JP4204238B2 - Substrate processing equipment - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus for processing by immersing a substrate such as a semiconductor wafer, a glass substrate for a liquid crystal display device, or an electronic component in a processing liquid in which two or more types of liquids are mixed.
[0002]
[Prior art]
For example, in a semiconductor device manufacturing process, when removing a resist from the surface of a substrate, for example, a silicon wafer, removing particles or organic substances adhering to the wafer surface, or removing a metal substance adhering to the wafer surface, etc. As a processing solution, a mixed solution of sulfuric acid, hydrogen peroxide solution and pure water, a mixed solution of ammonia water, hydrogen peroxide solution and pure water, a mixed solution of hydrochloric acid, hydrogen peroxide solution and pure water, etc. The wafer is used and cleaned by immersing it in the processing solution. In this case, each liquid for preparing the mixed solution, for example, sulfuric acid, hydrogen peroxide water and pure water, is individually supplied from the respective liquid supply source to the treatment tank through the liquid supply pipe, mixed in the treatment tank, A treatment liquid in which each concentration of sulfuric acid and hydrogen peroxide is adjusted to a predetermined range is obtained. Then, supply and stop of each liquid to the processing tank are performed by opening and closing an open / close control valve such as an air control valve inserted in each liquid supply pipe.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, as shown schematically in FIG . 3 , from the state where the liquid is supplied to the processing tank 2 through the liquid supply pipe 1, the open / close control valve 3 inserted in the liquid supply pipe 1 is closed to the processing tank 2. When the liquid supply is stopped, the liquid 4 remains in the liquid supply pipe 1 on the downstream side of the opening / closing control valve 3. The residual liquid 4 in the liquid supply pipe 1 is pushed out of the liquid supply pipe 1 into the processing tank 2 when the opening / closing control valve 3 is opened next to resume the supply of the liquid to the processing tank 2. Will flow in. In this case, the treatment liquid (mixed solution) 5 in the treatment tank 2 adjusts and controls the supply amount of the high-concentration undiluted solution or pure water of each chemical solution so that the concentration of each chemical component in the mixed solution is within a certain range It is managed to become. However, when the residual liquid 4 flows into the treatment tank 2, the concentration of the managed chemical component changes. In addition, the processing liquid (mixed solution) 5 in the processing tank 2 is usually heated and adjusted in temperature, but the residual liquid 4 in the liquid supply pipe 1 remains in the liquid supply pipe 1. The temperature has dropped. For this reason, when the residual liquid 4 flows into the processing tank 2, the temperature of the processing liquid in the processing tank 4 will fall temporarily. Furthermore, it is conceivable that the chemical liquid component is deteriorated while the liquid remains in the liquid supply pipe 1, and when the residual liquid 4 flows into the processing tank 2, the processing liquid 5 in the processing tank 4 is contaminated. It will be.
[0004]
Thus, when the residual liquid 4 flows into the processing tank 2 and the concentration of the chemical component of the processing liquid 5 in the processing tank 4 or the temperature of the processing liquid 5 changes or the processing liquid 5 is contaminated, the processing tank The management accuracy of the processing liquid 5 in 4 is lowered, and the processing quality of the wafer is affected.
[0005]
The present invention has been made in view of the circumstances as described above. In the liquid supply path for supplying the liquid into the processing tank, the open / close valve is located downstream of the open / close valve inserted in the liquid supply path. To provide a substrate processing apparatus capable of preventing the liquid from remaining when the substrate is closed, improving the management accuracy of the processing liquid in the processing tank, and preventing the processing quality of the substrate from being affected. Objective.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a processing tank having an overflow liquid receiving portion in which a processing liquid is stored and a substrate is immersed in the processing liquid, and an overflow valve is inserted in each of the processing tanks . in the substrate processing apparatus having at least two liquid supply path for supplying different kinds of liquid to flow liquid receiving section, respectively, the downstream from said on-off valve or an internal pipe having one end constituting said liquid supply path is inserted in the vicinity of the side a and closing valve, the other end is constituted by the air communication tubules open on overflow liquid receiving portion of the treatment tank an externally of the pipe, wherein the opening and closing valves of the liquid supply path characterized in that a more downstream side of the residual liquid discharge means from the tip end outlet of the pipe is discharged respectively to the processing bath overflow liquid receiving portion of the remaining liquid constituting the liquid supply path in the pipe.
[0007]
In engaging Ru inventions of the substrate processing apparatus in claim 1, when closing the on-off valve interposed in the liquid supply path, the liquid present in the liquid supply path on the downstream side of the on-off valve, the residual liquid discharge The liquid is discharged from the tip discharge port of the liquid supply path into the processing tank by the means. Therefore, no liquid remains in the liquid supply path on the downstream side of the on-off valve.
[0008]
In the substrate processing apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention, when the on-off valve inserted in the liquid supply path is closed, one end is inside the pipe constituting the liquid supply path and is downstream of the on-off valve. and inside pipes it is opened to the atmosphere through the atmosphere communicating tubules that are inserted in the vicinity of the opening and closing valve. Thus, the liquid present in the pipe at the downstream side of the on-off valve flows out from the fluid to the tip end outlet toward the tip end outlet of the pipe to the treatment tank overflow liquid receiving portion. On the other hand, when the on-off valve inserted in the liquid supply path is opened and the liquid is supplied into the treatment tank through the liquid supply path, the pipe may be connected even if the liquid flows inside the atmospheric communication thin tube. since the other end of the externally arranged air communicating tubules open at the overflow liquid receiving portion of the processing tank, the liquid flowing out of the air communicating tubules flows into overflow liquid receiving portion of the processing tank.
[0009]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, it will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 the preferred embodiment of the present invention.
[0010]
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a schematic configuration of a substrate processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The substrate processing apparatus includes a processing tank 10 having a liquid inlet 12 at the bottom and containing a processing liquid 14 therein. A plurality of substrates, for example, silicon wafers, are stored in a wafer holder (not shown), put into the processing tank 10, immersed in the processing liquid 14, and processed.
[0011]
The processing tank 10 includes an overflow liquid receiving part 16, and the processing liquid 14 overflowing from the upper part of the processing tank 10 flows into the overflow liquid receiving part 16. One end of a liquid circulation pipe 18 is connected to the overflow liquid receiving portion 16, and the other end of the liquid circulation pipe 18 is connected to the liquid inlet 12 of the processing tank 10. . A circulation pump 20, a heater 22, and a filter 24 are inserted in the liquid circulation pipe 18, and the treatment liquid 14 is circulated by the treatment tank 10, the overflow liquid receiving portion 16, and the liquid circulation pipe 18. The route can be circulated.
[0012]
The treatment liquid 14 is prepared, for example, by mixing sulfuric acid, hydrogen peroxide water, and pure water. For this purpose, a sulfuric acid supply source, for example, a sulfuric acid supply pipe 28 connected to a chemical tank storing a high concentration stock solution of sulfuric acid and having an open / close control valve 26 inserted therein, a hydrogen peroxide solution supply source, for example, peroxidation A hydrogen peroxide solution supply pipe 32 connected to a chemical liquid tank in which a high concentration stock solution of hydrogen water is stored and an open / close control valve 30 is inserted, and an open / close control valve 34 connected to a pure water supply source. Are inserted in the overflow liquid receiving portion 16 of the treatment tank 10. Then, each open / close control valve 26, 30, 34 is controlled by a controller (not shown) to open / close each open / close control valve 26, 30, 34, and sulfuric acid, hydrogen peroxide solution through each pipe 28, 32, 36. And pure water are respectively added to the overflow liquid receiving portion 16 of the treatment tank 10 and appropriately replenished and mixed in the treatment tank 10, whereby the concentrations of the sulfuric acid component and the hydrogen peroxide component are adjusted to a predetermined range, respectively. The prepared treatment liquid 14 is prepared.
[0013]
The above-described configuration is the same as that of the conventional apparatus. In this substrate processing apparatus, as shown schematically in FIG. 2, a part of the piping system is shown in FIG. 32 and pure water supply pipe 36 (hereinafter simply referred to as “pipe 28”), the pipe 28 is disposed in the pipe 28 on the downstream side of the open / close control valve 26 and in the vicinity of the open / close control valve 26. One end of the atmospheric communication thin tube 62 is inserted from the outside. The other end of the atmospheric communication thin tube 62 is disposed outside the pipe 28 and is open to the atmosphere. The other end of the atmospheric communication thin tube 62 opens on the overflow liquid receiving portion 16 of the treatment tank 10 (not shown).
[0014]
In the substrate processing apparatus having such a pipe configuration, when the open / close control valves 26, 30, 34 inserted in the pipes 28, 32, 36 are closed, the inside of the pipe 28 on the downstream side of the open / close control valve 26 is In this state, the air is released to the atmosphere through the air communication thin tube 62. For this reason, the sulfuric acid present in the pipe 28 on the downstream side of the opening / closing control valve 26 flows in the pipe 28 toward the tip discharge port, and flows out from the tip discharge port into the overflow liquid receiving portion 16 of the processing tank 10. . Therefore, sulfuric acid, hydrogen peroxide solution, or pure water does not remain in the pipes 28, 32, 36 on the downstream side of the open / close control valves 26, 30, 34. For this reason, the residual liquid in the pipes 28, 32, and 36 is opened from the inside of the pipes 28, 32, and 36 when the opening / closing control valves 26, 30, and 34 are subsequently opened to resume the supply of the liquid to the processing tank 10. It is prevented that it is pushed out and flows into the treatment tank 10 to change the concentration of each of the sulfuric acid component and the hydrogen peroxide component or to temporarily lower the temperature of the treatment liquid 14. On the other hand, when sulfuric acid is supplied to the treatment tank 10 through the pipe 28 by opening and closing the control valve 26, the other end of the atmospheric communication thin tube 62 is not affected even if sulfuric acid flows through the atmospheric communication thin tube 62. Is opened on the overflow liquid receiving portion 16 of the treatment tank 10, the sulfuric acid flowing out from the atmospheric communication thin tube 62 flows down into the overflow liquid receiving portion 16.
[0015]
【The invention's effect】
With claim 1 engaging Ru inventions of the substrate processing apparatus, in the liquid supply path for supplying liquid to the treatment tank, on the downstream side of the on-off valve interposed in the liquid supply path, closes the on-off valve In this case, it is possible to prevent the liquid from remaining, so that the management accuracy of the processing liquid in the processing tank can be improved and the processing quality of the substrate can be prevented from being deteriorated.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a schematic configuration of a substrate processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a schematic diagram showing a part of a piping system of the substrate processing apparatus shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram for explaining a problem in a conventional substrate processing apparatus.
[Explanation of symbols]
10 treatment tank 14 processing solution 16 treatment tank overflow liquid receiving portion 18 liquid circulation pipe 26,30,3 4-off control valve 28 supply pipe 32 hydrogen-peroxide-solution supply pipe 36 purified water supply pipe 62 air sulfate RendoriHoso tube

Claims (1)

A treatment tank having an overflow liquid receiving portion in which the treatment liquid is contained and the substrate is immersed in the treatment liquid to be treated;
Each at least two liquid supply path on-off valve is interposed respectively supply different to overflow liquid receiving unit type of liquid in the treatment tank,
In a substrate processing apparatus comprising:
One end is the be inserted in the vicinity of the downstream side in and closing valve from the on-off valve or an internal pipe that constitutes the liquid supply path, overflow liquid receiving portion of the treatment tank an external other end the pipe It is constituted by an atmospheric communication thin tube opened above , and the residual liquid in the pipe downstream of the on-off valve of each liquid supply path receives overflow liquid in the processing tank from the discharge outlet of the pipe constituting the liquid supply path. substrate processing apparatus is characterized by providing the residual liquid discharge means for discharging respectively into parts.

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