JPH09276775A - Processing device and processing method - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [PROBLEMS] To improve throughput and product yield, and to reduce the size of an apparatus and save power consumption. A spin chuck 10 holding an LCD substrate G is rotationally driven by a first motor 11, and a cup 20 having a processing chamber 21 is rotationally driven by a second motor 22. An elevating cylinder 12 for moving the spin chuck 10 toward and away from the cup 20 is provided, and a sealing member 14 that hermetically seals the contact portion between the spin chuck 10 and the cup 20.
Is provided. As a result, after the rotation speed of the LCD substrate G reaches a predetermined value through a predetermined acceleration, the rotation speed of the LCD substrate G and the rotation speed of the cup 20 are substantially synchronized with each other. Are brought into contact with each other to be made airtight by the sealing member 14, and under this airtight state, the resist liquid which is a processing liquid can be applied by diffusion to the surface of the LCD substrate G.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to, for example, an LCD.
The present invention relates to a processing apparatus and a processing method for supplying a processing liquid to an object to be processed such as a substrate for processing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a liquid crystal display (LC) is used.
D) In the manufacturing process of the device, for example, ITO (Indium Tin O) is formed on the LCD substrate (glass substrate).
In order to form a thin film of xide) or an electrode pattern, a processing device for reducing a circuit pattern or the like using a photolithography technique similar to that used in a semiconductor manufacturing process and transferring it to a photoresist and developing it is used. Has been.

Generally, this processing device has a rectangular LCD.
In order to apply a treatment liquid such as a resist liquid on the surface of a substrate (hereinafter referred to as a substrate) to form a thin coating film on the surface of the substrate, a cup having a treatment chamber for accommodating the substrate is rotated together with the substrate to form a thin film on the substrate A rotating cup type coating device for forming a resist coating film is used. As shown in FIG. 7, this rotary cup type coating apparatus includes a spin chuck 10 on which a substrate G is placed, a cup 20 having a processing chamber 21 surrounding the substrate G and the upper and outer peripheral sides of the spin chuck 10, and a cup 20. A lid 30 for opening and closing the opening of 20 is provided, and the spin chuck 10 and the cup 20 are connected to the same motor 1 by the timing belt 2 and are configured to rotate simultaneously.

In order to form a resist coating film by the rotary cup type coating apparatus constructed as described above, first, the lid 30 is lifted up by the robot arm 40, and in this state, the arm of the substrate transfer mechanism (not shown). The substrate G is transferred onto the cup 20 by (1) and placed on the spin chuck 10. Then, after holding the substrate G on the spin chuck 10 by, for example, vacuum suction, a coating liquid supply nozzle (not shown) moves to drop the resist liquid as the processing liquid on the substrate G. Then, when the coating liquid supply nozzle retracts, the robot arm 40 operates again and the cup 20
The lid 30 is attached to the top to form the closed processing chamber 21. By rotating the spin chuck 10, the cup 20, the lid 30 and the substrate G integrally in this state, a centrifugal force at this time can form a coating film of the resist solution on the upper surface of the substrate G.

[0005]

By the way, in recent years, it is necessary to increase the size of the cup 20 as the semiconductor device is highly integrated, miniaturized, and the size of the substrate is increased. However, when the cup becomes large, the weight also increases, the inertial force increases and the acceleration is limited, it takes time to obtain the intended acceleration, and the processing capacity decreases, and
There is a problem that the product yield is lowered.

As a means for rotating a large cup at a desired acceleration, it is conceivable to replace the motor with a large one. To rotate the spin chuck and the cup at the same time using a large motor, use There is the problem of increased power. In addition, there is also a problem that the apparatus becomes large by using a large-sized motor, and the coating / development processing system and equipment incorporating the coating apparatus also become large.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and it is possible to efficiently rotate a cup having an object to be processed and a processing chamber for accommodating the object to improve throughput and product yield. The first object of the present invention is to provide a processing device and a processing method, the second object of which is to make it possible to reduce the size of the device and save the power consumption.

[0008]

To achieve the above object, a processing apparatus according to a first aspect of the present invention encloses a rotatable holding means for holding an object to be processed and an upper portion and an outer peripheral portion of the holding means. In a processing apparatus including a rotatable cup having a processing chamber and a lid body that opens and closes an opening of the cup, first driving means that rotationally drives the holding means, and rotationally drives the cup. And second moving means for moving the holding means and the cup relative to each other, and airtight means for making the contact portion of the holding means and the cup airtight. .

A processing apparatus according to a second aspect of the present invention, like the processing apparatus according to the first aspect, includes a rotatable holding means for holding an object to be treated and a processing chamber surrounding the upper and outer peripheral portions of the holding means. In a processing device comprising a rotatable cup having the same and a lid for closing the opening of the cup so as to be capable of opening and closing, first driving means for rotationally driving the holding means,
Second driving means for rotationally driving the cup; moving means for moving the holding means and the cup relatively toward and away from each other; airtight means for making the contact portion between the holding means and the cup airtight; Drive means and control means for controlling the number of revolutions of the second drive means.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a processing chamber for supplying the processing liquid to the surface of the object to be processed which is held and rotated by the holding means, and for shielding the object to be processed and the object to be processed from the outside air atmosphere. In a treatment method of rotating a cup having a number of revolutions, the number of revolutions of the subject to be treated and the number of revolutions of the cup are substantially synchronized after the number of revolutions of the subject reaches a predetermined value through a predetermined acceleration. And a step of bringing the holding means and the cup into relative contact with each other when the rotational speeds of the object to be treated and the cup are substantially synchronized to each other so that the holding means and the cup are in an airtight state. And diffusing the treatment liquid on the surface of the body.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, similarly to the third aspect of the present invention, the treatment liquid is supplied to the surface of the object which is held and rotated by the holding means, and the object and the object to be treated. In a processing method of performing processing by rotating a cup having a processing chamber that shuts off the object to be treated from the outside atmosphere, after the number of rotations of the object reaches a predetermined value after a predetermined acceleration, A step of substantially synchronizing the rotation speed of the cup and the rotation speed of the cup, and when the rotation speeds of the object to be processed and the cup are substantially synchronized, the holding means and the cup are relatively contacted to each other so as to make an airtight state. The method is characterized by including a step, a step of diffusing and applying a treatment liquid on the surface of the object to be treated under an airtight state, and a step of decelerating and stopping in a state where the holding means and the cup are in contact with each other.

In the above processing method, the object to be processed and the cup may be rotated at the same time, but it is preferable to rotate the cup and then the object to be processed (claim 5). ).

According to the processing apparatus of the present invention, the first driving means rotationally drives the holding means and the second driving means rotationally drives the cup, whereby the holding means and the cup are independently rotationally driven. Therefore, the object to be processed can be quickly brought into a rotating state with a desired acceleration. Therefore, throughput can be improved, power consumption can be saved, and the device can be downsized.

Further, according to the processing method of the present invention, after the number of revolutions of the object to be processed reaches a predetermined value through a predetermined acceleration,
The rotation speed of the object to be processed and the rotation speed of the cup are substantially synchronized, and in this state, the holding means and the cup are brought into relative contact with each other to make the processing chamber airtight. The treatment liquid can be applied by diffusion. Therefore,
The coating film can be made uniform and the product yield can be improved.

[0015]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of the processing apparatus of the present invention. Here, the same parts as those of the conventional processing apparatus will be described by giving the same reference numerals.

The above processing apparatus has a cup 20 having a spin chuck 10 on which a substrate G is placed, and a processing chamber 21 which surrounds the upper and outer peripheral sides of the substrate G and the spin chuck 10.
A lid 30 that opens and closes the opening of the cup 20, and a first drive unit that rotationally drives the spin chuck 10.
Motor 11, a second motor 22 that is a second driving unit that rotationally drives the cup 20, an elevating cylinder 12 (moving unit) that moves the spin chuck 10 in the vertical direction,
The main part is constituted by the processing liquid supply nozzle 13 that stands by outside the cup 20 and moves to above the central part of the substrate G during use.

In this case, the lower surface of the mounting portion 10a of the spin chuck 10 is in contact with the upper portion of the bottom surface of the cup 20 to make the space between the spin chuck 10 and the cup 20 airtight and the inside of the processing chamber 21 airtight. An airtight means for making the state, for example, a seal member 14 is attached. The seal member 14 may be attached to the bottom surface of the cup 20. Also,
The rotation of the first motor 11 and the second motor 22 is configured to be controlled by a control unit such as a CPU 50 (central processing unit). Further, the elevating cylinder 12 is controlled to be elevated by the CPU 50.

The spin chuck 10 is horizontally rotatable via a rotating shaft 10b which is rotated by driving a first motor 11, and is driven by an elevating cylinder 12 connected to the rotating shaft 10b. It is configured to be movable in the vertical direction. In this case, the rotating shaft 10
b is slidably connected to a spline bearing 18 fitted to the inner peripheral surface of a rotating inner cylinder 17 which is rotatably mounted on the inner peripheral surface of the fixed collar 15 via a bearing 16a. A driven pulley 19a is mounted on the spline bearing 18, and a timing belt 19c is stretched between the driven pulley 19a and a drive pulley 19b mounted on the drive shaft 11a of the first motor 11.

Therefore, the rotation shaft 10b is rotated by the driving of the first motor 11 via the timing belt 19c, and the spin chuck 10 is rotated. Further, the lower side of the rotating shaft 10b is arranged in a cylinder body (not shown),
The rotary shaft 10b is attached to the vacuum seal portion 60 in the cylinder.
Driven by the lifting cylinder 12 via the rotary shaft 10b
Can move vertically.

The cup 20 is attached to the outer peripheral surface of the fixed collar 15 via a connecting cylinder 24 fixed to the upper end of a rotating outer cylinder 23 mounted via a bearing 16b. Driven pulley 25 mounted on
The drive from the second motor 22 is transmitted to the cup 20 by a and the timing belt 25c that is wound around the drive pulley 25b attached to the drive shaft 22a of the second motor 22, and the cup 20 is rotated in the horizontal direction. Is configured. A labyrinth seal (not shown) is interposed between the fixed collar 15, the inner rotating cylinder 17, and the outer rotating cylinder 23 so that dust may not enter the cup 20 from the lower drive system during the rotation process. To prevent.

Further, in the cup 20, the side wall 20a is a tapered surface whose diameter is reduced toward the upper side, and the upper end of this side wall is formed with an inward flange 20b directed inward. An air supply hole 26 is formed in the inward flange 20b of the cup 20 at appropriate intervals in the circumferential direction, and an exhaust hole 27 is provided in an appropriate position in the circumferential direction on the lower peripheral portion, that is, on the lower side of the side wall 20a. Has been done. By providing the air supply hole 26 and the exhaust hole 27 in this way, when the cup 20 rotates, the air flowing from the air supply hole 26 into the processing chamber 21 flows from the exhaust hole 27 to the outside, so that the processing is performed when the cup 20 rotates. It is possible to prevent the inside of the chamber 21 from becoming negative pressure, and it is possible to easily open the lid body without requiring a large force when opening the lid body 30 from the cup 20 after the processing.

A hollow ring-shaped drain cup 28 is disposed on the outer peripheral side of the cup 20 so that the mist scattered from the cup 20 can be collected together with the exhaust gas discharged from the exhaust hole 27 of the cup 20. It has become.

The lid 30 has a bulging head 31 protruding from the upper surface thereof, and the robot arm 40 inserted under the bulging head 31 moves up and down to open and close the opening 20c of the cup 20. I'm supposed to get it. The lid 30
Must be fixed to the opening 20c of the cup 20 and rotated integrally during the rotation process. As this fixing means,
For example, by fixing a fixing pin (not shown) to the upper portion of the cup 20 and providing a fitting recess (not shown) in the lid body 30 to fit the fixing pin, the lid body 30 is fixed to the cup 20. be able to. In this case, the positioning of the fixing pin and the fitting recess can be performed by controlling the rotation angle of the second motor 22 formed by a servo motor or the like.

Further, encoders 71 and 72 are attached to the first motor 11 and the second motor 22, respectively, and the detection signals detected by these encoders 71 and 72 are transmitted to the CPU 50 which is the control means. The rotations of the first motor 11 and the second motor 22 are controlled on the basis of the output signals which are compared and calculated by the CPU 50. Therefore, the first motor 11
Can be controlled so as to be synchronized with the rotation speed of the second motor 22 after reaching a predetermined rotation speed, for example, 1000 to 1500 rpm through a predetermined acceleration, for example, 1000 rpm / sec. By transmitting the output signal from the CPU 50 to the lifting cylinder 12,
With the rotation speed of the first motor 11, that is, the spin chuck 10 and the rotation speed of the second motor 22, that is, the cup 20, substantially synchronized, the lifting cylinder 12 is lowered to bring the seal member 14 into contact with the bottom surface of the cup 20. Processing room 21
The inside can be made airtight.

In the above description, the lifting cylinder 12 is operated to lower the spin chuck 10 to bring the spin chuck 10 and the bottom surface of the cup 20 into contact with each other, but instead of the lifting cylinder 12, another movement is performed. The spin chuck 10 may be moved in the vertical direction by means. In addition, the cup 20 is moved vertically with respect to the spin chuck 10 so that the spin chuck 10 and the cup 20 are moved.
You may make it contact with the bottom face of. Further, the airtight means may be formed by the seal member 14 and a bearing that contacts the seal member 14.

In the above description, the control means is the CPU 5
Although the case of 0 has been described, in addition, for example, the signals from the encoders 71 and 72 that detect the rotation speeds of the first and second motors 11 and 22 may be confirmed by a speed monitor and controlled. Alternatively, control may be performed by managing the time using a timer. When controlling with a speed monitor or a timer, it is necessary to provide a mechanism that mechanically absorbs friction between the cup 20 and the spin chuck 10.

Next, the processing method of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.
This will be described with reference to FIG. ★ First processing method First, the lifting cylinder 12 is driven to drive the spin chuck 10.
And the substrate G transported by the arm of the transport mechanism (not shown) is placed on the spin chuck 10 (see FIG. 2).
(A)). While the arm of the transfer mechanism that has transferred the substrate G is retracted, the spin chuck 10 is lowered to a position where it does not contact the cup 20, and in that state, the processing liquid supply nozzle 13 is moved above the substrate G, and the nozzle 13 causes the substrate surface to move. A treatment liquid, for example, a resist liquid is dropped (supplied) onto the substrate (FIG. 2B)
reference). After dropping the resist solution, the nozzle 13 retracts to the standby position, and the lid 30 descends to close the opening of the cup 20. Next, the spin chuck 10 and the cup 2 are driven by driving the first motor 11 and the second motor 22.
0 is rotated to shake off the resist solution on the substrate G (see FIG. 2).
(C)).

After the resist solution is shaken off to reach a predetermined rotation speed, for example, 1000 to 1500 rpm, the rotation speed of the cup 20 is waited until the rotation speed of the cup 20 becomes almost the same as the rotation speed of the spin chuck 10 and the rotation speed of the cup 20. When they are almost synchronized, a signal from the CPU 50 is received and the lift cylinder 1
2, the spin chuck 10 descends, the spin chuck 10 and the cup 20 are brought into contact with each other, and the inside of the processing chamber 21 is made airtight by the seal member 14 (see FIG. 2D). In this airtight state, the spin chuck 10, that is, the substrate G and the cup 20 have the same rotation speed (for example, 1000 to
It is rotated at 1500 rpm) and the resist solution is applied by diffusion to form a resist coating film having a predetermined film thickness, for example, 1 to 3 μm (see FIG. 2E).

After the elapse of a predetermined time as described above, the first and second motors are kept in contact with the spin chuck 10 and the cup 20 at an acceleration lower than the limit value of the acceleration / deceleration of the deceleration rotation speed of the cup 20. After driving 11 and 22 at the same number of revolutions to decelerate, they are stopped and the processing operation is completed.

The above processing steps are shown in FIG. 4 in terms of the relationship between the number of revolutions and time. That is, the difference in acceleration between the spin chuck 10 and the cup 20 which are simultaneously rotated (acceleration of the spin chuck 10: 1000 rpm / se
c, the acceleration of the cup 20: 500 rpm, the spin chuck 10 first moves to Asec (1 to 1.5 sec).
c) A predetermined number of revolutions R (1000 to 15
(Waiting time Bsec (1 to 1.5 seconds).
ec)}. During this period, the resist solution is shaken off.
Then, the spin chuck 10 and the cup 20 are in a hermetically sealed state in which the spin chuck 10 and the cup 20 are relatively close to each other in a state where the spin chuck 10 and the cup 20 are synchronized with each other in the substantially same number of revolutions. Rotates for the same time, and the resist solution is applied by diffusion for a predetermined time Csec (10 to 20 sec). After that, the spin chuck 10 and the cup 20 are decelerated at the same number of revolutions and stopped to end the processing work {deceleration / stop time Dsec (2 to 3 sec)}.

Second Processing Method First, similarly to the first processing method, the lifting cylinder 12
Is driven to raise the spin chuck 10, and the substrate G transported by the arm of the transport mechanism (not shown) is placed on the spin chuck 10 (see FIG. 2A). While the arm of the transfer mechanism that has transferred the substrate G is retracted, the spin chuck 10 is lowered to a position where it does not contact the cup 20, and in that state, the processing liquid supply nozzle 13 is moved above the substrate G,
A treatment liquid, for example, a resist liquid is dropped (supplied) from the nozzle 13 onto the surface of the substrate (see FIG. 3A). After dropping the resist solution, the nozzle 13 retracts to the standby position, and the lid 30 descends to close the opening of the cup 20. During or after this, the second motor 22 is driven to rotate the cup 20 (see FIG. 3B), and then the first motor 11 is rotated.
Is driven to rotate the spin chuck 10 to shake off the resist solution on the substrate G (see FIG. 3C).

After the resist solution has been shaken off to reach a predetermined rotation speed, for example, 1000 to 1500 rpm, when the rotation speeds of the spin chuck 10 and the cup 20 are substantially synchronized, C
In response to a signal from the PU 50, the elevating cylinder 12 operates and the spin chuck 10 descends to bring the spin chuck 10 and the cup 20 into contact with each other to make the inside of the processing chamber 21 airtight by the seal member 14 (FIG. 3D). reference). In this airtight state, the spin chuck 10, that is, the substrate G and the cup 20 have the same rotation speed (for example, 1000 to 1500 rp).
m) and the resist solution is applied by diffusion to form a resist coating film having a predetermined film thickness, for example, 1 to 3 μm (FIG. 2).
(E)).

After the lapse of a predetermined time as described above, the first and second motors are kept in contact with the spin chuck 10 and the cup 20 at an acceleration lower than the acceleration / deceleration limit value of the deceleration speed of the cup 20. After driving 11 and 22 at the same number of revolutions to decelerate, they are stopped and the processing operation is completed.

The above processing steps are shown in FIG. 5 in terms of the relationship between the number of revolutions and time. That is, in consideration of the difference in acceleration between the spin chuck 10 and the cup 20 (acceleration of the spin chuck 10: 1000 rpm / sec, acceleration of the cup 20: 500 rpm), first, the cup 20
And spin chuck 10 is rotated after a predetermined time Esec (1 to 1.5 sec) has elapsed.
After Fsec (1 to 1.5 sec) after the rotation of 0, the previously rotated cup and the later rotated spin chuck 10 are rotated at the same predetermined target rotational speed R (1000 to 1500 rp).
m). During this period, the resist solution is shaken off. Then, the spin chuck 1 and the cup 20 are synchronized with each other at substantially the same rotation speed, and the spin chuck 1
0 and the cup 20 are relatively close to each other to be in an airtight state, and under this airtight state, the spin chuck 10 and the cup 20 are rotated in the same manner to apply the resist solution by diffusion for a predetermined time Gsec (10 to 20 sec). After that, the spin chuck 10 and the cup 20 are decelerated at the same number of revolutions and stopped to end the processing work {deceleration / stop time Hsec (2 to 3)}.

As described above, by rotating the cup 20 first, and then rotating the spin chuck 10, that is, the substrate G, it is possible to shorten the time for synchronizing the spin chuck 10 and the cup 20 at the same rotational speed. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the time loss and improve the throughput.

The processing apparatus of the present invention configured as described above can be used as a single apparatus, and is also applied to other processing apparatuses such as a cleaning apparatus, a heat treatment apparatus and a coating / developing processing system in combination with a developing apparatus. Can be used. Next, a case where the present invention is applied to a coating / developing processing system will be described.

In the coating / developing system described above, for example, as shown in FIG. 6, a loader section 80 for loading and unloading substrates is provided.
And the first processing unit 90A of the substrate G and the second processing unit 9 connected to the first processing unit 90A via the relay unit 81.
0B, the exposure unit 83 for exposing a predetermined fine pattern on the resist film can be connected to the second processing unit 90B via the transfer unit 82.

The loader section 80 has a cassette mounting table 85 for mounting a cassette 84 for accommodating the unprocessed substrate G and a cassette 84a for accommodating the processed substrate G, and a processing table Processing cassette 84,8
Horizontal (X, Y) for loading and unloading the substrate G with 4a
Direction, and a substrate loading / unloading tweezers 86 capable of moving and rotating (θ) in the vertical direction (Z) direction.

Further, the first processing section 90A has X,
Main arm 100 capable of moving in Y and Z directions and rotating by θ
A brush cleaning device 91 for cleaning the substrate G with a brush, a jet water cleaning device 92 for cleaning the substrate G with high-pressure jet water, and an adhesion processing device 93 for hydrophobizing the surface of the substrate G on one side of the transport path 101. And a cooling processing device 94 that cools the substrate G to a predetermined temperature.
On the other side of 1, the resist coating device 95 and the coating film removing device 96 which are the processing devices of the present invention are arranged.

The second processing section 90B has a main arm 100a which is movable in the X, Y and Z directions and can be rotated by the same as the first processing section 90A.
A heating device 97 that heats the substrate G before and after applying the resist solution to perform pre-baking or post-baking is arranged on one side of the conveyance path 101a of a, and a developing device 98 is arranged on the other side of the conveyance path 101a. ing. In addition, the relay unit 8
1 connects the relay unit 81 to the first processing unit 90 as necessary.
A is pulled out from A and the second processing unit 90B, and an operator can enter the first processing unit 90A or the second processing unit 90B to easily perform repair or inspection.

A cassette 82a for temporarily holding the substrate G and the cassette 82 are provided in the transfer section 82.
Transport tweezers 8 for loading and unloading the substrate G with respect to a
2b and a transfer table 82c for the substrate G are provided.

In the coating / developing processing system having the above structure, the unprocessed substrate G housed in the cassette 84.
Is taken out by the carry-in / take-out tweezers 86 of the loader section 80, and then the main arm 100 of the first processing section 90A.
To the brush cleaning device 91 or the jet water cleaning device 92, and the cleaning device 91,
It is cleaned in 92. After that, the substrate G is subjected to a hydrophobic treatment by the adhesion treatment device 93, cooled by the cooling treatment device 94, and then the treatment liquid, for example, the resist liquid is applied by the resist coating device 95 by the above-described steps. A resist film, that is, a photosensitive film is formed by coating, and subsequently, the unnecessary resist film on the peripheral portion of the substrate G is removed by the coating film removing device 96. Then, after the resist film is heated by the heating device 97 to be subjected to a baking process, the exposure device 83 exposes a predetermined pattern. Then, the exposed substrate G is conveyed into the developing device 98, is developed with a predetermined developing solution, and then is rinsed with the developing solution to complete the developing process. Then, the processed and processed substrate G is housed in the cassette 84a of the loader unit 80, then carried out and transferred to the next processing step.

In the above embodiment, the case where the processing apparatus of the present invention is applied to the coating apparatus for the LCD substrate has been described. However, the processing apparatus of the present invention is for coating an object to be processed other than the LCD substrate, for example, a semiconductor wafer. Of course, the present invention can be applied to a processing apparatus including the apparatus and other various processing means.

[0045]

【The invention's effect】

1) According to the processing apparatus of claims 1 and 2, the holding means and the cup can be independently driven to rotate by using the first driving means and the second driving means, and the object to be processed can be formed in a desired manner. Since the acceleration can be quickly changed to the rotating state, the throughput can be improved, the power consumption can be saved, and the device can be downsized.

2) According to the processing method of claims 3 and 4, after the rotational speed of the object to be processed reaches a predetermined value through a predetermined acceleration, the rotational speed of the object to be processed and the rotational speed of the cup are almost equalized. In synchronization, in this state, the holding means and the cup are brought into relative contact with each other to make the processing chamber airtight, and under this airtight state, the processing liquid can be diffused and coated on the surface of the object to be processed.
The coating film can be made uniform and the product yield can be improved.

3) According to the processing method of claim 5, by rotating the cup and then rotating the object to be processed, the synchronizing time between the number of rotations of the object and the number of rotations of the cup is shortened. Therefore, the throughput can be further improved in addition to the above 2).

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view showing a processing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a step of the first processing method of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a step of the second processing method of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a graph showing the relationship between the number of rotations and time in the first processing method.

FIG. 5 is a graph showing the relationship between the rotation speed and time of the second processing method.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a coating / developing processing system to which the processing apparatus of the present invention is applied.

FIG. 7 is a schematic sectional view showing a conventional processing apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 G LCD substrate (object to be processed) 10 Spin chuck (holding means) 11 First motor (first driving means) 12 Elevating cylinder (moving means) 13 Processing liquid supply nozzle 14 Sealing member (airtight means) 20 Cup 21 Processing Chamber 22 Second motor (second drive means) 30 Lid body 50 CPU (central processing unit; control means) 71, 72 Encoder

Front page continuation (72) Yoshitaka Matsuda Yoshitaka Matsuda Otsu-machi, Kumamoto Prefecture Takao-oji 4 of Heisei 272 4 Tokyo Electron Kyushu Co., Ltd. Otsu Works (72) Inventor Satoshi Kawasaki 650 Mitsuzawa, Hosaka-cho, Nirasaki-shi, Yamanashi Prefecture Tokyo Electron Kyushu Corporation Yamanashi Development Center

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A rotatable holding means for holding an object to be processed, a rotatable cup having a processing chamber surrounding an upper portion and an outer peripheral portion of the holding means, and an opening portion of the cup for opening and closing. In a processing apparatus including a lid, first driving means for rotationally driving the holding means, second driving means for rotationally driving the cup, and relatively moving the holding means and the cup relative to each other. And a sealing means for sealing the contact portion between the holding means and the cup. 2. A rotatable holding means for holding an object to be processed, a rotatable cup having a processing chamber surrounding an upper portion and an outer peripheral portion of the holding means, and an opening portion of the cup which is openably and closably closed. In a processing apparatus including a lid, first driving means for rotationally driving the holding means, second driving means for rotationally driving the cup, and relatively moving the holding means and the cup relative to each other. Moving means, an airtight means for making the contact portion between the holding means and the cup airtight, and a control means for controlling the rotational speeds of the first driving means and the second driving means. Processing equipment. 3. The processing liquid is supplied to the surface of the object to be processed which is held and rotated by the holding means, and the object to be processed and a cup having a processing chamber which shields the object to be processed from the outside air are rotated. In the processing method of applying a process, after the rotational speed of the object to be processed reaches a predetermined value through a predetermined acceleration, a step of substantially synchronizing the rotational speed of the object to be processed with the rotational speed of the cup, When the rotation speed of the body and the cup are almost synchronized,
The method further comprises: a step of relatively contacting the holding means and the cup so as to be in an airtight state; and a step of diffusing and coating the treatment liquid on the surface of the object to be treated under the airtight state. Processing method. 4. The processing liquid is supplied to the surface of the object to be processed which is held and rotated by the holding means, and the object to be processed and a cup having a processing chamber for shielding the object to be processed from the outside air are rotated. In the processing method of applying a process, after the rotational speed of the object to be processed reaches a predetermined value through a predetermined acceleration, a step of substantially synchronizing the rotational speed of the object to be processed with the rotational speed of the cup, When the rotation speed of the body and the cup are almost synchronized,
A step of making relative contact between the holding means and the cup so as to be airtight; a step of diffusing and applying a treatment liquid on the surface of the object to be treated under the airtight state; and a step of bringing the holding means and the cup into contact with each other. And a step of decelerating and stopping in this state. 5. The processing method according to claim 3, wherein the object to be processed is rotationally driven after the cup is rotationally driven.