In bevel processing, which removes the thin film from the peripheral portion Ss of the substrate S, the nozzle position must be adjusted in advance to achieve the target etching width. This is because, as described above, the etching width is determined by the landing position of the processing liquid from the nozzle, and the landing position is affected by the nozzle position.

The nozzle position adjustment work can be performed, for example, as follows. First, the nozzle block 50 with the processing liquid discharge nozzles 51A to 51C attached to the nozzle movement mechanism 58 is attached to the flange portion 572 by the fixing member 551. The position adjustment is performed in the automatic adjustment mode for each of the processing liquid discharge nozzles 51A to 51C. For example, the positions of the processing liquid discharge nozzles 51A to 51C can be fine-tuned as follows.

Figure 18 is a diagram showing nozzle position adjustment in the automatic adjustment mode. In the automatic adjustment mode, a laser measurement unit 53 similar to that used in the previous embodiment is introduced. Then, a female screw for fixing the support frame 531 is formed in advance in the base member 17, and the support frame 531 is fixed to the base member 17 using a fastening member 555 as necessary, so that the laser displacement meters 53A, 53B, and 53C can be positioned in appropriate positions corresponding to each of the three sets of processing liquid discharge nozzles 51A, 51B, and 51C.

The laser displacement meter 53A irradiates the corresponding treatment liquid discharge nozzle 51A with a laser beam for measuring distance. Specifically, as shown by the dotted arrow in the figure, the laser beam is irradiated toward a reflecting member 513 provided at the tip of the (+R) side of the treatment liquid discharge nozzle 51A, and the laser beam reflected by the reflecting member 513 is received by the laser displacement meter 53A. This allows the position of the treatment liquid discharge nozzle 51A, or more specifically, the distance to the treatment liquid discharge nozzle 51A as seen from the laser displacement meter 53A, to be determined.

The calculation processing unit 10A issues a nozzle movement command to the motor drive unit 583c based on the measurement results from the laser displacement meter 53A and the etching width, thereby adjusting the nozzle position to the desired target position. In this way, the position of the processing liquid discharge nozzle 51A can be adjusted, and the etching width can be adjusted. The adjustment accuracy at this time can be, for example, on the order of microns.

Similarly, the laser displacement meter 53B irradiates the corresponding processing liquid discharge nozzle 51B with a laser beam for distance measurement, receives the reflected light, and measures the position of the processing liquid discharge nozzle 51B. The laser displacement meter 53C irradiates the corresponding processing liquid discharge nozzle 51C with a laser beam for distance measurement, receives the reflected light, and measures the position of the processing liquid discharge nozzle 51C. Using these measurement results and the etching width, the calculation processing unit 10A adjusts the positions of the processing liquid discharge nozzles 51B and 51C.

Each of the processing liquid discharge nozzles 51A to 51C is provided with a reflecting member 513 having a reflective surface with a simple shape, for example, a flat surface on the surface facing the laser displacement meter, and distance measurement can be performed reliably by making the laser light enter and be reflected by this reflecting member 513. In addition, by separately providing such a reflecting member 513, a high degree of freedom in designing the shape of the nozzle body 510 itself can be ensured.

As described above, in another embodiment (an automatically adjusted type substrate processing apparatus), the radial directions R1 to R3 correspond to the "nozzle movement direction" of the present invention. The through hole 581b corresponds to an example of the "through hole" of the present invention. The glide rings 584 and 585 correspond to an example of the "pair of seal rings" of the present invention. Furthermore, the nozzle head portion 582 corresponds to an example of the "movable support portion" of the present invention.

In the other embodiments described above, a glide ring made up of a combination of two types of ring members is used as the "seal ring" of the present invention, but this is not limited to this. For example, a single ring member whose inner peripheral surface functions as a ring-shaped sliding contact portion and whose outer peripheral surface functions as a ring-shaped contact portion may be used as the "seal ring" of the present invention. Also, a seal ring made up of a combination of three or more types of ring members may be used.

In addition, in the other embodiment described above, the processing liquid discharge nozzle 51 (51A, 51B, 51C) is indirectly connected to the nozzle drive unit 583 and the guide shaft 586 via the nozzle head unit 582 (movable support unit), but they may be configured to be directly connected.

In addition, in the other embodiments described above, the motor 583a is used as an example of an "actuator" of the present invention, but a driving component such as a card motor may also be used as an "actuator" of the present invention.

In addition, in the other embodiments described above, the processing liquid discharge nozzle 51 (51A, 51B, 51C) is moved in the radial direction R (R1 to R3), but the nozzle movement direction is not limited to this. In other words, the present invention can also be applied to substrate processing apparatuses that move the processing liquid discharge nozzle 51 in a direction inclined within a horizontal plane relative to the radial direction (radial direction R) of the substrate S.

In addition, the processing unit 1 of the other embodiment described above has three sets of processing liquid ejection nozzles 51A to 51C that eject different processing liquids on the nozzle block 50. However, the number of nozzles is not limited to this, and the number can be any number.

In addition, in the other embodiments described above, the nozzle can be moved back and forth in the nozzle movement direction. Therefore, the processing liquid may be supplied to the peripheral portion of the lower surface of the substrate S using a scan-in/scan-out method, as described below.

19 is a diagram showing the configuration and operation of the nozzle movement unit. 19(a) and 19(g) are schematic diagrams showing the home position, 19(b) and 19(f) are schematic diagrams showing the pre-dispense position, 19(c) and 19(e) are schematic diagrams showing the pre-dispense position, and 19(d) is a schematic diagram showing the maximum processing position. In addition, in the figure, in order to clearly indicate the processing liquid discharge nozzle 51 that is discharging the processing liquid, the processing liquid discharge nozzle 51 is dotted. On the other hand, the processing liquid discharge nozzle 51 that has stopped discharging the processing liquid is not dotted. In addition, the dotted arrow in the figure indicates the movement direction of the processing liquid discharge nozzle 51. Here, the case where the processing liquid is supplied while the processing liquid discharge nozzle 51C is scanned in and out will be described as an example, but the processing liquid discharge nozzles 51A and 51B are basically the same.

Before performing bevel processing on the substrate S, the control unit 10 confirms that all of the processing liquid discharge nozzles 51A to 51C are located at the home position P0. At this time, if some or all of the processing liquid discharge nozzles 51 are not located at the home position P0, the processing liquid discharge nozzles 51 are moved to the home position P0 based on a return to home command from the control unit 10. Then, as shown in Figure 19(a), when all of the processing liquid discharge nozzles 51 are located at the home position P0, the processing liquid discharge nozzle 51 (here, nozzle 51C) that discharges the processing liquid to be supplied performs the following operations in order. That is,
Operation A: outward movement from the home position P0 to the pre-dispense position P1 (see the dotted arrow in FIG. 1B),
Operation B: Start of dispensing of treatment liquid at the pre-dispense position P1 (see dots in FIG. 1B),
Operation C: Return movement from the pre-dispense position P1 to the maximum processing position P3 via the end surface position P2 while discharging the processing liquid (see the dotted arrow in FIG. 1C ).
Operation D: Reverse movement at maximum processing position P3 while discharging processing liquid (see dotted arrow in FIG. 1D),
Operation E: Moving from the maximum processing position P3 to the pre-dispense position P1 via the end face position P2 while discharging the processing liquid (see the dotted arrow in FIG. 1E),
Operation F: Stopping the discharge of the treatment liquid when passing the end surface position P2 (see no dot in FIG. 1(f)).
Operation G: Reverse movement at the pre-dispense position P1 while stopping the discharge of the treatment liquid (see the dotted arrow in FIG. 1(f)).
Operation H: Move to the home position P0 and stop there while stopping the discharge of the treatment liquid (see the dotted arrow in FIG. 1(g)).
are executed in this order.

During the above operations, particularly in operation C, the nozzle 511 of the processing liquid discharge nozzle 51C passes through the edge position P2 and enters underneath the substrate S while still discharging the processing liquid, a so-called scan-in operation is performed. Also, in operation D, the movement direction of the processing liquid discharge nozzle 51C is reversed while continuing to supply the processing liquid to the maximum processing position P3. Furthermore, in operation E, the nozzle 511 of the processing liquid discharge nozzle 51C passes through the edge position P2 and underneath the substrate S while still discharging the processing liquid, a so-called scan-out operation is performed.

In addition, when a notch is formed in the substrate S, the following control items are set according to the notch position:
Opening and closing of a liquid discharge valve (not shown) provided in the treatment liquid supply unit 59;
Position control of the processing liquid discharge nozzle 51C in the radial direction R3,
Nozzle movement speed of the treatment liquid discharge nozzle 51C,
The number of rotations of the substrate S,
The amount of the selected processing liquid discharged from the processing liquid discharge nozzle 51C per unit time (hereinafter referred to as the "discharge flow rate");
By controlling in this manner, the amount of processing liquid that reaches the notch, i.e., the amount of processing liquid that reaches the notch, is reduced, thereby making it possible to suppress the amount of liquid splashing during bevel processing.

In addition, in an automatically adjusted type substrate processing apparatus, the processing liquid discharge nozzles 51 are configured to move individually, but they may also be configured to move together as a group, as shown in Figures 20 and 21.

20 is a diagram showing the structure and arrangement of a processing mechanism provided in an automatic adjustment type substrate processing apparatus, which is an example of another embodiment of the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention. In this embodiment, fastening members 551, 551 such as screws are inserted into both ends of the base member 541. The fastening members 551, 551 are screwed into screw holes provided in the flange portion 572, thereby fixing the base member 541 to the flange portion 572. Furthermore, a card motor 583e is attached to the base member 541. A support portion 583f that supports the three processing liquid discharge nozzles 51 is attached to the drive shaft of this card motor 583e. This support portion 583f is provided so as to be movable in the radial direction R. Therefore, when a nozzle movement command is given from the control unit 10 to the motor drive portion 583c, the motor drive portion 583c drives the motor 583e in response to the command, and moves the support portion 538f in the radial direction R while supporting the three processing liquid discharge nozzles 51 collectively. As a result, it is possible to adjust the nozzle positions all at once.

Figure 21 is a diagram showing the structure and arrangement of a processing mechanism provided in an automatic adjustment type substrate processing apparatus, which is an example of yet another embodiment of the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention. This embodiment is significantly different from the embodiment shown in Figure 20 in the arrangement of the card motor 583e, the support part 538f, and the processing liquid discharge nozzle 51. That is, in the apparatus shown in Figure 20, these are arranged linearly along the radial direction R. For this reason, it may be difficult to arrange the card motor 583e as described above due to the dimensional relationship of each part of the apparatus. In response to this, as shown in Figure 21, the card motor 583e is arranged at a position deviated from the radial direction R of the processing liquid discharge nozzle 51. As a result, the direction of the force applied from the card motor 583e to the support part 538f becomes a direction inclined with respect to the radial direction R in the horizontal plane. Correspondingly, the support part 538f is configured to move in the radial direction R when it receives the above force. Therefore, when a nozzle movement command is given from the control unit 10 to the motor drive unit 583c, the motor drive unit 583c accordingly drives the motor 583e, and moves the support unit 538f in the radial direction R while collectively supporting the three processing liquid discharge nozzles 51. As a result, it is possible to collectively adjust the nozzle positions. Furthermore, by adopting such a configuration, it is possible to improve the degree of freedom in design.

This invention can be applied to any substrate processing apparatus that processes the peripheral edge of a substrate by supplying a processing liquid to the peripheral edge of the substrate from a nozzle disposed below the substrate.

1 Processing unit 2 Holding and rotating mechanism (rotating mechanism)
2A Substrate holder 2B Rotation mechanism 4 Upper surface protection and heating mechanism 5 Processing mechanism 11 Chamber 21 Spin chuck 50 Nozzle block (nozzle mechanism)
51, 51A to 51C: Processing liquid discharge nozzle 51d: Male thread portion (position adjustment portion)
54 Support mechanism (support part)
58, 58A to 58C nozzle movement mechanism 510 nozzle body 511 outlet 515 adjustment nut (nut, position adjustment part)
581 Fixed support part (support part)
581b Through hole 582 Nozzle head portion 583 Nozzle drive portion 584, 585 Glide ring (pair of seal rings)
584a: Ring-shaped resin member 584b: Ring-shaped elastic member 584a1: Inner circumferential surface (ring-shaped sliding contact portion)
584b1 Outer periphery (ring-shaped elastic portion)
586 Guide shaft AX Rotation axis (vertical axis)
R, R1 to R3 Radial direction (radial direction)
SP: Substrate processing section S: Substrate Ss: Periphery (of substrate) VAa-VAc: Virtual arc

Claims (17)

a rotation mechanism that holds a circular substrate in a horizontal position and rotates the substrate around a vertical axis passing through a center of the substrate;
a nozzle mechanism including a nozzle body disposed below the substrate and configured to discharge a processing liquid from a discharge port toward a peripheral portion of a lower surface of the substrate, a support portion configured to support the nozzle body so as to change a position of the discharge port in a radial direction of the substrate, and a position adjustment portion configured to adjust a position of the discharge port by moving the nozzle body relative to the support portion,
The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the support portion and the position adjustment portion are disposed inside an imaginary arc that is centered on the vertical axis and passes through the discharge port. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1 ,
The support portion supports the nozzle body so as to be movable in the radial direction,
The position adjustment unit adjusts a position of the discharge port by moving the nozzle body along the radial direction. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 2,
the nozzle mechanism has a biasing portion that biases the nozzle body in the radial direction relative to the support portion,
The position adjustment unit regulates a rest position of the nozzle body in the radial direction against the biasing force of the biasing unit, and changes the rest position in the radial direction. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 3,
In the position adjustment unit,
a male screw extending along the radial direction is provided on one of the nozzle body and the support portion, and a through hole through which the male screw is inserted is provided on the other of the nozzle body and the support portion;
The substrate processing apparatus further includes a nut that is screwed onto the male screw. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 4,
the nozzle body has a columnar intermediate portion having a constant cross-sectional shape in the radial direction, a nozzle head portion connected to one end side of the intermediate portion in the radial direction and having a discharge port for discharging the treatment liquid, and a male thread portion connected to the other end side of the intermediate portion in the radial direction and having the male thread formed therein;
A substrate processing apparatus, wherein the support portion has a groove portion or a through hole having a shape that is adapted to the cross-sectional shape of the intermediate portion as an engagement portion on the support portion side, the intermediate portion being an engagement portion on the nozzle main body side, and the engagement portion on the support portion side and the engagement portion on the nozzle main body side are engaged with each other in a freely slidable manner. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 5 ,
The cross-sectional shape of the intermediate portion is non-circular. 7. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 4,
The substrate processing apparatus, wherein the nut has an outer periphery having scales at equal angular intervals formed thereon. 7. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 4,
The nozzle body, the support portion, and the nut are made of resin. 7. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 3,
a rotating cup portion that surrounds the outer periphery of the rotating substrate and rotates about the vertical axis to collect droplets of the processing liquid splashed from the substrate;
The substrate processing apparatus, wherein the support portion is attached to a fixed member that does not follow the rotation of the substrate and the rotating cup portion, and the attachment position of the support portion with respect to the fixed member is changeable. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 9,
A substrate processing apparatus, wherein a plurality of the nozzle bodies are supported on one of the support parts. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 2,
When the radial direction of the substrate or a direction inclined in a horizontal plane with respect to the radial direction is defined as the nozzle movement direction,
The position adjustment unit includes a nozzle moving mechanism that adjusts a position of the discharge port in the radial direction by driving the nozzle main body in the nozzle movement direction. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 11,
The nozzle moving mechanism includes:
a nozzle driving unit that drives the nozzle body in the nozzle movement direction by an actuator attached to the support unit;
a guide shaft having one end connected to the nozzle body and the other end extending into a through hole provided in the support portion and extending in the nozzle movement direction, the guide shaft moving integrally with the nozzle body in the nozzle movement direction;
a pair of seal rings that are fitted between an outer circumferential surface of the guide shaft and an inner circumferential surface of the through hole while being spaced apart from each other in the nozzle movement direction in the through hole to seal a ring-shaped space between the guide shaft and the through hole;
The substrate processing apparatus includes: The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 12,
In the substrate processing apparatus, each of the seal rings has a ring-shaped sliding contact portion that is in sliding contact with the outer circumferential surface of the guide shaft over the entire circumference, and a ring-shaped contact portion that is in close contact with the inner circumferential surface of the through hole over the entire circumference. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 12,
the nozzle movement mechanism further includes a movable support part that is movable in the nozzle movement direction,
the nozzle body and one end of the guide shaft are connected via the movable support part,
The nozzle driving unit drives the movable support part in the nozzle movement direction with the actuator, thereby moving the movable support part, the nozzle main body, and the guide shaft integrally in the nozzle movement direction. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 11,
A plurality of the nozzle bodies are supported on one of the support parts,
The nozzle moving mechanism is provided for each of the nozzle bodies. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 11,
A plurality of the nozzle bodies are supported on one of the support parts,
The nozzle moving mechanism drives the plurality of nozzle bodies integrally. 15. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 12,
a rotating cup portion that surrounds the outer periphery of the rotating substrate and rotates about the vertical axis to collect droplets of the processing liquid splashed from the substrate;
The substrate processing apparatus, wherein the support portion is attached to a fixed member that holds the actuator and does not follow the rotation of the substrate and the rotating cup portion.

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