JP2008060303A - Heat treatment equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a heat treatment device which can restrain sublimates from adhering and depositing. <P>SOLUTION: A heat treatment device 100 has a hot plate HP with a built-in heater. A substrate W is mounted on the hot plate HP and is thereby heated to a prescribed temperature. A coating film formed on the substrate W is baked. A conical cover 1 is provided on the hot plate HP so as to cover the substrate W mounted on the hot plate HP. The cover 1 is provided with a slit-like opening 1a extending in the vertical directions. The opening 1a is provided to each of four side surfaces of the cover 1. Since an opening 1a is provided to each of the four side surfaces of the cover 1, tornado-shaped air flow is generated from the purge gas, introduced from each opening 1a into the cover 1. The tornado-shaped air flow is an air flow which circles spirally. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a heat treatment apparatus for performing heat treatment on a substrate.

  In the manufacturing process of semiconductor devices, liquid crystal displays, etc., various processes such as cleaning, resist coating, exposure, development, etching, ion implantation, resist peeling, interlayer insulation film formation, and heat treatment for semiconductor wafers, glass substrates, etc. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1).

  In recent years, with the miniaturization of a wiring pattern formed on a substrate, an antireflection film such as BARC (bottom anti-reflection coating) may be provided on the substrate. This antireflection film has a feature of absorbing or attenuating ultraviolet light, and is formed on the upper or lower portion of the resist film in order to reduce standing waves or halation generated during the exposure process. Further, in a process using a hard mask made of metal or the like as the light shielding film, a lower layer film made of polymer or the like is formed on the substrate.

  In order to bake and harden the antireflection film or the lower layer film thus formed on the substrate, a heat treatment is performed. The heat treatment is performed, for example, in a temperature environment equal to or higher than the temperature at which the resin component used as the antireflection film sublimes.

  Such heat treatment is usually performed by a heat treatment apparatus including a heating plate (hot plate) in the chamber. In such a heat treatment apparatus, a substrate is placed on a heating plate. And a heating process is given to the board | substrate mounted on the said heating plate by heating a heating plate with a heater.

When performing the heat treatment, a purge gas such as nitrogen is supplied from the outer periphery of the chamber in order to perform a uniform heat treatment on the antireflection film formed on the substrate. The purge gas supplied into the chamber is discharged from the upper center of the chamber. Thereby, the sublimate which is a volatile component generated from the antireflection film during the heat treatment is discharged together with the purge gas.
JP 2000-24575 A

  However, in the conventional heat treatment apparatus, heat convection due to heating of the heating plate is generated in the chamber. Therefore, as described above, the purge gas supplied into the chamber rises with the thermal convection and is discharged from the upper center of the chamber. As a result, the atmosphere in the chamber does not become a uniform purge gas atmosphere, and it is difficult to perform uniform film formation.

  Further, the exhaust gas discharged from the upper center of the chamber contains sublimate. For this reason, the sublimate is deposited, and the deposited sublimate adheres to and deposits on the inner wall of the chamber. As a result, it is necessary to periodically remove the sublimate adhered and deposited on the inner wall of the chamber, which is very troublesome.

  The objective of this invention is providing the heat processing apparatus which can suppress adhesion and deposition of a sublimate.

  (1) A heat treatment apparatus according to the present invention is mounted on a substrate mounting table that heats a substrate, a space forming member that forms a substrate heating space above the substrate mounted on the substrate mounting table, and the substrate mounting table. And a gas ejection means having three or more ejection ports for ejecting gas into the substrate heating space in a tangential direction of the substrate or in a direction parallel to the tangential direction.

  In the heat treatment apparatus according to the present invention, the substrate is heated by being mounted on the substrate mounting table. A substrate heating space is formed by the space forming member above the substrate placed on the substrate platform. Then, gas is ejected by gas ejection means having three or more ejection ports into the substrate heating space in a tangential direction of the substrate placed on the substrate platform or in a direction parallel to the tangential direction. Thereby, a tornado-like air current is generated in the substrate heating space.

  In this way, by supplying gas to the substrate heating space, when the coating film is formed on the substrate, the heating process can be performed while maintaining the uniform thickness of the coating film, and the heating process is performed. At this time, the sublimate generated from the coating film can be absorbed in the generated tornado-shaped airflow. Thereby, it is suppressed that a sublimate adheres and accumulates on a space formation member.

  (2) Each of the jet outlets of the gas jetting means may be arranged so that a spiral airflow is generated in the substrate heating space.

  In this way, each of the jet outlets of the gas jetting means is arranged so that a spiral airflow is generated in the substrate heating space, thereby generating a good tornado-like airflow composed of a spiral swirling airflow. It becomes possible. Thereby, the sublimate can be sufficiently absorbed in the tornado-like airflow. This sufficiently suppresses the sublimate from adhering to and depositing on the space forming member.

  (3) The gas ejection means includes a gas supply means for supplying a gas to the substrate heating space, and an airflow formation chamber provided so as to surround the substrate heating space, and the airflow formation chamber includes three or more jet nozzles. You may have.

  In this case, gas is supplied to the substrate heating space by the gas supply means. Further, an air flow forming chamber is provided so as to surround the substrate heating space. And the airflow formation chamber has three or more jet nozzles. Thereby, the gas supplied to the substrate heating space is introduced above the substrate from three or more jet nozzles of the airflow forming chamber. With such a configuration, it is possible to generate a good tornado-like airflow in the airflow formation chamber.

  (4) Each of the spouts may be formed in a slit shape extending in the vertical direction. In this way, each of the spouts is formed in a slit shape extending in the vertical direction, so that the swirl force of the gas spouted from each of the spouts increases, and a good tornado-like airflow can be generated. It becomes.

  (5) Three or more jet nozzles may be arranged at equiangular intervals with respect to the center of the substrate placed on the substrate platform.

  With such a configuration, it is possible to generate a highly reliable airflow on the tornado with further increased turning force.

  (6) The heat treatment apparatus may further include an exhaust unit that exhausts the gas in the substrate heating space to the outside of the space forming member.

  In this case, the sublimate absorbed in the tornado-like airflow can be discharged out of the space forming member by the exhaust means. This reliably suppresses the sublimate from adhering to and depositing on the space forming member. Further, such a configuration eliminates the need for a sublimation removal device.

  (7) The exhaust means may be connected to the upper center of the space forming member. In this case, the tornado-like air current that has absorbed the sublimate is easily discharged to the outside of the space forming member. Thereby, the sublimate in the airflow forming chamber can be reliably discharged to the outside of the space forming member.

  (8) The substrate may have a coating film on the surface, and the substrate mounting table may heat the substrate having the coating film.

  When a substrate having a coating film is heated, a sublimate is generated. Even in such a case, the generated sublimate can be absorbed in the tornado-shaped airflow and discharged to the outside of the space forming member.

  According to the heat treatment apparatus according to the present invention, it is possible to suppress adhesion and deposition of sublimates.

  Hereinafter, a heat treatment apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  In the following description, a substrate means a semiconductor wafer, a glass substrate for a liquid crystal display device, a glass substrate for a PDP (plasma display panel), a glass substrate for a photomask, a substrate for an optical disk, and the like.

(1) Overall Configuration of Heat Treatment Apparatus First, the configuration of the heat treatment apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing the overall configuration of the heat treatment apparatus according to the present embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the heat treatment apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment includes a hot plate HP with a built-in heater. On the hot plate HP, a plurality of support portions P each having a hemispherical shape are provided. The substrate W is placed on the plurality of support portions P. Hereinafter, the substrate W placed on the plurality of support portions P is simply referred to as a substrate W placed on the hot plate HP. The substrate W is heated to a predetermined temperature by being placed on the hot plate HP.

  Here, the case where the heat treatment of the substrate W by the hot plate HP is performed will be described.

  For example, an antireflection film such as BARC (Bottom Anti-Reflection Coating) is formed on the substrate W. This antireflection film has a feature of absorbing or attenuating ultraviolet light, and is formed on the upper or lower portion of the resist film in order to reduce standing waves or halation generated during the exposure process. Further, a lower layer film made of a polymer or the like is formed on the substrate W in a process using a hard mask made of metal or the like as the light shielding film. Hereinafter, a film formed on the substrate W by application of the treatment liquid, such as an antireflection film and a lower layer film, is referred to as a coating film.

  In order to bake and harden the coating film formed on the substrate W in this way, a heat treatment is performed using a hot plate HP. The heat treatment is performed in a temperature environment equal to or higher than the temperature at which the resin component used as the coating film sublimes.

  A conical cover 1 is provided on the hot plate HP so as to cover the substrate W placed on the hot plate HP.

  Further, an exhaust part 2 for exhausting the atmosphere in the cover 1 is provided in the upper center of the cover 1. One end of an exhaust pipe 3 is connected to the exhaust part 2, and the other end of the exhaust pipe 3 is connected to an exhaust facility (not shown). The atmosphere in the cover 1 is discharged to the outside through the exhaust pipe 3 and the exhaust equipment. The exhaust pipe 3 is inserted with an exhaust amount adjusting valve 4 and an opening / closing valve 5 in this order from the exhaust unit 2 side.

  A first chamber body 6a having a concave cross-sectional shape is provided so as to cover the lower surface and side surfaces of hot plate HP.

  Further, a second chamber body 6 b having a concave cross section is provided so as to cover the cover 1. Thereby, a purge gas introduction space 7 is formed between the cover 1 and the second chamber body 6b. A method for introducing the purge gas into the purge gas introduction space 7 will be described later.

  When the first chamber body 6a and the second chamber body 6b are brought into close contact with each other, the purge gas introduction space 7 is sealed. The first chamber body 6a and the second chamber body 6b constitute the chamber 6.

  A lifting mechanism 9 is connected to the second chamber body 6b through a connecting member 8. The outer wall of the cover 1 and the inner wall of the second chamber body 6 b are connected by a plurality of connecting members 10.

  In such a configuration, when the substrate W is placed on the hot plate HP by a transfer device (not shown), the second chamber body 6b is raised by the elevating mechanism 9. Since the cover 1 is connected to the second chamber main body 6b by the plurality of connecting members 10, the cover 1 rises as the second chamber main body 6b rises.

  Here, a plurality of lifting pins 11 are provided so as to protrude upward from the inside of the hot plate HP. The plurality of lifting pins 11 are fixed to the connecting portion 12, respectively. The connecting portion 12 is connected to the air cylinder 14 via the drive shaft 13.

  In such a configuration, when the substrate W processed by the heat treatment apparatus 100 is unloaded from the heat treatment apparatus 100 by a transfer apparatus (not shown), the following operation is performed.

  First, the second chamber body 6 b is lifted together with the cover 1 by the lifting mechanism 9. Further, when the drive shaft 13 is driven upward by the air cylinder 14, the plurality of lifting pins 11 fixed to the connecting portion 12 are raised. As a result, the plurality of lift pins 11 abut on the processed substrate W placed on the hot plate HP, and the substrate W is lifted from the hot plate HP. In this state, the substrate W is unloaded by the transfer device.

  Conversely, when the unprocessed substrate W is carried into the heat treatment apparatus 100 by the transfer apparatus, first, the second chamber body 6 b is raised together with the cover 1 by the elevating mechanism 9. Further, the plurality of lifting pins 11 are raised by the operation of the air cylinder 14. In this state, the substrate W is placed on the plurality of lift pins 11 by the transfer device. The plurality of lift pins 11 are lowered by the operation of the air cylinder 14, and the substrate W before processing is placed on the hot plate HP.

  A part of the upper part of the second chamber main body 6b is opened, and a purge gas introducing portion 15 is provided on the second chamber main body 6b so as to cover the opened region.

  One end of an introduction pipe 16 is connected to the purge gas introduction section 15, and the other end of the introduction pipe 16 is connected to a purge gas supply source 17. An introduction amount adjustment valve 18 and an opening / closing valve 19 are inserted into the introduction pipe 16 in this order from the purge gas introduction portion 15 side. With this configuration, the purge gas from the purge gas supply source 17 is supplied to the purge gas introduction unit 15 via the opening / closing valve 19, the introduction amount adjustment valve 18, and the introduction pipe 16, and is introduced into the purge gas introduction space 7. In the present embodiment, for example, nitrogen or a rare gas can be used as the purge gas.

  Here, in the present embodiment, the cover 1 is provided with a slit-like opening 1a extending in the vertical direction. Details of the opening 1a will be described later.

  In the present embodiment, the heat treatment apparatus 100 is provided with a control unit 50. The control unit 50 controls the heating temperature of the hot plate HP, controls the lifting operation of the lifting mechanism 9, controls the operation of the air cylinder 14, and controls the exhaust amount adjusting valve 4, the opening / closing valve 5, the introduction amount adjusting valve 18 and the opening / closing. The operation of the valve 19 is controlled.

(2) Position of Opening in Processing Cup Next, the position of the opening 1a in the cover 1 will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing the position of the opening 1 a in the cover 1.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the opening 1 a is provided on each of the four side surfaces of the cover 1. By providing the openings 1 a on the four side surfaces of the cover 1, a tornado-like airflow is generated from the purge gas introduced into the cover 1 from each opening 1 a. Here, the tornado-like air current refers to an air current (vortex air current) swirling spirally.

  In the present embodiment, each opening 1 a is provided in a region where an extension of a tangent to the substrate W intersects the inner wall of the cover 1 perpendicularly. With such a configuration, a good tornado-like airflow can be generated above the substrate W.

(3) Effects in this Embodiment As described above, when the heat treatment of the substrate W is performed in the heat treatment apparatus 100, purge gas is introduced into the cover 1 from the four openings 1 a of the cover 1. Thereby, a tornado-like airflow is generated from the purge gas introduced into the cover 1 from each opening 1a.

  As described above, by supplying the purge gas onto the substrate W, the heat treatment can be performed while maintaining the uniform thickness of the coating film formed on the substrate W, and the coating film is formed during the heat treatment. It is possible to absorb the sublimate generated from the gas into a tornado-shaped airflow composed of the generated vortex airflow.

  Then, by discharging the tornado-like airflow in which the sublimate is absorbed from the exhaust part 2 provided in the upper center of the cover 1, it is possible to suppress the sublimate from adhering to and depositing on the inner wall of the cover 1.

(4) Other Embodiments FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing another example of the cover 1 in the heat treatment apparatus 100 according to the above embodiment.

  Instead of the cover 1 in the above embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, a cover 21 having a hollow cylindrical shape may be used.

  In the cover 21 of the present example, four openings 21 a formed in a slit shape are provided on the side surface of the cover 21 at approximately 90 ° intervals with respect to the center of the substrate W. A supply pipe 21b is connected to each opening 21a so as to face inward from the inner peripheral surface of the cover 21. Purge gas is supplied into each supply pipe 21b from a purge gas supply source (not shown).

  The tip of each supply pipe 21b is bent in the same direction as the tangential direction of the substrate W, and the purge gas from each supply pipe 21b is supplied in a certain direction (clockwise or counterclockwise). Is open.

  In FIG. 3, four openings 11a and four supply pipes 21b corresponding to the four openings 11a are provided on the side surface of the cover 21 at approximately 90 ° intervals, but the present invention is not limited to this. On the side surface of the cover 21, for example, three openings 21a and three supply pipes 21b corresponding thereto may be provided at intervals of 120 °, or five or more openings 21a and supply pipes 21b may be provided respectively. May be.

  With such a configuration, it is possible to generate a good tornado-like airflow that swirls in the same direction as the rotation direction of the substrate W above the substrate W.

  A plurality of holes arranged in the vertical direction may be provided instead of the slit-like openings 1a and 21a extending in the vertical direction.

(5) Correspondence between each component of claim and each part of embodiment The following describes an example of the correspondence between each component of the claim and each part of the embodiment. It is not limited.

  In the above embodiment, the hot plate HP corresponds to the substrate mounting table, the chamber 6 corresponds to the space forming member, the openings 1a and 21a correspond to the gas ejection means and the ejection port, the purge gas introduction unit 15, The pipe 16, the purge gas supply source 17, the introduction amount adjustment valve 18 and the opening / closing valve 19 correspond to gas supply means, the covers 1 and 21 correspond to the air flow forming chamber, the exhaust part 2, the exhaust pipe 3, and the exhaust amount adjustment valve 4. The open / close valve 5 corresponds to an exhaust means.

  The substrate coating apparatus according to the present invention is used for performing predetermined processing on various substrates such as a semiconductor wafer, a glass substrate for a liquid crystal display device, a glass substrate for a PDP, a glass substrate for a photomask, and an optical disk substrate. Can do.

It is sectional drawing which shows the whole structure of the heat processing apparatus which concerns on this Embodiment. It is explanatory drawing shown about the position of the opening part in a process cup. It is sectional drawing which shows the other example of the processing cup in the heat processing apparatus which concerns on this Embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1,21 Cover 1a, 21a Opening part 2 Exhaust part 3 Exhaust pipe 4 Exhaust amount adjustment valve 5 Open / close valve 6 Chamber 6a 1st chamber body 6b 2nd chamber body 7 Purge gas introduction space 15 Purge gas introduction part 16 Introduction pipe 17 Purge gas Supply source 18 Introduction amount adjusting valve 19 Open / close valve 21b Supply pipe 50 Control unit 100 Heat treatment apparatus HP Hot plate W Substrate

Claims (8)

A substrate mounting table for heating the substrate;
A space forming member for forming a substrate heating space above the substrate mounted on the substrate mounting table;
And a gas jetting unit having three or more jetting ports for jetting gas into the substrate heating space in a tangential direction of the substrate placed on the substrate mounting table or in a direction parallel to the tangential direction. Heat treatment equipment. 2. The heat treatment apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each of the ejection ports of the gas ejection means is arranged so that a spiral air flow is generated in the substrate heating space. The gas ejection means includes
Gas supply means for supplying gas to the substrate heating space;
An airflow forming chamber provided so as to surround the substrate heating space,
The heat treatment apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the air flow forming chamber has the three or more jet nozzles. 3. The heat treatment apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each of the spouts is formed in a slit shape extending in a vertical direction. The heat treatment apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the three or more jet nozzles are arranged at equiangular intervals with respect to a center of the substrate placed on the substrate placing table. The heat treatment apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an exhaust unit that exhausts the gas in the substrate heating space to the outside of the space forming member. The heat treatment apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the exhaust unit is connected to an upper center of the space forming member. The substrate has a coating film on the surface,
The heat treatment apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the substrate mounting table heats a substrate having the coating film.

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