JP5362503B2 - Cleaning / drying processing method, cleaning / drying processing apparatus, and recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a cleaning and drying processing method, a cleaning and drying processing apparatus, and a recording medium that prevent a decrease in product yield by preventing water deposited on an upper end of a substrate to be processed from flowing on a surface of the substrate to be processed. <P>SOLUTION: The substrate W to be processed is brought into contact with a cleaning solution DIW contained in a cleaning tank 52 to perform cleaning processing. Then, the substrate W to be processed is moved from the inside of the cleaning tank 52 to the inside of a drying chamber 10, and the upper end T of the substrate W to be processed in the drying chamber 10 is dried by a heating device 13. A drying gas G1 is supplied thereafter toward the substrate W to be processed in the drying chamber 10 to be brought into contact with the substrate W to be processed, thereby removing the cleaning solution DIW on the surface of the substrate W to be processed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&amp;INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a substrate cleaning / drying method, a substrate cleaning / drying apparatus, and a recording medium.

  In general, in the manufacturing process of a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, a substrate to be processed (hereinafter referred to as a wafer or the like) such as a semiconductor wafer or LCD glass is sequentially immersed in a processing tank in which a processing solution such as a chemical solution or a rinsing solution (cleaning solution) is stored. Therefore, a cleaning method for cleaning is widely adopted (see Patent Documents 1-3). In addition, such a cleaning processing apparatus is provided with a drying processing apparatus (drying chamber). Then, the drying processing apparatus (drying chamber) brings a dry gas made of a volatile organic solvent vapor such as IPA (isopropyl alcohol) into contact with the cleaned wafer and the like to condense or adsorb the vapor of the dry gas. The water and the like of the wafer are removed and dried by the Marangoni effect.

JP-A-11-26420 JP-A-6-326073 JP 2006-156648 A

  In such a drying processing apparatus, it is common to supply IPA vapor (drying gas) to the wafer immediately after the wafer is taken out from the rinse liquid (cleaning liquid) in the processing tank. However, in this case, a phenomenon occurs in which water adhering to the upper end portion of the wafer flows downward along the wafer surface. When the water flowing on the wafer surface is dried in this way, particles or the like are generated on the wafer, which may reduce the product yield.

  The present invention has been made in consideration of such points, and by preventing the water adhering to the upper end of the substrate to be processed (wafer) from flowing on the surface of the substrate to be processed, the product yield can be reduced. Provided are a cleaning / drying processing method, a cleaning / drying processing apparatus, and a recording medium that can be prevented.

  The present invention relates to a cleaning / drying processing method for a substrate to be processed, a cleaning process in which the substrate to be processed is brought into contact with a cleaning liquid stored in the cleaning tank, and the substrate to be processed is placed in the drying chamber from the cleaning tank. A moving process for moving, a first drying process for drying an upper end portion of the substrate to be processed in the drying chamber by a heating device, and supplying a drying fluid toward the substrate to be processed in the drying chamber, thereby supplying the drying fluid to the substrate to be processed. And a cleaning liquid removing step for removing the cleaning liquid on the surface of the substrate to be processed.

  The present invention is the cleaning / drying method characterized in that the drying fluid contains an organic solvent.

  The present invention is a cleaning / drying method characterized in that a second drying step for drying the organic solvent on the surface of the substrate to be processed is provided after the cleaning liquid removing step.

  The present invention is the cleaning / drying method characterized in that the second drying step includes a step of drying the organic solvent on the surface of the substrate to be processed by supplying heated nitrogen gas into the drying chamber.

  The present invention is the cleaning / drying method characterized in that the second drying step includes a step of drying the organic solvent on the surface of the substrate to be processed by a heating device.

  The present invention is the cleaning / drying method characterized in that the heating device comprises an infrared heater that irradiates infrared rays.

  The present invention is directed to a drying chamber body that accommodates a substrate to be processed, a heating device that is provided in the drying chamber body and that dries the upper end of the substrate to be processed in the drying chamber body, and the substrate to be processed in the drying chamber. A drying chamber having a fluid supply unit for supplying a drying fluid; a cleaning tank provided below the drying chamber; containing a cleaning liquid for the substrate to be processed; and holding the substrate to be processed in the cleaning tank. A holding unit that moves between the drying chamber and a control unit that controls the drying chamber, the cleaning tank, and the holding unit is provided. The control unit controls the cleaning tank to bring the substrate to be processed into contact with the cleaning liquid for cleaning. Control the holding means to move the substrate to be processed from the cleaning tank to the drying chamber, control the heating device to dry the upper end of the substrate to be processed in the drying chamber, and control the fluid supply unit to dry the substrate. By supplying a drying fluid toward the substrate to be processed in the room, The fluid is brought into contact with the substrate to be processed, a cleaning and drying apparatus, characterized in that for removing the cleaning liquid of the substrate surface.

  The present invention relates to a recording medium used for a cleaning / drying processing method for a substrate to be processed and storing a computer program that runs on a computer, wherein the cleaning / drying processing method is applied to a cleaning liquid contained in a cleaning tank. A cleaning process for bringing the substrate into contact with the substrate, a moving process for moving the substrate to be processed into the drying chamber, a first drying step for drying the upper end of the substrate to be processed in the drying chamber by a heating device, A recording medium comprising: a cleaning liquid removing step of bringing a drying fluid into contact with a substrate to be processed by supplying the drying fluid toward the substrate to be processed to remove the cleaning liquid on the surface of the substrate to be processed.

  According to the present invention, the upper end portion of the substrate to be processed in the drying chamber is dried by the heating device, and the drying fluid is supplied to the substrate to be processed in the drying chamber, thereby bringing the drying fluid into contact with the substrate to be processed, The cleaning liquid on the surface of the processing substrate is removed. Thereby, the cleaning liquid adhering to the upper end portion of the substrate to be processed does not flow along the surface of the substrate to be processed, and the product yield can be prevented from decreasing.

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a cleaning processing system including a cleaning / drying processing apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a side view showing a cleaning processing system including a cleaning / drying processing apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a cleaning / drying processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a cleaning / drying processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIGS. 5A to 5B are views showing a cleaning / drying processing method (chemical solution processing and primary cleaning processing) according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIGS. 6A to 6D are views showing a cleaning / drying processing method (dry gas contact processing and secondary cleaning processing) according to an embodiment of the present invention. 7A to 7D are diagrams showing a cleaning / drying method (drying process) according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIGS. 8A to 8C are schematic views for explaining the operation of the cleaning / drying processing method according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIGS. 9A to 9D are schematic views for explaining the operation of the cleaning / drying processing method according to the comparative example.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of a cleaning / drying processing method, a cleaning / drying processing apparatus, and a recording medium according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

Configuration of Cleaning / Drying Processing Apparatus First , the configuration of the cleaning / drying processing apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

  First, the configuration of a cleaning processing system having a cleaning / drying processing apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a cleaning processing system having a cleaning / drying processing apparatus according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a side view thereof.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the cleaning processing system 20 is used to carry in and out a container, for example, a carrier 21, which horizontally stores a semiconductor wafer W (wafer W) having a disk shape as a substrate to be processed. The transfer unit 22, the processing unit 23 that processes the wafer W with a chemical solution, a cleaning solution, and the like, and also performs the drying process, and the transfer of the wafer W, position adjustment, posture change, and the like are positioned between the transfer unit 22 and the processing unit 23. And an interface unit 24.

  Among these, the conveyance part 22 has the carrying-in part 25 and the carrying-out part 26 which were provided in one side edge part of the washing | cleaning processing system 20, and were provided. The carry-in unit 25 is provided with a carry-in port 25 a and a carry-out port 25 b for the carrier 21, and the carry-out unit 26 is provided with a carry-in port 26 a and a carry-out port 26 b for the carrier 21. Among these, a slide-type placement table 27 for loading and unloading the carrier 21 into and from the carry-in unit 25 and the carry-out unit 26 is provided at the carry-in port 25a of the carry-in unit 25 and the carry-out port 26b of the carry-out unit 26, respectively.

  Further, a carrier lifter 28 (container transporting means) is disposed in each of the carry-in unit 25 and the carry-out unit 26. The carrier lifter 28 transports the carrier 21 in the carry-in unit 25 and the carry-out unit 26, respectively. The carrier lifter 28 can deliver an empty carrier 21 to a carrier standby unit 29 provided above the transport unit 22 and can receive the carrier 21 from the carrier standby unit 29 (see FIG. 2).

  The interface unit 24 is partitioned by a partition wall 24 c into a first chamber 24 a adjacent to the carry-in unit 25 and a second chamber 24 b adjacent to the carry-out unit 26. In the first chamber 24a, a wafer take-out arm 30 (substrate take-out means), a notch aligner 31 (position detection means), and a first posture changing device 33 (posture changing means) are arranged. Yes.

  The wafer take-out arm 30 takes out and carries a plurality of wafers W from the carrier 21 of the carry-in section 25, and is movable in the horizontal direction (X, Y direction) and the vertical direction (Z direction) and is rotated. It is configured to be movable (θ direction). The notch aligner 31 detects notches provided in the wafer W. Further, the first attitude changing device 33 includes an interval adjusting mechanism 32 that adjusts the interval between a plurality of wafers W taken out by the wafer take-out arm 30 and converts the wafer W in a horizontal state into a vertical state. Can be done.

  On the other hand, in the second chamber 24b, a wafer delivery arm 34 (substrate transfer means), a second attitude changing device 33A (attitude changing means), and a wafer storage arm 35 (substrate holding means) are arranged. ing.

Among these, the wafer delivery arm 34 receives and transfers a plurality of processed wafers W from the processing unit 23 in a vertical state. The second attitude changing device 33A converts the wafer W received from the wafer delivery arm 34 from a vertical state to a horizontal state. Further, the wafer storage arm 35 receives a plurality of wafers W converted into a horizontal state by the second posture changing device 33A and stores them in the empty carrier 21 transferred to the unloading section 26. . The wafer storage arm 35 is configured to be movable in the horizontal direction (X, Y direction) and the vertical direction (Z direction) and to be rotatable (θ direction). The second chamber 24b is sealed from the outside, and is configured so that the chamber is replaced with N ₂ gas supplied from an inert gas (not shown) such as nitrogen (N ₂ ) gas supply source.

  On the other hand, the processing unit 23 includes a first processing unit 36 that removes particles and organic matter adhering to the wafer W, a second processing unit 37 that removes metal contamination adhering to the wafer W, and an adhering to the wafer W. A cleaning / drying processing unit (cleaning / drying processing apparatus according to the present embodiment) 50 that removes the chemical oxide film and performs a drying process and a chuck cleaning unit 39 are linearly arranged. A conveyance path 40 is provided at a position facing each of the units 36, 37, 39, and 50. The transfer path 40 is provided with a wafer transfer arm 41 (transfer means) which is movable in the X, Y direction (horizontal direction) and Z direction (vertical direction) and is rotatable (θ direction). Yes.

  Next, the configuration of the cleaning / drying processing apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view seen from the front side of the cleaning / drying processing apparatus according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view seen from the side face of the cleaning / drying processing apparatus according to the present embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the cleaning / drying processing apparatus 50 includes a drying chamber 10, a cleaning tank 52 provided below the drying chamber 10, and a plurality of, for example, 50 wafers W. A holding means, for example, a wafer boat 54, which moves between the interior of 52 and the drying chamber 10 is provided.

  Among these, the cleaning tank 52 stores (accommodates) the cleaning liquid for the wafer W made of a chemical liquid such as hydrofluoric acid or pure water, and the wafer W held by the wafer boat 54 is stored in the stored cleaning liquid. It is designed to be immersed. The cleaning tank 52 includes an inner tank 52a formed of, for example, a quartz member or polypropylene, and an outer tank 52b that is disposed outside the upper end portion of the inner tank 52a and receives the cleaning liquid that has overflowed from the inner tank 52a. ing. On both sides of the lower part of the inner tank 52a, supply nozzles 55 for injecting a cleaning liquid toward the wafer W located in the cleaning tank 52 are disposed. A chemical solution supply source and a pure water supply source (not shown) are connected to the supply nozzle 55. The chemical solution or pure water is supplied from the chemical solution supply source and the pure water supply source by the switching valve, and the chemical solution or pure water is stored in the cleaning tank 52.

  A discharge port 52d is provided at the bottom of the inner tank 52a, and a drain pipe 56 is connected to the discharge port 52d via a discharge valve 56a. A drain pipe 57 is also connected to a discharge port 52e provided at the bottom of the outer tank 52b via a discharge valve 57a. An exhaust box 58 is disposed outside the outer tank 52b, and an exhaust pipe 59 is connected to an exhaust port 58a provided in the exhaust box 58 via a valve 59a.

  The cleaning tank 52 and the exhaust box 58 configured as described above are disposed in a bottomed cylindrical box 60. The box 60 is partitioned into an upper chamber 62a on the cleaning tank side and a lower chamber 62b on the lower end side of the drain pipes 56 and 57 and an exhaust port 58a by a partition plate 61 that horizontally partitions the box 60. That is, the lower chamber 62b communicates with the drain pipe 56 connected to the inner tank 52a, the drain pipe 57 connected to the outer tank 52b, and the exhaust pipe 59. As a result, the atmosphere and drainage of the lower chamber 62b can be prevented from scattering and entering the upper chamber 62a, and the interior of the upper chamber 62a can be kept clean. An exhaust window 63 is provided on the side wall of the upper chamber 62a. An exhaust window 64 is provided on the upper side wall of the lower chamber 62b. Further, a drainage port 65 is provided on the lower side wall of the lower chamber 62b.

  On the other hand, the drying chamber 10 is an apparatus for drying the wafer (substrate to be processed) W. The drying chamber 10 is provided on a drying chamber main body 11 that accommodates a wafer (substrate to be processed) W, and an inner wall 11a of the drying chamber main body 11, and is an infrared transmission member (light transmission member) made of, for example, quartz having an inverted U-shaped cross section. ) 12, and an infrared heater (heating device) 13 that is provided between the inner wall 11 a of the drying chamber body 11 and the infrared transmitting member 12 and emits infrared light (light). A gas nozzle (fluid supply) that supplies dry gas (dry fluid) (for example, vapor of an organic solvent such as IPA) toward the infrared transmitting member 12 in the drying chamber main body 11 and below the infrared transmitting member 12. Part) 14 is provided.

  The infrared heater 13 may emit infrared rays having a wavelength of 2.0 μm or more and 2.5 μm or less. In particular, when the infrared transmitting member 12 is made of quartz, by setting the wavelength of the infrared ray irradiated from the infrared heater 13 within this range, the infrared ray is not absorbed by the infrared transmitting member 12 and the wafer W is effectively heated. Can do. In addition to the infrared heater 13, for example, a carbon heater may be used as the heating device.

  On the other hand, the drying chamber body 11 is configured such that the inner surface reflects the infrared rays from the infrared heater 13 and plays a role as a reflector. That is, the infrared heater 13 is disposed at both outer positions of the infrared transmitting member 12, and the drying chamber body 11 is disposed on the back side of the infrared heater 13. Therefore, the infrared light reflected directly from the infrared heater 13 or reflected from the drying chamber main body 11 is irradiated into the drying chamber main body 11 through the infrared transmitting member 12, thereby promoting heating and drying of the wafer W in the drying chamber main body 11. Is done. On the other hand, since the infrared transmitting member 12 transmits infrared rays from the infrared heater 13, the infrared transmitting member 12 itself is not directly heated.

  Moreover, in this Embodiment, the fixed base | substrate 15 arrange | positioned under the drying chamber main body 11 has the opening part 52c in the lower surface. Therefore, the drying chamber 10 communicates with the cleaning tank 52 via the shutter 66 provided in the opening 52 c of the cleaning tank 52. Further, a seal member (for example, an O-ring) 16 is provided between the drying chamber body 11 and the fixed base 15, thereby sealing the inside of the drying chamber body 11. In this case, the fixed base 15 may also be formed of a quartz member so that the state of the internal wafer W can be visually observed from the outside.

On the other hand, the gas nozzle 14 blows out a dry gas made of, for example, an IPA solvent vapor from the side toward the top. Further, a gas discharge unit 67 for discharging the dry gas is provided on the side of the fixed base 15 in the drying chamber 10. A dry fluid (dry gas) generator 68 is connected to the gas nozzle 14. The dry fluid generator 68 supplies organic solvent (for example, IPA) vapor or heated inert gas, for example, nitrogen gas (HOT N ₂ gas) from the gas nozzle 14.

  Further, an exhaust device 70 is connected to the gas exhaust portion 67. By providing the gas nozzle 14 and the gas discharge portion 67 in this manner, the dry gas supplied from the gas nozzle 14 into the drying chamber 10 is applied to the inner surfaces 12a on both sides of the infrared transmitting member 12 as indicated by arrows in FIG. Then, it flows downward from the central portion of the infrared transmitting member 12 and is discharged from the gas discharge portion 67. As a result, the dry gas can uniformly contact the wafer W, and the vapor of the dry gas can be condensed and replaced to dry uniformly.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the drying chamber main body 11 and the infrared transmitting member 12 are configured to be moved up and down by the first lifting and lowering means 74, that is, to be able to contact and separate from the fixed base 15. In this case, the first lifting / lowering means 74 has a ball screw mechanism including a screw shaft 77 rotated by a motor 76 and a mover 78 screwed to the screw shaft 77 via a ball. Two guide rails 80 are disposed in parallel with the screw shaft 77. The mover 78 is connected to two sliders 79 that slide on the two guide rails 80. By connecting the drying chamber main body 11 and the infrared transmitting member 12 to the first lifting / lowering means 74 via the bracket 81, the drying chamber main body 11 and the infrared transmitting member 12 can be moved up and down.

  The wafer boat 54 can be moved up and down by the second lifting and lowering means 75, that is, can be moved between the cleaning tank 52 and the drying chamber 10. In this case, the second lifting / lowering means 75 is disposed in parallel with the screw shaft 77 of the ball screw mechanism that forms the first lifting / lowering means 74. The second lifting / lowering means 75 has a ball screw mechanism including a screw shaft 77A rotated by a motor 76A and a mover 78A screwed to the screw shaft 77A via a ball. The two guide rails 80 are disposed in parallel with the screw shaft 77A, and the mover 78A is connected to two sliders 79A that slide on the two guide rails 80. By connecting the rod 54a of the wafer boat 54 to the second raising / lowering means 75 via the bracket 81A, the wafer boat 54 can be raised and lowered.

  With this configuration, the drying chamber body 11 and the infrared transmitting member 12 are raised by driving the first elevating means 74 to form a space for inserting a wafer above the opening 52c of the cleaning tank 52. Can do. In this state, the wafer W can be loaded by the wafer transfer arm 41 from the side. Thereafter, the second lifting means 75 is driven to raise the wafer boat 54, whereby the wafer W on the wafer transfer arm 41 can be received.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the cleaning / drying processing apparatus 50 is connected to a control unit 100 for controlling the cleaning / drying processing apparatus 50. The controller 100 can control, for example, the drying chamber 10, the cleaning tank 52, and the wafer boat 54 in the cleaning / drying processing apparatus 50 to execute a cleaning / drying processing method to be described later. . In addition, the control unit 100 stores a recording medium 101 that stores a computer program that is used in a drying method using the drying chamber 10 and a cleaning / drying method (described later) using the cleaning / drying processing apparatus 50 (described later). Have. As the recording medium 101, a memory such as a ROM or a RAM may be used, or a disk-shaped material such as a hard disk or a CD-ROM may be used.

Cleaning / drying processing method using the cleaning / drying processing apparatus Next, the operation of the present embodiment having such a configuration, specifically, the cleaning / drying processing method using the above-described cleaning / drying processing apparatus 50 will be described. This will be described with reference to FIGS. The following operation is performed by the control unit 100.

(Chemical treatment)
First, as shown in FIG. 5 (a), the shutter 66 is opened, and a chemical solution such as hydrofluoric acid (HF) is ejected from the supply nozzle 55 in a state where the wafer W is accommodated in the cleaning tank 52. HF) is brought into contact with the wafer W to remove the oxide film adhering to the wafer W surface. After the chemical solution treatment is performed in this manner, the chemical solution in the cleaning tank 52 is discharged or replaced with pure water DIW. Note that the chemical liquid processing may be performed with the shutter 66 closed. In this case, the chemical solution (HF) in the cleaning tank 52 can be prevented from scattering into the drying chamber 10 and the inner wall of the drying chamber 10 can be prevented from being contaminated by the chemical solution atmosphere.

(Primary cleaning process)
Next, as shown in FIG. 5B, the shutter 66 is opened, pure water DIW (cleaning liquid) is supplied from the supply nozzle 55 to fill the cleaning tank 52 with pure water DIW, and the pure water The DIW is overflowed from the inner tank 52a to the outer tank 52b. Thereby, the wafer W in the cleaning tank 52 is immersed in the pure water DIW and subjected to the primary cleaning process (cleaning process step). Alternatively, the wafer W may be subjected to the primary cleaning process by closing the shutter 66 and overflowing the pure water DIW supplied from the supply nozzle 55 in the same manner. In this case, scattering of the pure water DIW in the cleaning tank 52 to the drying chamber 10 can be prevented, and contamination of the inner wall of the drying chamber 10 with a moisture atmosphere can be prevented.

(Dry gas contact treatment)
Subsequently, the shutter 66 is opened. Next, the wafer boat 54 is raised to move the wafer W from the cleaning tank 52 into the drying chamber 10 and accommodate the wafer W in the drying chamber 10 (moving step) (see FIG. 6A). In this state, the shutter 66 is closed to remove the chemical liquid (for example, HF) and pure water DIW (cleaning liquid) remaining on the surface of the wafer W (dry gas contact processing) (see FIGS. 6B and 6C). ).

  During this time, the dry gas contact processing of the wafer W is performed as follows. That is, first, infrared rays are irradiated from the infrared heater 13 through the infrared transmitting member 12 into the drying chamber main body 11 (see FIG. 6B). Only the upper end T of the wafer W in the drying chamber body 11 is heated and dried by this infrared ray (first drying step). In this case, the entire portion located above half of the outer peripheral edge of the wafer W may be dried. Alternatively, only the vicinity of the uppermost portion of the outer peripheral edge of the wafer W may be intensively dried. At this time, the supply of dry gas (for example, IPA vapor) from the gas nozzle 14 is stopped.

  Subsequently, the infrared irradiation by the infrared heater 13 is stopped, and a drying gas (for example, IPA vapor) G1 is supplied from the gas nozzle 14 toward the wafer W in the drying chamber 10 (see FIG. 6C). As a result, the dry gas is brought into contact with the wafer W to remove the cleaning liquid remaining on the surface of the wafer W (cleaning liquid removing step).

  By replacing the cleaning liquid in the cleaning tank 52 during the contact with the dry gas, the start / end time of the subsequent secondary cleaning process can be shortened. Such a dry gas contact process may be performed by discharging the pure water DIW and then moving to the drying chamber 10, or the wafer W may be lifted from the cleaning tank 52 as it is.

(Secondary cleaning process)
After bringing the dry gas into contact with the wafer W, the shutter 66 is opened, the wafer boat 54 is lowered, and the wafer W is moved into the cleaning tank 52. As shown in FIG. 6D, the wafer W is accommodated in the cleaning tank 52 while the shutter 66 is kept open. In this state, the pure water DIW is supplied from the supply nozzle 55, and the pure water DIW is overflowed to perform the secondary cleaning process. Alternatively, the secondary cleaning process may be performed by closing the shutter 66 and similarly supplying pure water DIW from the supply nozzle 55 and overflowing the pure water DIW.

(Drying process)
After the secondary cleaning process is completed, the shutter 66 is opened. Next, the wafer boat 54 is raised, the wafer W is moved from the cleaning tank 52 into the drying chamber 10, and the wafer W is accommodated in the drying chamber 10 (moving step) (see FIG. 7A). In this state, the shutter 66 is closed, and the pure water DIW remaining on the surface of the wafer W is removed (drying process) (see FIGS. 7B to 7D).

  During this time, the wafer W is dried as follows. That is, first, infrared rays are irradiated from the infrared heater 13 into the drying chamber main body 11 through the infrared transmitting member 12 (see FIG. 7B). Only the upper end T of the wafer W in the drying chamber body 11 is heated and dried by this infrared ray (first drying step). In this case, the entire portion located above half of the outer peripheral edge of the wafer W may be dried. Alternatively, only the vicinity of the uppermost portion of the outer peripheral edge of the wafer W may be intensively dried. At this time, the supply of dry gas (for example, IPA vapor) from the gas nozzle 14 is stopped.

  Subsequently, the infrared irradiation by the infrared heater 13 is stopped, and a drying gas (for example, IPA vapor) G1 is supplied from the gas nozzle 14 toward the wafer W in the drying chamber 10 (see FIG. 7C). As a result, the dry gas is brought into contact with the wafer W to remove the cleaning liquid remaining on the surface of the wafer W (cleaning liquid removing step). At this time, the dry gas G1 flows upward along the inner surfaces 12a on both sides of the infrared transmitting member 12 as indicated by arrows in FIG. 7C, and then flows downward from the central portion of the infrared transmitting member 12. It is discharged from the discharge unit 67.

Further, after the water adhering to the wafer W is replaced with the IPA in the dry gas, the heated nitrogen gas (HOT N ₂ gas) G2 may be supplied from the gas nozzle 14. As a result, the IPA atmosphere is removed from the drying chamber 10, and IPA in the drying gas on the surface of the wafer W is removed by drying (second drying step) (see FIG. 7D).

  In such a series of treatments, the liquefied residue of the chemical solution (such as HF) is easily removed by the first washing treatment step and the dry gas contact treatment step. Thus, the residue can be removed more reliably. Further, by supplying a chemical solution or a cleaning solution into the cleaning tank 52 during this drying processing step, the start time of the subsequent chemical processing or cleaning processing can be advanced.

  In the above description, as shown in FIGS. 5 to 7, (1) chemical treatment, (2) primary cleaning processing, (3) dry gas contact processing, (4) secondary cleaning processing, and (5) drying processing are performed. Although the case where the cleaning / drying process is sequentially performed has been described, a process (drying gas contact process) of moving the wafer W into the drying chamber 10 and bringing the wafer W into contact with the drying gas after the chemical treatment is provided. Good. That is, the cleaning / drying treatment may be performed in the order of (1) chemical treatment, (2) dry gas contact treatment, (3) washing treatment, and (4) drying treatment.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, when performing the drying process (dry gas contact process), the wafer W is first moved from the cleaning tank 52 into the drying chamber 10 (moving step) (FIG. 6A). Next, only the upper end T of the wafer W is dried by the infrared heater 13 (first drying step) (see FIGS. 6B and 7B). Thereafter, by supplying the drying gas toward the wafer W, the drying gas is brought into contact with the wafer W to remove the cleaning liquid on the surface of the wafer W (cleaning liquid removing step) (FIGS. 6C and 7C). )reference). Thereby, it is possible to prevent the cleaning liquid adhering to the upper end portion T of the wafer W from flowing along the surface of the wafer W.

  The operation of this embodiment will be described in more detail below with reference to FIGS. 8A to 8C are schematic views showing the upper end portion T of the wafer W when the cleaning / drying processing method according to the present embodiment is used, and FIGS. 9A to 9D. These are the schematic diagrams which show the upper end part T of the wafer W at the time of using the washing | cleaning and drying processing method by a comparative example. In the following, a case where pure water is used as the cleaning liquid DIW and IPA gas is used as the dry gas G1 will be described as an example.

  In the present embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 6A and 7A, the wafer W is first moved from the cleaning tank 52 into the drying chamber 10 (moving step). At this time, the cleaning liquid (pure water) DIW adheres to the upper end T of the wafer W (FIG. 8A).

  Next, only the upper end T of the wafer W is dried by the infrared heater 13 (first drying step) (see FIGS. 6B and 7B). At this time, the cleaning liquid DIW adhering to the upper end portion T of the wafer W is dried and removed by the heat from the infrared heater 13 (FIG. 8B).

  Thereafter, by supplying a dry gas G1 (IPA) toward the wafer W, the dry gas G1 is brought into contact with the wafer W, and the cleaning liquid DIW on the surface of the wafer W is removed (cleaning liquid removing step) (FIG. 6C). (Refer FIG.7 (c)). In this case, since the cleaning liquid DIW on the upper end portion T of the wafer W has already been dried and removed by the first drying step described above, the cleaning liquid DIW does not flow out from the upper end portion T of the wafer W (FIG. 8C). . On the other hand, in this cleaning liquid removing step, the cleaning liquid DIW adhering to the portion other than the upper end T of the wafer W is removed by drying with the dry gas G1.

  Next, as a comparative example, it is assumed that the wafer W is moved from the cleaning tank 52 into the drying chamber 10 and immediately after that, the drying gas G1 (IPA vapor) is supplied toward the wafer W (FIG. 9 ( a)-(d)).

  In this case, since the cleaning liquid (pure water) DIW adheres to the upper end T of the wafer W (FIG. 9A), the dry gas G1 is supplied toward the wafer W in this state. At this time, the IPA from the dry gas G1 becomes a liquid and adheres on the cleaning liquid (pure water) DIW (FIG. 9B).

  Thereafter, the IPA is replaced with the cleaning liquid DIW due to the difference in surface tension, and moves to the wafer W side. As a result, the cleaning liquid DIW moves outward (FIG. 9C). The cleaning liquid DIW thus moved to the outside flows down along the surface of the wafer W (the front surface or the back surface of the wafer W) (FIG. 9D). It is considered that the cleaning liquid DIW that has flowed down in this manner is dried on the surface of the wafer W to become particles.

  On the other hand, according to the present embodiment, as described above, only the upper end portion T of the wafer W in the drying chamber 10 is previously dried by the infrared heater 13 (first drying step), and the wafer in the drying chamber 10 is preliminarily dried. By supplying a dry gas (IPA vapor) toward W, the dry gas is brought into contact with the wafer W to remove the cleaning liquid on the surface of the wafer W (cleaning liquid removing step). With this configuration, it is possible to prevent the cleaning liquid adhering to the upper end portion T of the wafer W from flowing along the surface of the wafer W, and to prevent the product yield from decreasing.

  Further, according to the present embodiment, the drying gas contains IPA (organic solvent), and after the cleaning liquid removing step, the second drying step for drying the IPA on the surface of the wafer W is provided. Can be effectively removed. In this case, heated nitrogen gas may be supplied into the drying chamber 10. As a result, the IPA on the surface of the wafer W can be dried, and the IPA atmosphere can be efficiently removed from the drying chamber 10.

  In addition, in the embodiment mentioned above, various deformation | transformation are possible within the range of the summary of this invention.

  That is, in the present embodiment, only the upper end T of the wafer W is dried by the infrared heater 13 in both the drying gas contact process and the drying process (first drying process), and then dried toward the wafer W. Gas is supplied to remove the cleaning liquid on the surface of the wafer W (cleaning liquid removing step). However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the first drying process and the cleaning liquid removing process may be executed only in one of the dry gas contact process and the drying process.

In the present embodiment, the IPA on the surface of the wafer W is dried by supplying heated nitrogen gas (HOT N ₂ gas) G2 from the gas nozzle 14 in the second drying step (FIG. 7 ( d)), but is not limited to this. For example, infrared rays may be irradiated again from the infrared heater 13 and the IPA on the surface of the wafer W may be dried by the infrared rays. Also in this case, IPA on the surface of the wafer W can be effectively removed. Note that both of these means (HOT N ₂ gas and infrared rays) may be used.

  In the present embodiment, the case where the cleaning tank 52 and the drying chamber 10 are configured separately has been described. However, such a structure is not necessarily required. For example, the cleaning tank 52 may be housed in a container, and the drying unit (drying chamber 10) may be formed in the container and above the cleaning tank 52.

  In this embodiment, IPA vapor is used as the drying fluid. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and it may be an IPA droplet or a mixed fluid of an IPA droplet and an inert gas.

  Furthermore, in this embodiment, IPA is used as the organic solvent, but an organic solvent such as HEF (hydrofluoroether) or a mixture thereof may be used.

  Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the case where the cleaning / drying processing apparatus is applied to a semiconductor wafer cleaning processing system has been described. However, the present invention can also be applied to processing systems other than cleaning processing. Of course, the present invention can also be applied to a glass substrate for LCD.

W wafer (substrate to be processed)
10 Drying chamber 11 Drying chamber body 12 Infrared transmitting member (light transmitting member)
13 Infrared heater (heating device)
14 Gas nozzle (fluid supply part)
50 Cleaning / drying processing equipment 52 Cleaning tank 54 Wafer boat (holding means)

Claims (8)

In the method of cleaning and drying the substrate to be processed,
A cleaning process for cleaning by bringing the substrate to be processed into contact with the cleaning liquid stored in the cleaning tank;
A moving step of moving the substrate to be processed from the cleaning tank into the drying chamber;
A first drying step of drying the upper end of the substrate to be processed in the drying chamber by a heating device;
After the first drying step, the heating device is stopped and the drying fluid is supplied toward the substrate to be processed in the drying chamber, thereby bringing the drying fluid into contact with the substrate to be processed and removing the cleaning liquid on the surface of the substrate to be processed. A cleaning / drying method comprising a removal step.   2. The cleaning / drying method according to claim 1, wherein the drying fluid contains an organic solvent.   3. The cleaning / drying method according to claim 2, further comprising a second drying step for drying the organic solvent on the surface of the substrate to be processed after the cleaning liquid removing step.   4. The cleaning / drying method according to claim 3, wherein the second drying step comprises a step of drying the organic solvent on the surface of the substrate to be processed by supplying heated nitrogen gas into the drying chamber.   5. The cleaning / drying method according to claim 3, wherein the second drying step includes a step of drying the organic solvent on the surface of the substrate to be processed by a heating device.   6. The cleaning / drying method according to claim 1, wherein the heating device includes an infrared heater that emits infrared rays. A drying chamber body that accommodates the substrate to be processed, a heating device that is provided in the drying chamber body and that dries the upper end of the substrate to be processed in the drying chamber body, and supplies a drying fluid toward the substrate to be processed in the drying chamber A drying chamber having a fluid supply section to perform,
A cleaning tank provided below the drying chamber and containing a cleaning liquid for the substrate to be processed;
Holding means for holding the substrate to be processed and moving the substrate to be processed between the cleaning tank and the drying chamber;
A drying chamber, a cleaning tank, and a control unit for controlling the holding means,
The control unit
The cleaning tank is controlled so that the substrate to be processed is brought into contact with the cleaning liquid and cleaned.
Move the substrate to be processed from the cleaning tank to the drying chamber by controlling the holding means,
Control the heating device to dry the upper end of the substrate to be processed in the drying chamber,
The heating device and the fluid supply unit are controlled to stop the heating device and supply the drying fluid toward the substrate to be processed in the drying chamber, thereby bringing the drying fluid into contact with the substrate to be processed and cleaning the surface of the substrate to be processed. Cleaning / drying processing apparatus characterized by removing water. In a recording medium storing a computer program that is used in a method for cleaning and drying a substrate to be processed and operates on a computer,
The cleaning / drying method includes:
A cleaning process for cleaning by bringing the substrate to be processed into contact with the cleaning liquid stored in the cleaning tank;
A moving step of moving the substrate to be processed into the drying chamber;
A first drying step of drying the upper end of the substrate to be processed in the drying chamber by a heating device;
After the first drying step, the heating device is stopped and the drying fluid is supplied toward the substrate to be processed in the drying chamber, thereby bringing the drying fluid into contact with the substrate to be processed and removing the cleaning liquid on the surface of the substrate to be processed. A recording medium comprising a removal step.

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