JPH11297652A - Substrate processing equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

An object of the present invention is to facilitate removal of a processing liquid from an apparatus component to which a processing liquid supplied to a substrate adheres, thereby suppressing adhesion of particles to the substrate. A cleaning liquid is supplied to a wafer W held by a spin chuck 3 from front surface cleaning nozzles N1, N2 and back surface cleaning nozzles N3, N4, whereby the wafer W is cleaned. An apparatus component facing the processing space 70 in which the processing on the wafer W is performed is made of a chemical resistant material. The surfaces of these device components facing the processing space 70 are subjected to a hydrophilic treatment so that the superhydrophilic surface 8 is formed.
It is 0. Therefore, the chamber cleaning nozzle WN
By discharging pure water from 1, WN2 and WN3, the cleaning liquid attached to each part in the processing chamber 1 can be easily washed away.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a flat panel display (F) such as a semiconductor substrate or a substrate for a liquid crystal display device.
The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus for processing a substrate by supplying a predetermined processing liquid to a substrate such as a substrate for PD) and a glass substrate for a photomask.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, in a process of manufacturing a semiconductor device, various processes for forming a thin film and patterning the thin film are performed on the surface of a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter, simply referred to as "wafer"). Is done. In this processing step, a cleaning process is performed as necessary to remove unnecessary film portions and contaminants on the surface of the wafer.

A substrate cleaning apparatus for cleaning a wafer includes:
For example, a spin chuck that rotates while holding a wafer horizontally and a cleaning liquid nozzle for supplying a cleaning liquid to the wafer held by the spin chuck are housed in a processing chamber. With this configuration, while the wafer is rotated by the spin chuck, the cleaning liquid is supplied to the rotating wafer, whereby the entire surface of the wafer is uniformly cleaned. Then, further, by stopping the supply of the cleaning liquid and rotating the spin chuck at a high speed,
The water on the surface of the wafer can be shaken off. The cleaning solution includes, for example, hydrofluoric acid, buffered hydrofluoric acid (hereinafter, referred to as “hydrofluoric acid”).
It is called "BHF". ), A chemical such as aqueous ammonia is used first, and then a rinse such as pure water is used to wash out the chemical.

[0006] With the rotation of the spin chuck, the cleaning liquid scatters around the spin chuck. Therefore, the spin chuck is housed in the processing cup, and a cylindrical member called a splash guard (scatter prevention member) surrounding the side of the spin chuck is provided above the processing cup so as to be vertically movable. In general, scattering of the cleaning liquid is prevented. BH as cleaning solution
When a corrosive chemical such as F is used, the processing cup and the splash guard must be made of a chemically resistant material such as fluororesin.

[0005]

However, in this type of substrate cleaning apparatus, the processing cup and the splash guard are made of a resin such as ethylene tetrafluoride (PTFE) or ethylene tetrafluoride-propylene hexafluoride (PFA). The cleaning liquid droplets attached to the processing cup, the splash guard, etc., are formed into particles and remain in the processing chamber. If left untreated, it will dry and crystallize (especially in the case of BHF), or it will become mist due to the air current caused by the rotation of the spin chuck. Cause. For this reason, shower cleaning is periodically performed on a portion to which the cleaning liquid is attached, such as a processing cup and a splash guard.

However, granular droplets roll on the surface of the water-repellent member, and it is difficult to flow down such granular droplets. For example, at the time of shower washing, if pure water is not directly applied, washing cannot be performed. Since the cleaning liquid scattered from the spin chuck scatters in random directions, it is necessary to directly apply pure water to the entire surface of the member in the processing chamber, but such ideal cleaning is actually difficult. Often. Therefore, especially, the chemical liquid easily accumulates on the step portion in the processing chamber, and these chemical liquids cause the above problem.

In order to be able to clean the processing solution in the processing chamber as much as possible, it is conceivable to provide a large number of nozzles or use a nozzle whose cleaning position is variable such as a scan nozzle. The complexity and cost increase are inevitable. Further, even if the cleaning liquid can be completely removed from the inner wall of the processing cup by regular cleaning, if the inner wall of the processing cup is water repellent, the spin chuck is rotated at a high speed and the wafer is rotated. Due to an air current generated when drying is performed, granular droplets adhered to the inner wall of the processing cup in the cleaning process become mist and re-adhere to the cleaned wafer, causing particles.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned technical problems and to provide a substrate processing apparatus capable of suppressing adhesion of particles to a substrate. A more specific object of the present invention is to provide a substrate processing apparatus which suppresses particles from adhering to a substrate by facilitating removal of the processing liquid from an apparatus component to which the processing liquid supplied to the substrate adheres. It is to provide.

[0009]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a substrate processing apparatus for processing a substrate by supplying a predetermined processing liquid to the substrate, the substrate processing apparatus comprising: The device component to which the processing liquid supplied to the substrate adheres is made of a chemical-resistant material, and at least the surface of the device component to which the processing liquid adheres is subjected to a hydrophilic treatment. It is a substrate processing apparatus characterized by the following.

[0010] According to the above arrangement, the component of the apparatus to which the processing liquid supplied to the substrate adheres is made of a chemical-resistant material which does not corrode due to the processing liquid, and the surface thereof is subjected to a hydrophilic treatment. Therefore, the processing liquid adhering to the surface of the apparatus component can be easily washed away. Accordingly, since the inside of the processing chamber can be cleaned, it is possible to prevent the generation of particles due to the processing liquid remaining in the processing chamber. Thereby, adhesion of particles to the substrate can be suppressed.

The above-mentioned hydrophilic treatment may be a treatment of irradiating the surface of the component of the apparatus with ultraviolet rays or performing a corona discharge. The invention according to claim 2, wherein the chemical-resistant material is ethylene tetrafluoride-ethylene copolymer resin,
Polypropylene resin, ethylene trifluoride resin, viridene fluoride resin, polyvinyl chloride resin, polyether
A material selected from the group consisting of ether ketone resin, ethylene tetrafluoride-perfluoroalkoxy polymer, ethylene tetrafluoride resin, and ethylene tetrafluoride-propylene hexafluoride resin. Item 2. A substrate processing apparatus according to Item 1.

By subjecting the device component made of the above-described chemical resistant material to a hydrophilic treatment, the surface of the device component can be made a superhydrophilic surface having a contact angle with water of 10 degrees or less. As a result, the processing liquid attached to the apparatus constituent members can be removed satisfactorily. In particular, among the above material groups, ethylene tetrafluoride-ethylene copolymer resin, polypropylene resin, ethylene trifluoride chloride resin, viridene fluoride resin,
Originally, the polyvinyl chloride resin and the polyether-ether ketone resin are hydrophilic materials having a contact angle with water of 100 degrees or less. Therefore, by applying these hydrophilic materials as constituent materials of the above-mentioned device constituent members, a better hydrophilic surface can be obtained, so that the treatment liquid attached to the device constituent members can be more easily removed. .

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the substrate processing apparatus is a substrate cleaning apparatus for cleaning a substrate, the substrate rotating and holding means for holding and rotating the substrate, and the substrate rotating and holding means. Cleaning liquid supply means for supplying a cleaning liquid to the substrate as the predetermined processing liquid,
The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the apparatus constituent member includes a member that comes into contact with a cleaning liquid scattered from a substrate rotated by the substrate rotating unit.

According to this configuration, the substrate is subjected to the cleaning process using the cleaning liquid while being held by the substrate rotation holding means.
With the rotation of the substrate, the cleaning liquid on the surface of the substrate scatters around. In the present invention, the surface of the member that comes into contact with the scattered cleaning liquid is subjected to a hydrophilic treatment. Therefore, the cleaning liquid can be easily removed from the surface of the member, and the mist or the like of the cleaning liquid can be prevented from re-adhering to the surface of the cleaned substrate.

Further, since the surface of the apparatus constituent member is hydrophilic, the supply of the cleaning liquid from the cleaning liquid supply means is stopped, and then the substrate is rotated by the substrate rotation holding means.
When the cleaning liquid component on the substrate is shaken off, even if a large air flow is generated around the substrate to be rotated, there is no possibility that the cleaning liquid attached to the hydrophilic surface of the device component will be mist. This can prevent the cleaning liquid from re-adhering to the surface of the substrate during drying.

The substrate processing apparatus may include a scattering prevention member that surrounds the periphery of the substrate held by the substrate rotation holding means and receives a cleaning liquid scattered from the substrate.
In this case, it is preferable that the device constituent member made of the chemical resistant material and subjected to the hydrophilic treatment includes the scattering prevention member. Further, the substrate processing apparatus may include a processing cup in which the substrate rotation holding unit is accommodated, and in this case, an apparatus configured of the chemical resistant material and subjected to a hydrophilic treatment. The constituent member preferably includes the processing cup.

[0017]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is an illustrative sectional view showing a configuration of a substrate cleaning apparatus which is a substrate processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. This substrate cleaning apparatus is a single-wafer cleaning apparatus for cleaning wafers W as substrates one by one and further drying the wafers.

In this substrate cleaning apparatus, a cylindrical processing cup 2 having a bottom is accommodated in a processing chamber 1 partitioned by a partition 50, and a wafer W is further placed in the processing cup 2.
And a spin chuck 3 serving as a substrate rotation holding unit that rotates while holding the substrate. On the side of the spin chuck 3, a splash guard 4 is provided as a scattering prevention member for receiving a cleaning liquid scattered from the surface of the wafer W held and rotated by the spin chuck 3 and preventing the cleaning liquid from scattering around. Have been. The splash guard 4 is formed in a substantially cylindrical shape, and allows the spin chuck 3 to move up and down.

That is, in this embodiment, the spin chuck 3 is moved up and down by an elevation drive mechanism (not shown). When the wafer W is transferred to and from a substrate transfer robot (not shown), the wafer W is moved above the upper edge of the splash guard 4 so that a transfer path for the wafer W can be secured. On the side of the processing cup 2, surface cleaning nozzles N1 and N2 (cleaning liquid supply means) that can advance and retreat in oblique vertical directions are arranged. The front surface cleaning nozzles N1 and N2 are used to avoid interference between the illustrated position for supplying the cleaning liquid to the wafer W held by the spin chuck 3 and the spin chuck 3 when the spin chuck 3 is displaced upward. Can be displaced between the evacuation positions. This surface cleaning nozzle N
1 and N2, a chemical solution supply pipe 51 and a chemical solution valve 5
Chemical solution (hydrofluoric acid, BHF, ammonia water, etc.) through the rinsing liquid supply line 53 and a rinsing liquid valve 54 (pure water, ozone water, electrolytic ion water, etc.) The cleaning liquid is supplied selectively from the cleaning liquid supply path 61.

On the bottom surface of the processing cup 2, a back surface cleaning nozzle N 3 for supplying a cleaning solution (chemical solution or rinsing solution) toward the lower surface of the wafer W held by the spin chuck 3.
N4 (cleaning liquid supply means) is provided. Chemical liquids (hydrofluoric acid, BHF, ammonia water, etc.) via a chemical liquid supply pipe 55 and a chemical liquid valve 56, or a rinse liquid supply pipe 57 and a rinse liquid valve 58 are connected to these back surface cleaning nozzles N3 and N4. A rinsing liquid (pure water, ozone water, electrolytic ionic water, etc.) is selectively supplied from the cleaning liquid supply path 62 as a cleaning liquid.

The bottom of the processing cup 2 has a drain port 2
1 is formed, and the cleaning liquid after being used for processing the wafer W travels along the splash guard 4 and the inner wall surface of the processing cup 2, and is guided from the drain port 21 to the drain pipe 23. It has become. Between the outer surface of the processing cup 21 and the partition 50, there is provided an internal partition 71 for partitioning an upper space in which the nozzles N1 and N2 and the like are arranged and a lower space. The space above the internal partition 71 forms a processing space 70 in which the processing of the wafer W with the cleaning liquid is performed.

On the top surface 50A of the partition wall 50 and a pair of opposed side surfaces 50B and 50C, there are provided chamber cleaning nozzles WN1, WN2 and WN3 for shower cleaning the constituent members facing the processing space 70. I have. These chamber cleaning nozzles WN1, WN2, WN3 include:
Shower cleaning valve 65 and shower cleaning piping 66
, Pure water is supplied as a cleaning liquid in the chamber.

The spin chuck 3 has a rotating shaft 31 arranged along the vertical direction, a plate-shaped spin base 32 horizontally fixed to the upper end of the rotating shaft 31, and is erected on the spin base 32. A plurality of chuck pins 33 for holding a peripheral portion of the wafer W; Spin base 32
Is provided with a plurality of arms extending radially from the center, and a chuck pin 33 stands upright near the tip of each arm. A cleaning liquid path is secured between the adjacent arms, and the cleaning liquid from the back surface cleaning nozzles N3 and N4 reaches the rear surface of the wafer W through the cleaning liquid path. To the rotating shaft 31, a rotating force from a rotating drive mechanism 35 including a motor and the like is transmitted.

Operation of the rotary drive mechanism 31, valves 52, 5
Opening and closing operations of 4, 56, 58 and 66 are controlled by the control device 7. After the wafer W is held by the spin chuck 3, the control device 7 controls the rotation drive mechanism 35 to start the rotation of the spin chuck 3, and on the other hand, opens the chemical liquid valves 52 and 56 to change the surface The cleaning solution is supplied to the wafer W from the cleaning nozzles N1 and N2 and the back surface cleaning nozzles N3 and N4. Thereby, for example, a chemical solution cleaning process using an etching effect is performed. At this time, the chemical solution supplied to the wafer W jumps out of the outer peripheral edge of the wafer W due to the centrifugal force caused by the rotation of the spin chuck 3 and collides with the splash guard 4.
Will flow down. At this time, if necessary, the drainage pipe 23 is connected to a chemical solution tank (not shown), whereby the chemical solution is collected. During the chemical cleaning step, the rinse liquid valves 54 and 58 and the shower cleaning valve 65 are kept closed.

After the chemical cleaning is performed, the control device 7 closes the chemical liquid valves 52 and 56,
The rinse liquid valves 54 and 58 are opened. This allows
Front surface cleaning nozzle N1, N2 and back surface cleaning nozzle N3
From N4, a rinsing liquid is supplied to the front and back surfaces of the wafer W,
The chemical solution on the front and back surfaces of the wafer W is washed away. Also at this time, the rinsing liquid supplied to the front and back surfaces of the wafer W jumps out of the outer peripheral edge of the wafer W due to the centrifugal force, hits the splash guard 4, and is guided to the processing cup 2.

After the rinsing process is performed, the controller 7 closes the rinsing liquid valves 54 and 58 and controls the rotation drive mechanism 35 to rotate the spin chuck 3 at a high speed. As a result, the liquid components on the front and back surfaces of the wafer W are shaken off, and the wafer W is dried. At this time, due to the rotation of the spin chuck 3, a large airflow is formed around the spin chuck 3.

For example, the controller 7 opens the shower cleaning valve 65 immediately before the operation of the substrate cleaning apparatus is temporarily stopped, or at the timing of lot separation. Thereby, the chamber cleaning nozzles WN1, WN
2, pure water is spouted from the WN 3, and each part facing the processing space 70 is cleaned. At this time, the spin chuck 3
Is rotated, the spin chuck 3 and the splash guard 4 around the spin chuck 3 can be effectively cleaned.

In the above arrangement, the constituent members facing the processing space 70 are made of a chemical-resistant hydrophilic material, and at least the surface of the members facing the processing space 70 is subjected to a hydrophilic treatment. Is given. More specifically, the partition 50, the nozzles N1, N2, N3, and N4, the processing cup 2, the spin chuck 3, and the internal partition 71 are all made of a hydrophilic material. The surface facing the space 70 forms a superhydrophilic surface 80 that has been subjected to a hydrophilic treatment, as indicated by a broken line in FIG. Even if all of the above-mentioned apparatus constituent members are made of a superhydrophilic material and it is difficult to make each surface a superhydrophilic surface, at least a large amount of the processing liquid scattered from the wafer W is received. Regarding the splash guard 4 and the processing cup 2 to be treated, it is preferable that the surface facing the processing space 70 is a superhydrophilic surface.

Examples of applicable chemical-resistant hydrophilic materials include ethylene tetrafluoride-ethylene copolymer resin (ETF).
E), polypropylene resin, ethylene trifluoride chloride resin (PCTFE), viridene fluoride resin (PVDF), polyvinyl chloride resin (PVC), and polyether-ether ketone resin (PEEK). Each of these materials has a contact angle with water of 10 as shown in FIG.
It is a material having a temperature of 0 degrees or less and has chemical resistance.
However, from the viewpoint of ease of processing, it is preferable to use a polypropylene resin, PVDF or PVC, and it is preferable to use an inexpensive polypropylene resin or PVC for the purpose of cost reduction.

Further, ethylene tetrafluoride-perfluoroalkoxy polymer (PFA) and ethylene tetrafluoride resin (PTA) which are chemical resistant materials having a contact angle with water of 100 degrees or more.
FE) and ethylene tetrafluoride-propylene hexafluoride resin (FEP) are water-repellent chemical-resistant materials having a contact angle with water of more than 100 degrees.
Since the surface can be a superhydrophilic surface having a contact angle with water of 10 degrees or less, these materials are also used in the processing space 7.
It can be applied as a material of the device component facing zero. However, it can be said that the material having a contact angle with water of 100 degrees or less is more preferable in that a surface having higher hydrophilicity can be obtained by the hydrophilic treatment.

On the other hand, as the above-mentioned hydrophilizing treatment, an ultraviolet irradiation treatment for irradiating the surface of the component made of the above-mentioned material with ultraviolet light, or a corona discharge treatment for applying a corona discharge to the surface of the component made of the above-mentioned material is applied. It is possible. By any of these hydrophilic treatments, the surface of the device constituting member can be made a superhydrophilic surface having a contact angle with water of 10 degrees or less for any of the above hydrophilic materials.

As described above, according to this embodiment, each surface of the apparatus component facing the processing space 70 is a superhydrophilic surface. For this reason, the cleaning liquid scattered from the wafer W easily flows down without becoming granular on the surface of the apparatus constituent member. Therefore, the cleaning liquid does not easily adhere to the surface of the apparatus component, and the chamber cleaning nozzles WN1 and WN
2. By performing shower cleaning with WN3, the cleaning liquid adhering to the constituent members of the apparatus can be easily washed away.

In this way, the surface of the device constituting member facing the processing space 70 can be kept clean, so that the processing space 7
Crystallization of a chemical solution such as BHF within 0 can be prevented, and generation of mist of the cleaning solution due to an air current accompanying high-speed rotation of the spin chuck 3 can be suppressed. As a result, it is possible to prevent the cleaning liquid from re-adhering to the wafer W, so that generation of particles can be suppressed.

Further, since the cleaning liquid adhering to the apparatus components can be easily washed away, the processing time for shower cleaning can be shortened, and the number of nozzles WN1, WN2, WN3 for shower cleaning the inside of the chamber 1 can be reduced. May be less. In addition, it is not necessary to use a movable nozzle such as a scan nozzle as the nozzle for cleaning, and a sufficient cleaning effect can be obtained by the fixed nozzle.

Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described, the present invention can be embodied in other forms. For example, in the above-described embodiment, an apparatus for cleaning a wafer W has been described as an example. However, the present invention can be applied to an apparatus for performing processing by supplying a processing liquid to a substrate in addition to cleaning. An example of such an apparatus is a resist coating apparatus (coater). Further, the type of the substrate is not limited to the wafer, and may be another substrate to be processed such as a glass substrate for a liquid crystal display device.

In addition, various design changes can be made within the scope of the technical matters described in the claims.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an illustrative sectional view showing a configuration of a substrate cleaning apparatus which is a substrate processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining contact angles between various materials and water.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Processing chamber 2 Processing cup 3 Spin chuck 4 Splash guard 7 Controller 70 Processing space N1, N2 Front surface cleaning nozzle N3, N4 Back surface cleaning nozzle WN1, WN2, WN3 Chamber cleaning nozzle 80 Super hydrophilic surface

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A substrate processing apparatus for processing a substrate by supplying a predetermined processing liquid to the substrate, wherein an apparatus component to which the processing liquid supplied to the substrate adheres is made of a chemical resistant material, The substrate processing apparatus is characterized in that at least a surface of the apparatus constituent member to which the processing liquid is adhered is subjected to a hydrophilic treatment. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the chemical resistant material is ethylene tetrafluoride.
Ethylene copolymer resin, polypropylene resin, ethylene trifluoride resin, viridene fluoride resin, polyvinyl chloride resin, polyether-ether ketone resin, ethylene tetrafluoride-perfluoroalkoxy polymer, ethylene tetrafluoride resin and tetrafluoride The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the substrate processing apparatus is any one material selected from a material group consisting of ethylene fluoride-propylene hexafluoride resin. 3. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said substrate processing apparatus is a substrate cleaning apparatus for cleaning a substrate, comprising: a substrate rotation holding means for holding and rotating the substrate; And a cleaning liquid supply means for supplying the cleaning liquid as the predetermined processing liquid, wherein the apparatus constituent member includes a member that comes into contact with a cleaning liquid splashed from a substrate rotated by the substrate rotation means. 3. The substrate processing apparatus according to 2.