JP4920643B2 - Liquid processing apparatus and liquid processing method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a liquid processing apparatus and a liquid processing method for processing a target object by supplying a processing liquid to the front and back surfaces of the target object.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a substrate processing apparatus (liquid processing apparatus) for processing a substrate (object to be processed) such as a semiconductor wafer, a substrate holding means for holding the substrate and an upper surface (front surface) of the substrate held by the substrate holding means. A nozzle having a nozzle for supplying a processing liquid and a lower surface supply pipe for supplying a processing liquid to the center of the lower surface (back surface) of the substrate held by the substrate holding means is known (Patent Document 1). reference).
JP 2004-303967 A

  However, in the conventional liquid processing apparatus, the processing liquid supplied to the back surface of the object to be processed may wrap around the surface of the object to be processed due to the surface tension of the processing liquid at the peripheral edge of the object to be processed. When the processing liquid wraps around the surface of the object to be processed in this way, the processing liquid performs unscheduled processing on the surface of the peripheral edge of the object to be processed, and the surface of the peripheral edge cannot be processed with high accuracy.

  The present invention has been made in consideration of such points, and the processing liquid supplied to the back surface of the object to be processed is the peripheral portion of the object to be processed, and the surface of the object to be processed by the surface tension of the processing liquid. It is an object of the present invention to provide a liquid processing apparatus and a liquid processing method that can prevent the wrapping around the surface and accurately process the surface of the peripheral portion of the object to be processed.

The liquid processing apparatus according to the present invention comprises:
A support part for supporting the object to be processed;
A rotation drive unit for rotating the support unit;
A surface treatment liquid supply mechanism for supplying a treatment liquid toward the peripheral edge of the surface of the object to be processed supported by the support part;
A back surface treatment liquid supply mechanism for supplying a treatment liquid to the back surface of the object to be processed supported by the support unit;
A first guide member disposed outside the periphery of the object to be processed via a gap,
The flow rate of the processing liquid that has reached the peripheral portion via the back surface of the object to be processed is configured to be faster than the flow rate of the processing liquid that has reached the peripheral portion via the surface of the object to be processed.

In the liquid processing apparatus according to the present invention,
It is preferable that the support part has an acceleration inclined part that reduces a gap between the support part and the back surface of the object to be processed in a direction from a center part to a peripheral part of the object to be processed.

In the liquid processing apparatus according to the present invention,
It is preferable to further include a second guide member disposed outside the periphery of the first guide member.

In the liquid processing apparatus according to the present invention,
It is preferable that a plurality of misalignment prevention guides are provided on the upper surface of the first guide member.

The liquid processing method according to the present invention comprises:
A supporting step of supporting the object to be processed by the support unit;
A rotation drive step of rotating the support portion by a rotation drive portion;
A surface treatment liquid supply step of supplying a treatment liquid toward a peripheral portion of the surface of the object to be processed supported by the support portion by a surface treatment liquid supply mechanism;
A back surface treatment liquid supply step of supplying a treatment liquid to the back surface of the object supported by the support portion by a back surface treatment liquid supply mechanism;
The first guide member disposed outside the periphery of the object to be processed with a gap therebetween, the processing liquid reaching the periphery via the back surface of the object to be processed, and the periphery via the surface of the object to be processed And a guide step for guiding the processing liquid that has reached
The flow rate of the processing liquid that has reached the peripheral portion through the back surface of the object to be processed is faster than the flow rate of the processing liquid that has reached the peripheral portion through the surface of the object to be processed.

  According to the present invention, the first guide member is disposed outside the periphery of the object to be processed via the gap, and the flow rate of the processing liquid that has reached the periphery via the back surface of the object to be processed is Since the flow rate of the processing liquid that has reached the peripheral part through the surface is faster, a suction effect that draws the processing liquid to the back side of the target object is generated in the gap between the target object and the first guide member. Can be made. For this reason, it is possible to prevent the processing liquid supplied to the back surface of the object to be processed from wrapping around the surface of the object to be processed due to the surface tension of the processing liquid at the peripheral portion of the object to be processed. The surface of the peripheral edge can be processed with high accuracy.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of a liquid processing apparatus and a liquid processing method according to the present invention and a storage medium storing such a liquid processing method will be described below with reference to the drawings. Here, FIG. 1 thru | or FIG. 3 (a) (b) is a figure which shows embodiment of this invention.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the liquid processing apparatus is disposed on the lower cup 1, on the lower cup 1, on the lower cup 1, on the upper cup 2 that can be in contact with the lower cup 1, A support base (support part) 10 having support pins 11 that support a semiconductor wafer W (hereinafter also simply referred to as wafer W) that is an object to be processed, a rotary shaft 5 extending downward from the support base 10, and the rotary shaft 5 , And a rotation drive unit 60 that rotates the wafer W supported by the support base 10. In FIG. 1, the front surface of the wafer W is located on the upper side, and the rear surface of the wafer W is located on the lower side.

  Incidentally, three support pins 11 are provided, and only one of them is shown in FIG. Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the tip of the support pin 11 has an R shape.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the rotary drive unit 60 includes a pulley 62 disposed outside the periphery of the rotary shaft 5, a drive belt 63 wound around the pulley 62, and a driving force applied to the drive belt 63. Thus, the motor 61 that rotates the rotary shaft 5 via the pulley 62 is provided. Further, a bearing 66 is disposed on the outer periphery of the rotating shaft 5.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the upper cup 2 is provided with a seal member 5 made of an O-ring or the like. Further, the upper cup 2 is movable in the vertical direction, and the upper cup 2 and the lower cup 1 can be brought into contact with each other or can be separated from each other (FIG. 3A). b)). When the upper cup 2 and the lower cup 1 come into contact with each other, the seal member 5 seals between the upper cup 2 and the lower cup 1.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a surface processing liquid supply mechanism 35 that supplies a processing liquid to the peripheral edge of the surface of the wafer W supported by the support pins 11 of the support base 10 is provided in the vicinity of the peripheral edge of the upper cup 2. Is provided. The surface treatment liquid supply mechanism 35 is connected to a horizontal driving unit 36 that moves the surface treatment liquid supply mechanism 35 in the horizontal direction.

  By the way, in the present application, the cleaning liquid means a chemical liquid or a rinsing liquid. And as a chemical | medical solution, dilute hydrofluoric acid etc. can be used, for example. On the other hand, pure water (DIW) etc. can be used as a rinse liquid, for example.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the support base 10 has a hollow structure, and a lift pin plate 40 having lift pins 41 is disposed in the hollow of the support base 10. The lift pin plate 40 is connected to an elevating member (not shown) that drives the lift pin plate 40 in the vertical direction. The lift pin plate 40 also has a hollow structure. In the hollow of the lift pin plate 40, the processing liquid from the back surface processing liquid supply unit 32 is provided on the back surface of the wafer W supported by the support pins 11 of the support 10. The back surface treatment liquid supply pipe 31 for supplying the liquid is extended. In the present embodiment, the back surface treatment liquid supply mechanism 30 includes the back surface treatment liquid supply unit 32 and the back surface treatment liquid supply pipe 31.

Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the outer edge of the wafer W is located outside the periphery of the wafer W and at the same height as the wafer W supported by the support pins 11, and reaches the periphery through the back surface of the wafer W. treatment liquid, and the first guide member 21 for guiding the process liquid reaching the peripheral portion through the surface of the wafer W are arranged with a gap G _0.

Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the support table 10 reduces the gap between the support table 10 and the back surface of the wafer W in the direction from the center of the wafer W toward the peripheral edge (G ₁ > G ₂ The acceleration inclination part 15 is provided.

  In the present embodiment, the flow rate of the processing solution that has reached the peripheral portion through the back surface of the wafer W is higher than the flow rate of the processing solution that has reached the peripheral portion through the surface of the wafer W (V1> V2). (See FIG. 2). In this regard, for example, by making the amount of the processing liquid supplied by the back surface processing liquid supply mechanism 30 larger than the amount of the processing liquid supplied by the surface processing liquid supply mechanism 35, the peripheral portion passes through the back surface of the wafer W. Can be made faster than the flow rate of the processing liquid that has reached the peripheral portion through the surface of the wafer W. By the way, in the present embodiment, since the acceleration inclined portion 15 is provided, the amount of the processing liquid supplied by the back surface processing liquid supply mechanism 30 is the same as the amount of the processing liquid supplied by the surface processing liquid supply mechanism 35. Even in such a case, the flow rate of the processing liquid that reaches the peripheral portion via the back surface of the wafer W can be made faster than the flow rate of the processing liquid that reaches the peripheral portion via the surface of the wafer W.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the second guide member 22 is disposed outside the periphery of the first guide member 21 with a predetermined interval.

  In addition, when rotating the wafer W, in order to prevent the position of the wafer W from being shifted outward by the centrifugal force, a plurality of wafers are provided on the inner end portion of the upper surface of the first guide member 21. A W misalignment prevention guide 26 is provided. Incidentally, only one misalignment prevention guide 26 is shown in FIG.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 1, the processing liquid supplied to the peripheral edge portion of the surface of the wafer W flows toward the center of the wafer W on the inner side of the surface processing liquid supply mechanism 35 in the upper cup 2. In order to prevent this, an upper nitrogen gas supply unit 2a for supplying nitrogen gas is provided. In addition, a lower nitrogen gas supply unit 1a that supplies nitrogen gas is provided below the support table 10 in the lower cup 1 in order to prevent the processing liquid from flowing into the gap between the support table 10 and the lower cup 1. Is provided.

  Next, the operation of the present embodiment having such a configuration will be described.

  First, the lift pin plate 40 is positioned at the upper position (position where the wafer transfer robot (not illustrated) delivers the wafer W) by the elevating member (not illustrated) (upper positioning process) (see FIG. 3A). . At this time, the upper cup 2 is positioned at the upper position (see FIG. 3A).

  Next, the wafer W is received from the wafer transfer robot by the lift pins 41 of the lift pin plate 40, and the wafer W is supported by the lift pins 41 (first support step) (see FIG. 3A).

  Next, the lift pin plate 40 is positioned at the lower position by the elevating member (lower positioning step) (see FIG. 3A).

  Thus, when the lift pin plate 40 is positioned at the lower position, the back surface of the wafer W is supported by the support pins 11 of the support 10 (second support step) (see FIG. 3B).

  Next, the upper cup 2 moves downward and is positioned at the lower position, and the upper cup 2 and the lower cup 1 are brought into contact with each other (see FIG. 3B) (contact process). At this time, the space between the upper cup 2 and the lower cup 1 is sealed by the seal member 5 provided in the upper cup 2.

  Next, when the rotary shaft 5 is rotationally driven by the rotational drive unit 60, the support base 10 is rotated, and the wafer W supported by the support pins 11 of the support unit 1 is rotated (see FIG. 3B). (Rotation drive process). At this time, a driving force is applied from the motor 61 to the pulley 62 via the driving belt 63, whereby the rotating shaft 5 is driven to rotate.

  When the wafer W is placed on the support pins 11 of the support 10, the back side chemical liquid supply nozzle 56 a is moved and positioned by the horizontal direction drive unit 36 (see FIG. 3B). Thereafter, the surface treatment liquid supply mechanism 35 supplies the treatment liquid to the peripheral edge portion of the surface of the wafer W supported by the support pins 11 of the support base 10 (surface treatment liquid supply step) (see FIG. 3B). .

  At this time, the processing liquid is supplied to the center of the back surface of the wafer W supported by the support pins 11 of the support 10 by the back surface processing liquid supply mechanism 30 (back surface processing liquid supply process) (see FIG. 3B). ). In the present embodiment, the amount of the processing liquid supplied by the back surface processing liquid supply mechanism 30 is larger than the amount of the processing liquid supplied by the front surface processing liquid supply mechanism 35.

  Thus, the processing liquid supplied to the central portion of the back surface of the wafer W reaches the peripheral edge of the wafer W through the lift pin plate 40 and the support 10 in order (see FIG. 3B). At this time, since the treatment liquid passes through the acceleration inclined portion 15 of the support base 10, the flow velocity is accelerated. Thereafter, the processing liquid reaches the first guide member 21 and is guided by the first guide member 21 (guide process) (see FIG. 2).

On the other hand, the processing liquid supplied to the peripheral portion of the surface of the wafer W is guided by the first guide member 21 through the gap G ₀ between the peripheral portion of the wafer W and the first guide member 21 (guide process). (See FIG. 2).

At this time, according to the present embodiment, the first guide member 21 is disposed outside the periphery of the wafer W via the gap G ₀ , and the flow velocity of the processing liquid that has reached the periphery via the back surface of the wafer W However, it is faster than the flow rate of the processing liquid that has reached the peripheral edge through the surface of the wafer W (V1> V2) (see FIG. 2). For this reason, the suction effect of drawing the processing liquid to the back side of the wafer W can be generated in the gap G ₀ between the wafer W and the first guide member 21. As a result, it is possible to reliably prevent the processing liquid supplied to the back surface of the wafer W from entering the front surface side of the wafer W due to the surface tension of the processing liquid at the peripheral edge of the wafer W. Can be processed with high accuracy.

  That is, in the conventional liquid processing apparatus, the processing liquid supplied to the back surface of the wafer may wrap around the surface of the object to be processed due to the surface tension of the processing liquid at the peripheral edge of the wafer. The surface of the peripheral portion may be subjected to unscheduled processing, and the surface of the peripheral portion may not be accurately processed.

On the other hand, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to generate a suction effect that draws the processing liquid to the back surface side of the wafer W in the gap G ₀ between the wafer W and the first guide member 21. For this reason, it is possible to reliably prevent the processing liquid supplied to the back surface of the wafer W from flowing around to the front surface side of the wafer W due to the surface tension of the processing liquid at the peripheral portion of the wafer W. As a result, the peripheral surface of the wafer W can be processed with high accuracy.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the amount of the processing liquid supplied by the back surface processing liquid supply mechanism 30 is not only larger than the amount of the processing liquid supplied by the surface processing liquid supply mechanism 35, but the processing liquid Is accelerated by the accelerating inclined portion 15 of the support 10, the flow rate of the processing solution that has reached the peripheral portion through the back surface of the wafer W can be further increased (see FIG. 2). For this reason, the suction effect of drawing the processing liquid to the back side of the wafer W can be further enhanced. As a result, the surface of the peripheral portion of the wafer W can be processed with higher accuracy.

Of the processing liquid supplied to the peripheral edge of the surface of the wafer W, the processing liquid that has not been sucked into the gap G ₀ between the wafer W and the first guide member 21 is guided by the second guide member 22. (See FIG. 2).

  Also, as shown in FIG. 2, since the tip of the support pin 11 has an R shape, it is easy to rinse with the rinsing liquid of the processing liquid, thereby preventing adverse effects on the wafer W to be processed next time. be able to.

  The processing liquid supplied in this way is discharged out of the liquid processing apparatus by a discharge pipe (not shown).

  As described above, when the processing with the processing liquid on the periphery of the front surface of the wafer W and the back surface of the wafer W is completed, the supply of the processing liquid is stopped. Thereafter, the wafer W is rotated at a high speed by the rotation driving unit 60, and the peripheral portion of the wafer W is dried (drying step) (see FIG. 3B).

  Next, the upper cup 2 moves upward and is positioned at the upper position (see FIG. 3A) (separation step).

  Next, the lift pin plate 40 is positioned at the upper position by the elevating member (upper positioning step) (see FIG. 3A). Thus, when the lift pin plate 40 is positioned at the upper position, the wafer W placed on the support pins 11 of the support base 10 is supported and lifted by the lift pins 41 of the lift pin plate 40 (FIG. 3A). reference).

  Next, the wafer W on the lift pins 41 of the lift pin plate 40 is received by a wafer transfer robot (not shown), and the wafer W is removed from the lift pins 41 (removal process) (see FIGS. 1 and 3).

  By the way, in this Embodiment, the information regarding each process of the liquid processing method mentioned above is memorize | stored in the storage medium 52 (refer FIG. 1). The liquid processing apparatus includes a computer 55 that receives the storage medium 52 and a control unit 50 that receives the signal from the computer 55 and controls the liquid processing apparatus. For this reason, by inserting the storage medium 52 into the computer 55, the liquid processing apparatus 10 can execute the series of liquid processing methods described above by the control unit 50 (see FIG. 1).

The side sectional view showing the composition of the liquid processing device by the embodiment of the invention. The sectional side view which expanded the acceleration inclination part vicinity of the liquid processing apparatus by embodiment of this invention. The side sectional view showing the drive mode of the liquid processing apparatus by the embodiment of the invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Lower cup 2 Upper cup 5 Seal member 10 Support stand (support part)
11 Support pin 15 Acceleration inclined portion 21 First guide member 22 Second guide member 26 Position shift prevention guide 30 Back surface treatment liquid supply mechanism 35 Surface treatment liquid supply mechanism 50 Control unit 52 Storage medium 55 Computer 60 Rotation drive unit W Wafer (covered) Processing body)

Claims (5)

A support part for supporting the object to be processed;
A rotation drive unit for rotating the support unit;
A surface treatment liquid supply mechanism for supplying a treatment liquid toward the peripheral edge of the surface of the object to be processed supported by the support part;
A back surface treatment liquid supply mechanism for supplying a treatment liquid to the back surface of the object to be processed supported by the support unit;
A first guide member disposed outside the periphery of the object to be processed via a gap,
A liquid processing apparatus characterized in that the flow rate of the processing liquid reaching the peripheral portion via the back surface of the target object is faster than the flow rate of the processing liquid reaching the peripheral portion via the surface of the target object. .   The said support part has an acceleration inclination part which makes the clearance gap between this support part and the back surface of the said to-be-processed object small in the direction which goes to the peripheral part from the center part of this to-be-processed object. The liquid processing apparatus according to 1.   The liquid processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a second guide member disposed outside the periphery of the first guide member.   The liquid processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of misalignment prevention guides are provided on an upper surface of the first guide member. A supporting step of supporting the object to be processed by the support unit;
A rotation drive step of rotating the support portion by a rotation drive portion;
A surface treatment liquid supply step of supplying a treatment liquid toward a peripheral portion of the surface of the object to be processed supported by the support portion by a surface treatment liquid supply mechanism;
A back surface treatment liquid supply step of supplying a treatment liquid to the back surface of the object supported by the support portion by a back surface treatment liquid supply mechanism;
The first guide member disposed outside the periphery of the object to be processed with a gap therebetween, the processing liquid reaching the periphery via the back surface of the object to be processed, and the periphery via the surface of the object to be processed And a guide step for guiding the processing liquid that has reached
A liquid processing method characterized in that the flow rate of the processing liquid reaching the peripheral portion through the back surface of the target object is faster than the flow rate of the processing liquid reaching the peripheral portion through the surface of the target object. .

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