JP2013118205A - Substrate processing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To shorten a processing time by increasing a substrate cleaning speed.
A processing head 2 includes an entrance 4a through which a rotating substrate W enters, an exit 4b through which the rotating substrate exits, and a processing liquid supply port provided between the entrance 4a and the exit 4b. 8, 9 and the suction port 10, and fluid passages 4c and 4d between the processing liquid supply ports 8 and 9 and the suction port 10 and into which the area to be cleaned in the outer peripheral portion of the substrate is inserted, and the processing liquid In the process of mixing the processing liquid introduced from the supply ports 8 and 9 and the gas drawn from the outside of the processing head by the negative pressure of the suction port 10, the mixed fluid is sucked from the suction port 10. In the substrate processing apparatus for cleaning a substrate by circulating a fluid through the fluid passages 4c and 4d, at least one processing liquid supply port is disposed on each side of the suction port 10 therebetween.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus for cleaning the outer peripheral portion of various substrates such as a semiconductor wafer.

  In the manufacturing process, various semiconductors are formed by various film formation processes on the surface of the wafer substrate, an etching process for removing unnecessary portions from the formed thin film, a cleaning process for cleaning the surface of the substrate, and drying for drying. It is formed by repeating various processes such as processes to form a fine pattern on the surface of the substrate.

An unnecessary portion of the surface of the substrate is removed or cleaned, but an unnecessary film may remain on the outer periphery of the substrate. If these films are turned over and peeled off, they may adhere to the surface of the treated substrate as foreign matter and cause defective products.
Therefore, for example, a processing apparatus described in Patent Document 1 has been conventionally known as an apparatus that cleans the outer peripheral portion of a substrate and removes foreign matter such as a peeled film piece so that the foreign matter does not adhere to the substrate surface. ing.

As shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, the processing apparatus described in Patent Document 1 is positioned on a rotary table 1 that holds and rotates a substrate W substantially horizontally and a part of the outer peripheral edge of the substrate W. The rotary table 1 and the processing head 2 are accommodated in a chamber 3. The chamber 3 is provided with an air conditioner (not shown) for controlling the gas supplied into the chamber 3 on the ceiling, and the gas is supplied through the filter 3a, and an exhaust port 3b for discharging the internal gas is formed below. Yes.
The processing head 2 is disposed along the outer periphery of the substrate W supported by the turntable 1 as shown in FIGS.

The processing head 2 has a space 4 having a rectangular cross section as shown in FIG. 5, and a processing liquid supply port 5 for supplying the processing liquid and a suction port for sucking the processing liquid and the like in the space 4. 6 is provided. The processing liquid supply port 5 is provided on the entrance 4a side where the substrate W rotating in the direction of arrow A (see FIGS. 4 and 6) enters the space 4, and the suction port 6 exits the rotating substrate W. Provided on the exit 4b side.
Further, the processing head 2 forms a pair of linear protrusions 2 a and 2 a along the opening of the space 4, and partitions the inside and outside of the space 4 on the side of the substrate W to be inserted.
Further, a processing liquid supply device for supplying various processing liquids for cleaning the region to be cleaned of the substrate W inserted in the space 4 is connected to the processing liquid supply port 5 via a pipe D1 and a valve V1. The suction port 6 is connected through a pipe D2 and a valve V2 to a suction device that sucks the space 4 with the suction port 6 having a negative pressure.

Then, when the substrate V is opened in the space 4 and the valve V2 is opened and the space 4 is sucked from the suction port 6 by the suction device to make a negative pressure, gas is drawn from the outside of the processing head 2. As a result, a high-speed airflow is formed. At this time, when the valve V1 of the pipe D1 is opened, the processing liquid is introduced into the space 4 from the processing liquid supply port 5, and the processing liquid is mixed with the high-speed air flow to form a gas-liquid mixed fluid flow. . The flow of the mixed fluid is formed by the negative pressure of the suction port 6, and the supply means connected to the processing liquid supply port 5 does not positively pressurize the processing liquid.
This mixed fluid flows in a fluid passage 4c formed in a gap between the inner wall of the space 4 of the processing head 2 and the substrate W and between the processing liquid supply port 5 and the suction port 6. By this flow, the area to be cleaned in the outer peripheral portion of the substrate W is cleaned.

In FIG. 6, the arrow A is the direction of rotation of the substrate W, but the other arrows indicate the flow of fluid, the broken arrow indicates gas, and the solid line indicates treatment liquid and mixed fluid.
Reference numeral 7 in the figure denotes a protrusion for locally changing the flow velocity of the mixed fluid flowing in the space 4. When such a projection 7 is formed to change the flow velocity, the processing liquid contained in the mixed fluid is atomized, and the processing liquid can be uniformly distributed in the area to be cleaned of the substrate W.

JP 2009-099612 A

As described above, in the conventional substrate processing apparatus, in the processing head 2, the processing liquid supply port 5 is provided on the entrance 4a side of the substrate W, the suction port 6 is provided on the exit 4b side, and the suction port 6 is provided. By making the negative pressure, a flow of the mixed fluid containing the processing liquid is formed between the processing liquid supply port 5 and the suction port 6. Therefore, of the outer peripheral portion of the substrate W inserted into the space 4, only the cleaning area E <b> 1 indicated by the corresponding shaded area between the processing liquid supply port 5 and the suction port 6 actually contacts the processing liquid. It is. However, by rotating the substrate W, the cleaning area E1 moves relatively, and the area to be cleaned over the entire circumference of the substrate W is cleaned.
Accordingly, the processing speed for cleaning the substrate W depends on the size of the cleaning area E1. That is, if the length along the outer periphery of the substrate W in the cleaning area E1 is increased, the processing speed can be increased.

However, since the flow of the mixed fluid forming the cleaning area E1 is formed by setting the suction port 6 to a negative pressure as described above, in order to lengthen the cleaning area 1E, The distance to the suction port 6 cannot be increased too much. This is because if the distance between the treatment liquid supply port 5 and the suction port 6 is increased, the opening area other than the substrate entrance 4a and the exit port 4b is widened, and the gas inflow amount to the substrate entrance 4a is reduced. This is because the flow rate at the substrate entrance 4a is slower than in the case of being short, and the processing efficiency is lowered. Moreover, the influence of the pressure loss due to the long distance from the suction port 6 is also increased.
An object of the present invention is to provide a substrate processing apparatus capable of increasing the processing efficiency while increasing the cleaning area.

The present invention includes a processing head into which an outer peripheral portion of a substrate can be inserted. The processing head includes an entrance through which a rotating substrate enters, an exit through which the rotating substrate exits, and the entrance and exit. A processing liquid supply port and a suction port provided between the processing liquid supply port and a suction passage, and a fluid passage into which an area to be cleaned in the outer peripheral portion of the substrate is inserted. In the process of sucking the mixed fluid from the suction port by mixing the processing liquid introduced from the gas and the gas drawn from outside the processing head by the negative pressure of the suction port, Assume a substrate processing apparatus that circulates and cleans a substrate.
The first invention is based on the substrate processing apparatus, and is characterized in that at least one or more processing liquid supply ports are arranged on both sides of the suction port.
Note that the cleaning includes wet etching using an etching solution.
The both sides of the suction port are both sides of the substrate rotation direction with a straight line passing through the rotation center of the substrate and the center of the suction port as a boundary.

The second invention is characterized in that a supply flow rate control means is individually connected to each of the plurality of treatment liquid supply ports.
The third invention is characterized in that the processing liquid supply ports are arranged symmetrically on both sides of the suction port.
The fourth invention is characterized in that the processing liquid supply ports are arranged asymmetrically on both sides of the suction port.
In addition, the case where the processing liquid supply ports provided on both sides of the suction port are different in the vertical position is also included in the asymmetric arrangement.
The fifth invention is characterized in that atomizing means for atomizing the processing liquid in the mixed fluid is provided in the fluid passage.
The atomization by the atomizing means is to make the treatment liquid into a granular form of several [μm] to several hundred [μm].

  According to the first to fifth inventions, since the processing liquid supply ports are arranged on both sides of the suction port along the rotation direction of the substrate, the relative distance between the processing liquid supply port and the suction port is shortened. Longer cleaning area can be secured. Further, since the relative distance between the processing liquid supply port and the suction port can be shortened as described above, the suction force can be kept large without increasing the load on the suction port side with respect to the processing liquid supply port. .

In the conventional apparatus, only the gas is sucked into the suction port from the side where the processing liquid supply port is not provided. However, in the present invention, the suction force corresponding to the suction of only the gas in the conventional apparatus is performed. Can be used as a suction force for sucking the mixed fluid of the treatment liquid.
Thus, in the present invention, unlike the case where the distance between the processing liquid supply port and the suction port is simply increased, the mixed fluid is sucked from both sides while keeping the suction force on the suction port side with respect to the processing liquid supply port large, By making the processing area in contact with the outer periphery of the substrate longer, efficient processing becomes possible.

In particular, according to the second invention, since the supply amount of the processing liquid can be adjusted for each processing liquid supply port, the balance of the processing liquid amount depending on the position in the processing head is appropriately set to Processing according to characteristics becomes possible.
According to the third aspect, the lengths of the cleaning areas on both sides of the suction port can be made uniform.
According to the fourth aspect of the invention, different characteristics can be obtained by changing the particle size of the processing liquid in the mixed fluid and the cleaning area in accordance with the type of the cleaning object and the position where it is attached.

  According to the fifth invention, the processing liquid in the mixed fluid can be atomized and can be made to collide with the processing substrate at a high speed similar to the high-speed flow that sucks the processing liquid in the mixed fluid. A high cleaning effect can be obtained by the impact.

It is sectional drawing of the state by which the board | substrate was inserted in the process head of 1st Embodiment. It is a side view of the processing head of a 1st embodiment. It is sectional drawing of the state by which the board | substrate was inserted in the processing head of 2nd Embodiment. It is a schematic diagram of the substrate processing apparatus of a prior art example. It is a side view of the processing head of a prior art example. It is sectional drawing of the state by which the board | substrate was inserted in the processing head of a prior art example.

A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below.
The substrate processing apparatus according to the first embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is different from the conventional substrate processing apparatus shown in FIGS. 4 to 6 in the arrangement of processing liquid supply ports and suction ports provided in the processing head 2. As shown in FIG. 2, the space 4 in the processing head 2 has a non-uniform shape in the vertical direction, and when the substrate W is inserted, the lower surface space is made larger than the upper surface side. In this way, the size of the upper and lower spaces is changed in order to enlarge the area to be cleaned on the lower surface side compared to the upper surface side of the substrate W. The side can be cleaned over a wide area. However, such a shape of the space 4 is not an essential configuration in the substrate processing apparatus of the present invention, and the space may be formed uniformly in the vertical direction.

  Further, by narrowing the facing distance between the protrusions 2a and 2b surrounding the space 4, the amount of gas drawn from the surface side of the substrate W is controlled so as not to be excessive. As described above, the amount of the gas drawn from the above-mentioned facing interval is controlled when the amount of drawing from the substrate W side increases, and the amount of the substrate W drawn from the entrance 4a or exit 4b side decreases. This is because it becomes difficult to form a fluid flow along the outer periphery of the substrate W.

Other configurations are the same as those of the conventional apparatus. Therefore, the same reference numerals are used for the same components as in the prior art, and the following description will be given with reference to FIGS.
The overall configuration of the substrate processing apparatus of the first embodiment is the same as that of the conventional example shown in FIG. 4, and the appearance of the processing head 2 is also the same as that of the conventional example shown in FIG. Therefore, the following description will focus on differences from the conventional example.

The processing head 2 of the first embodiment is provided with processing liquid supply ports 8 and 9 for supplying a processing liquid and a suction port 10 for maintaining a negative pressure in the space 4. The arrangement of the treatment liquid supply ports 8 and 9 and the suction port 10 is as shown in FIG. 1, and the suction port 10 is provided in the approximate center of the space 4 and is equidistant from the suction port 10 on both sides. The processing liquid supply ports 8 and 9 are arranged in the front. The processing liquid supply ports 8 and 9 and the suction port 10 are respectively connected to the processing liquid supply means and the suction means (see FIGS. 1 and 4).
In the space 4, the fluid passages 4 c and 4 d are formed between the processing liquid supply ports 8 and 9 and the suction port 10.

However, in the first embodiment, the processing liquid supply ports 8 and 9 are connected to the pipe D1 connected to the processing liquid supply device via the flow rate control valves V3 and V4 which are the flow rate control means of the present invention. . By individually adjusting the opening degree of these valves V3 and V4, the supply flow rate of the processing liquid drawn by the negative pressure of the suction port 10 can be controlled for each of the processing liquid supply ports 8 and 9. That is, the amount of processing liquid in the fluid passage 4c and the amount of processing liquid in the fluid passage 4d can be controlled separately.
In the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the processing liquid supply ports 8 and 9 are connected to the same pipe D1 through the flow control valves V3 and V4, respectively. You may connect to a process liquid supply means. Apart from the processing liquid supply means, different types of processing liquids can be supplied for each processing liquid supply port.

  When the suction port 10 is sucked in the state in which the outer peripheral portion of the substrate W is inserted into the processing head 2 configured as described above, and the valves V3 and V4 are opened by setting the fluid passages 4c and 4d to a negative pressure, the processing liquid A processing liquid is introduced into the space 4 from the supply ports 8 and 9. When the processing liquid is introduced into the space 4 in this way, the gas drawn from the outside of the processing head 2 by the negative pressure of the suction port 10 and the processing liquid are mixed, and the mixed fluid is as shown by the arrow in the figure. It is sucked into the suction port 10 to form a flow. Thereby, the area to be cleaned in the outer peripheral portion of the substrate W is cleaned with the processing liquid.

  In the fluid passages 4c and 4d, the processing liquid is drawn from the processing liquid supply ports 8 and 9 by the negative pressure of the suction port 10 and mixed with the gas, and the processing liquid supply means actively supplies the processing liquid. There is no need to pressurize and supply. Specifically, the processing liquid is transferred to the space 4 in the processing head 2 by the negative pressure of the suction port 10 only by opening the flow control valves V3 and V4 provided between the processing liquid supply passages to the processing liquid supply ports 8 and 9. Can be introduced. Further, the flow rate drawn to the processing head 2 side can be adjusted by the opening degree of the flow rate control valves V3, V4.

  In this first embodiment, the cleaning area where the mixed fluid containing the processing liquid contacts the substrate W is from the processing liquid supply port 8 on the inlet 4a side to the processing liquid supply port 9 on the outlet 4b side. This is the total length of the fluid passages 4c and 4d. Then, if the distance from the suction port 10 to the treatment liquid supply ports 8 and 9 is made equal to the distance of the fluid passage 4c from the conventional suction port 6 to the treatment liquid supply port 5, this cleaning area E2 The length is twice that of the cleaning area E1. Thus, if the length of contact of the processing liquid on the outer peripheral portion of the substrate W is doubled, the processing time can be halved.

As in the first embodiment, the processing liquid supply amount is increased by providing two processing liquid supply ports in one processing head 2, but even if the supply amount is doubled, suction is performed. It is not necessary to double the suction force of the mouth 10.
The reason is as follows.
For example, even when the processing liquid supply port 9 of FIG. 1 is not provided, the gas outside the processing head 2 is also drawn from the outlet 4b side of the substrate W if the suction port 10 has a negative pressure. In this way, mixing the treatment liquid with the gas flow drawn by the negative pressure of the suction port 10 from the exit port 4b does not require a particularly large suction force. Since the treatment liquid supply port 9 is located closer to the suction port 10 than the exit port 4b, the suction force due to the negative pressure of the suction port 10 is a position where the suction force is sufficiently applied. Mixing a small amount of processing liquid as compared with the state of being drawn in efficiently uses suction energy.

  Also in the first embodiment, the fluid passages 4c and 4d in the space 4 are provided with projections 7 similar to those in the conventional example shown in FIG. 6 to change the flow of the mixed fluid and atomize the processing liquid. You may do it. In that case, the projection 7 corresponds to an atomizing means for atomizing the treatment liquid of the present invention. The atomizing means is not limited to the protrusion, and may be any means that changes the flow along the wall surface.

In the second embodiment shown in FIG. 3, the positions of the processing liquid supply ports 11 and 12 are different from the processing liquid supply ports 8 and 9 of the first embodiment, but the rest is the same as the first embodiment of FIG. is there.
In the substrate processing apparatus of the second embodiment, processing liquid supply ports 11 and 12 are formed in the upper part of the processing head 2 so that the processing liquid is supplied from the upper surface of the substrate W inserted into the space 4. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the substrate W inserted into the processing head 2 at the upper surface position. In the drawing, only portions below the substrate W of the fluid passages 4c and 4d appear, but the upper side of the substrate W is shown. The treatment liquid supply ports 11 and 12 located at are indicated by phantom lines of two-dot chain lines.

  Also in the second embodiment, since the processing liquid supply ports 11 and 12 are arranged on both sides of the suction port 10, fluid passages 4c and 4d are formed on both sides of the suction port 10, and the outer periphery of the substrate W is formed. The cleaning area E3 where the cleaning liquid comes into contact with the portion is longer than that of only the fluid passage 4c of the conventional processing apparatus in which the processing liquid supply port is provided only on one side of the suction port. Therefore, if this substrate processing apparatus is used, the cleaning speed can be made faster than before and the processing time can be shortened.

The arrangement of the suction port and the processing liquid supply port is not limited to that of the first and second embodiments as long as at least one processing liquid supply port is provided on both sides of the suction port 10.
The both sides of the suction port are both sides of the substrate in the rotation direction with a straight line L passing through the rotation center of the substrate W and the suction port 10 as a boundary (see FIGS. 1 and 3).

In particular, in the first embodiment, the pair of processing liquid supply ports 8 and 9 are provided at symmetrical positions with the suction port 10 as the center. However, the processing liquid supply ports 8 and 9 on both sides are not necessarily provided at symmetrical positions. Absent. If it is provided at a symmetrical position as in the above embodiment, the state of the mixed fluid in the fluid passages 4c and 4d on both sides of the suction port 10 can be made the same, and the range of the cleaning area under the same conditions can be lengthened.
Further, it is sufficient that at least one processing liquid supply port is provided on both sides of the suction port 10, and the number of processing liquid supply ports is not limited to one on each side. For example, if at least one processing liquid supply port is provided on one side with the suction port 10 as a boundary, a plurality of processing liquid supply ports may be provided on the other side.

For example, the processing liquid supply port 8 of FIG. 1 and the processing liquid supply port 12 of FIG. 3 may be arranged, the processing liquid supply ports 9 and 12, or the four processing liquid supply ports 8, 9, 11, 12 may be provided. Other combinations may also be used.
If the distance, arrangement, and number of suction ports and processing liquid supply ports are different, the flow rate and direction of the mixed fluid from each processing liquid supply port, the particle size of the processing liquid, etc. will differ, and the cleaning power will also differ. However, these factors can be determined according to the purpose of processing.

Further, the particle size of the processing liquid in the mixed fluid varies not only with the arrangement of the suction port and the processing liquid supply port but also with the suction force and the processing liquid supply amount. Further, the particle size of the treatment liquid can be adjusted by the atomizing means such as the protrusion 7.
If the particle size of the treatment liquid is large, the contact time when contacting the substrate W is long, and if it is small, the contact time with the substrate W is short. For this reason, depending on the object to be cleaned, the particle size can be increased when the contact time of the treatment liquid needs to be increased, and when the contact time is short, it can be atomized. Further, if the processing liquid is atomized, the processing liquid can be supplied over a wide range.

For example, if the substance to be cleaned and removed in the region to be cleaned of the substrate W cannot be removed unless the contact time with the processing liquid is long, the supply amount of the processing liquid is increased, the flow rate of the mixed fluid is suppressed, Conditions for increasing the particle size of the liquid can be selected. On the other hand, when the contact time with the processing liquid is short, it is possible to reduce the supply amount of the processing liquid, increase the flow rate of the mixed fluid, or reduce the particle size of the processing liquid. it can.
Further, by changing the kind of the processing liquid supplied on both sides of the suction port 10, the substrate W processed with the first processing liquid on one side is processed with another processing liquid on the other side, thereby performing the cleaning process. It can also be completed.

  Furthermore, in the first and second embodiments, the processing liquid supply port is provided in the vicinity of the entrance 4a and the exit 4b of the substrate W. However, any of the processing liquid supply ports is the entrance 4a of the substrate W. It does not have to be provided near the exit 4b. However, when the processing liquid supply port is arranged at a position far away from the entrance 4a and the exit 4b, the length of the portion other than the fluid passage becomes longer, and from the entrance 4a and the exit 4b to the suction port 10 Therefore, the suction force necessary for drawing the gas is not effectively used for the suction of the processing liquid. Therefore, it is preferable to arrange the processing liquid supply port at a position close to the entrance 4 a and the exit 4 b of the space 4.

  In the above-described embodiment, the processing liquid supply port is disposed on the outlet 4b side of the suction port 10, but the mixed fluid of the processing liquid and gas supplied from the processing liquid supply port is usually several hundreds. Since the suction port 10 is drawn at a high speed of [m / sec], the processing liquid hardly remains on the substrate W exiting from the exit port 4b. That is, even if the processing liquid supply port is provided on the exit 4 b side of the suction port 10, the substrate W enters the processing head 2 in a dry state and exits in the dry state, so that the processing liquid is out of the processing head 2. It will not scatter.

In the first and second embodiments, the facing distance between the protrusions 2 a and 2 b provided on the processing head 2 is narrowed to reduce the amount of gas sucked from the surface side of the substrate W. If the amount of gas sucked from between the protrusions 2a and 2b can be reduced, the amount of gas sucked from the entrance 4a and exit 4b sides of the substrate increases, and a flow along the outer periphery of the substrate W can be easily formed.
However, since it is possible to prevent the processing liquid in the space 4 from jumping out to the outside due to the airflow flowing into the space 4 of the processing head 2 from between the protrusions 2a and 2b, this direction is prevented. The airflow is also necessary. This air flow can also be set by adjusting the facing distance or the facing length of the protrusions 2a, 2b.

  The present invention can be applied to the cleaning processing of the outer peripheral portions of various disk-shaped substrates that need to clean the area to be cleaned in the outer peripheral portion.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Rotary table 2 Processing head 4 Space 4a Advance inlet 4b Exit 4c Fluid path 4d Fluid path 10 Suction port 8, 9, 11, 12 Process liquid supply port

Claims (5)

  The processing head has an outer peripheral portion of the substrate that can be inserted. The processing head includes an entrance into which the rotating substrate enters, an exit through which the rotating substrate exits, and between the entrance and exit. The processing liquid supply port and the suction port provided, and a fluid passage between the processing liquid supply port and the suction port and into which the cleaning area of the outer peripheral portion of the substrate is inserted, are introduced from the processing liquid supply port. In the process of sucking the mixed fluid from the suction port, the mixed fluid is circulated in the fluid passage in the process of mixing the treated liquid and the gas drawn from the outside of the processing head by the negative pressure of the suction port. A substrate processing apparatus for cleaning a substrate, wherein at least one or more processing liquid supply ports are arranged on both sides of the suction port.   The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a supply flow rate control unit is individually connected to each of the plurality of processing liquid supply ports.   The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processing liquid supply ports are arranged symmetrically on both sides of the suction port.   The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processing liquid supply port is asymmetrically disposed on both sides of the suction port.   The substrate processing apparatus of any one of Claims 1-4 which provided the atomization means which atomizes the process liquid in mixed fluid in the said fluid channel | path.

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