JP2921841B2 - Coating device with cleaning mechanism - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention] (Industrial application field) The present invention relates to a coating apparatus with a cleaning mechanism.

(Prior Art) The following is known as a coating device, for example, a resist coating device used in a resist coating step in semiconductor manufacturing.

That is, a disk-shaped wafer chuck on which a semiconductor wafer is placed is horizontally connected to the rotation axis of a motor having a rotation axis in the vertical direction, and a resist dropping nozzle for dropping resist is provided above the wafer chuck. The resist dropping nozzle is disposed and connected to a resist supply bin via a supply pipe.

In such a coating apparatus, an appropriate amount of resist in a resist storage bin is pumped by a pump, and the resist is dropped on a semiconductor wafer from a resist dropping nozzle through a supply pipe.
Then, the spin chuck is rotated at a high speed by a motor, and the spin coating apparatus uniformly applies the dropped resist on the surface of the semiconductor wafer by the action of centrifugal force.

The above-mentioned resist, for example, SOG (spin-on-glass) is easily solidified, and once solidified, becomes glassy and difficult to clean. Therefore, care must be taken when the resist coating apparatus is not used for a long time. For example, conventionally, a resist supply bin was once removed from a supply pipe, a predetermined solvent supply device was connected to the supply pipe, and a solvent was supplied to the supply pipe and the resist dropping nozzle to wash the resist liquid supply path.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, in the above-described cleaning method, it takes time and effort to attach and detach the resist supply bin to and from the supply pipe every time the cleaning is performed. There is a problem that it is uneconomical to dispose of the resist because the resist remains solidified in the bottle.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a coating mechanism with a cleaning mechanism that can easily clean a supply pipe and a resist dropping nozzle, and can repeatedly use a resist supply bin. It is to provide a device.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 is to supply a coating substance to a target object from a container containing the coating substance via a supply path. In a coating apparatus for performing a coating process, a solvent supply unit that is connected along the supply path and supplies a predetermined amount of the solvent of the coating substance into the container via the supply path, and from the solvent supply unit to the inside of the container. Discharging means for discharging the supplied solvent to the outside via the supply path.

The invention according to claim 2 is a coating apparatus that supplies a coating substance from a container containing the coating substance to a target object through a supply path and performs a coating process. Solvent supply means for supplying a predetermined amount of the solvent of the coating substance into the container via a discharge means, and discharge means for discharging the solvent supplied from the solvent supply means into the container through the supply path to the outside And an inert gas supply means for flowing an inert gas from the inside of the container in the direction of the supply path.

(Operation) In the present invention, the solvent of the application substance is supplied to the container containing the application substance from the middle of the supply path by the solvent supply means, so that the supply path is cleaned. Further, when a predetermined amount of the solvent is supplied into the container, the solvent in the container is discharged to the outside through the supply path by the discharging means, so that the container and the supply path are also cleaned.

Furthermore, the container and the inside of the supply path can be dried by flowing the inert gas from the inside of the container toward the supply path by the inert gas supply means.

(Embodiment) An embodiment in which the apparatus of the present invention is applied to a resist coating apparatus with a cleaning function for coating a semiconductor wafer with a resist will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIG. 2, the coating apparatus includes a resist supply mechanism 101 for supplying a resist onto a semiconductor wafer, a vacuum chuck for the semiconductor wafer, and rotation of the semiconductor wafer when a resist solution is supplied onto the semiconductor wafer. The apparatus includes a spin coating mechanism 103 for spin coating a resist and a control unit 105 for controlling the operation of the entire apparatus.

That is, a resist supply pipe 3 and a nitrogen supply pipe 5 are provided in a resist supply bin 1 having a capacity 4 for accommodating a resist. In the vicinity of the resist supply bin 1,
A full sensor 6, for example, an electrostatic sensor, for detecting that the cleaning liquid is fully stored in the bottle is provided. The resist supply pipe 3 is connected via a manual three-way valve 7 to a resist supply pipe 9 having an electromagnetic valve 9a. A resist dropping nozzle 11 is connected to the resist supply pipe 9. The solenoid valve 9a is opened and closed by a unit controller described later when a normal resist dropping process is performed, and therefore, the supply of the resist to the resist dropping nozzle 11 is controlled.Also, when a cleaning process is performed, the solenoid valve 9a is always open. . The resist dropping nozzle 11 is disposed in the spin coating mechanism 103. The nitrogen supply pipe 3 is connected to a nitrogen supply device 12.

On the other hand, the cleaning liquid (solvent) supply tank 13 having a capacity of 20
A cleaning liquid supply pipe 15 having an electromagnetic valve 15a is provided.
The electromagnetic valve 15a is always closed when a normal resist dropping process is performed, and is opened and closed by a unit controller described later when a cleaning process is performed. Therefore, the supply of the cleaning liquid from the cleaning liquid supply tank 13 is controlled. The cleaning liquid supply tank 13 and the cleaning liquid supply pipe 15 constitute a solvent supply unit. The cleaning liquid supply pipe 15 is connected to the manual three-way valve 7. The manual three-way valve 7 is connected between the cleaning liquid supply pipe 15 and the resist supply pipe 3 (set on the “cleaning” side) and connected with the resist supply pipe 3 and the resist supply pipe 9 (set on the “nozzle” side). Can be switched.

The resist supply bin 1 is provided with a discharge means, for example, a coupler (not shown) for pressurizing the resist or the cleaning liquid in the bin and sending it to the resist supply pipe 3. The cleaning liquid supply tank 13 is provided with a coupler (not shown) for sending the cleaning liquid in the tank 13 to the cleaning liquid supply pipe 15.

The operation of each component of the above-described resist supply mechanism 101 is as follows.
It is controlled by the unit controller 17 connected to the control unit 105. The unit controller 17 is connected to a switch panel 25 having a cleaning switch 19, a cleaning start / stop switch 21, and a display lamp 23 that lights up during the cleaning process. The washing start / stop switch 21 can be switched to three stages of "washing start", "washing stop", and "neutral".

The unit controller 17 is connected to the switch panel 25
As shown in FIG. 3, a connection portion with each switch has a relay 27 and its switch 27a, and a relay 29 and its switches 29a and 29b. The switch 27a is turned off when a voltage is applied to the relay 27. The switches 29a and 29b are turned on when a voltage is applied to the relay 29.

Next, the operation of the resist supply mechanism 101 will be described.

First, normal resist supply will be described. When the manual three-way valve 7 is set on the “nozzle” side, the resist in the resist supply bin 1 is pressurized by a coupler (not shown), so that the resist supply pipes 3 and 9 are pressed.
The resist is dropped on a semiconductor wafer (not shown) through the resist drop nozzle 11.

Next, a cleaning operation when the inside of the resist supply bin 1 becomes empty will be described.

The manual three-way valve 7 is set to the “washing” side, the washing switch 19 is turned on, and the washing start / stop switch 21
Is turned on to the "washing start" side (note that the full sensor 6 is initially off, so that the relay 27 is off and the switch 27a is on), the relay 29 is turned on, and thus the switches 29a, 29b turns on. When the switch 29a is turned on, a voltage is applied to a solenoid (not shown) in the solenoid valve 15a (the indicator lamp 23 is also turned on).
Since the electromagnetic valve 15a is opened, the cleaning liquid is supplied to the resist supply pipe 3
And flows into the resist supply bin 1. When the switch 29a is turned on, even if the cleaning start / stop switch 21 is returned to "neutral", the switch 29a
The supply of the cleaning liquid is continued by the self-holding of.

Eventually, when the resist supply bin 1 is full of the cleaning liquid (for example, in a state of four inflows), the full sensor 6 is turned on, so that the relay 27 is turned on, the switch 27a is turned off, and therefore the relay 29 is turned off. Switch 29
a and 29b are turned off. When the switch 29a is turned off, the electromagnetic valve 15a is closed (the indicator lamp 23 is also turned off), and the supply of the cleaning liquid is stopped. (Switch 27a
Is turned off, and the self-holding by the switch 29a is also released. Here, the manual three-way valve 7 is set on the “nozzle” side, and the cleaning liquid in the resist supply bin 1 is pressurized by the coupler. Is done. Therefore, the resist supply bin 1, the resist supply pipes 3, 9 and the resist dropping nozzle 11 are cleaned. Then, the coupler is removed, and the pressurization is completed.

When the above washing is repeated (for example, washing three times), the same operation is performed by turning on the washing start / stop switch 21 again to the “washing start” side.

To end the cleaning, turn off the cleaning switch 19,
By driving the nitrogen gas supply device 12, nitrogen gas is blown into the resist supply bin 1 via the nitrogen supply pipe 5. The blown nitrogen gas is discharged outside through the resist supply pipes 3 and 9 and the resist dropping nozzle 11. Therefore, the resist supply bin 1, the resist supply pipes 3, 9 and the resist dropping nozzle 11 are quickly dried.

When the cleaning process is to be stopped before the full sensor 6 is turned on, the cleaning start / stop switch 21 is set to “cleaning stop”.
Turn to the side.

If a new resist solution is supplied to the resist supply bin 1 that has been washed as described above, the resist supply bin 1 can be used repeatedly, which is economical.

Thus, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to provide a resist coating apparatus with a cleaning mechanism that can easily clean the resist supply pipe, the resist dropping nozzle, the resist supply bin, and the like, and that can repeatedly use the resist supply bin.

In the above embodiment, an example in which the present invention is applied to a resist coating apparatus for coating a semiconductor wafer with a resist has been described. However, a coating material is applied from a container containing a coating material to an object to be processed through a predetermined supply path. Can be applied to any device that supplies and supplies a coating solution.

[Effects of the Invention] As described in detail above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a coating apparatus with a cleaning mechanism that can easily wash a supply path of a coating substance and a storage container, and that can repeatedly use the storage container. Can be.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a main part of a resist supply mechanism of a resist coating apparatus with a cleaning mechanism according to the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a resist coating apparatus with a cleaning mechanism according to the present embodiment. FIG. 3 is a circuit diagram showing a part of the unit controller shown in FIG. 1 ... Register supply bin, 3, 9 ... Register supply pipe, 6 ... Full sensor, 7 ... Manual three-way valve, 13 ...
... cleaning liquid supply tank, 11 ... unit controller

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁶ , DB name) B05C 11/08-11/10 B05C 21/00 H01L 21/30

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A coating apparatus for supplying a coating substance from a container accommodating a coating substance to a target object through a supply path and performing a coating process, wherein the coating apparatus is connected on the supply path and the container is connected via the supply path. Solvent supply means for supplying a predetermined amount of the solvent of the coating substance therein; and discharge means for discharging the solvent supplied from the solvent supply means into the container to the outside via the supply path. A coating device with a washing mechanism. 2. A coating apparatus for supplying a coating substance from a container containing a coating substance to a target object via a supply path and performing coating processing, wherein the coating apparatus is connected on the supply path, and the container is connected via the supply path. Solvent supply means for supplying a predetermined amount of the solvent of the coating substance into the inside; discharge means for discharging the solvent supplied from the solvent supply means into the container to the outside via the supply path; And an inert gas supply means for flowing an inert gas in the direction of the supply path.