Substrate processing apparatus and substrate processing method

Details Substrate processing apparatus and substrate processing method Substrate processing apparatus and substrate processing method

2002-03-18

2003-12-30

Mills, Gregory (Department: 1763)

Adhesive bonding and miscellaneous chemical manufacture

Differential fluid etching apparatus

For liquid etchant

C134S033000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06669808

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus and a substrate processing method horizontally holding a substrate such as a semiconductor wafer, a glass substrate for a liquid crystal display, a glass substrate for a plasma display, a substrate for a photomask or a substrate for an optical disk (hereinafter simply referred to as a “substrate”) and rotating the same about a vertical axis for supplying a processing solution such as an etching solution, a developer or a detergent to the lower surface of the substrate and processing the substrate.
2. Description of the Background Art
When a processing solution such as an etching solution is supplied to the lower surface of a substrate such as a semiconductor wafer horizontally rotated about a vertical axis, mist of the processing solution scattered during the processing may reach the upper surface of the substrate to adhere thereto or the processing solution supplied to the lower surface of the substrate may reach the upper surface of the substrate from the peripheral edge thereof. In order to solve this problem, generally employed is a substrate processing apparatus approaching a blocking member to the upper surface of the substrate for defining a narrow space between the upper surface of the substrate and the blocking member and introducing inert gas such as nitrogen gas into the space thereby preventing the mist of the processing solution or the processing solution from reaching the upper surface of the substrate.
FIG. 14
is a model diagram schematically showing the structure of a principal part of an exemplary conventional substrate processing apparatus having the aforementioned structure. A substrate W is positioned by a plurality of, e.g., three support pins
502
provided on a rotary base member
501
, to be horizontally supported. The rotary base member
501
, fixed to the upper end of a rotary spindle
503
rotatably supported and rotated about a vertical axis by a motor (not shown), is rotated while holding the substrate W. A blocking member
504
consisting of a circular plate equivalent in size to the substrate W is arranged above the rotary base member
501
, mounted on a suspension arm
505
and horizontally held. The suspension arm
505
is vertically movably supported to be capable of approaching the blocking member
504
to the substrate W and upwardly separating the former from the latter. A gas outlet
506
is provided on the central portion of the blocking member
504
for injecting inert gas such as nitrogen gas toward the upper surface of the substrate W. The suspension arm
505
is formed on its axial portion with a gas introduction passage
507
, communicating with the gas outlet
506
, connected to a gas supply pipe (not shown).
A processing solution nozzle (not shown) is arranged under the rotary base member
501
for supplying a processing solution such as an etching solution, a developer or a detergent to the lower surface of the substrate W in response to the contents of processing. A cup is vertically movably arranged around the rotary base member
501
for preventing the processing solution from scattering, and a discharge/exhaust pipe is provided on the bottom portion of this cap for discharging the processing solution recovered in the cup from the substrate processing apparatus and exhausting the cup.
In order to process the substrate W in the substrate processing apparatus having the aforementioned structure, the blocking member
504
is approached to the substrate W supported by the support pins
502
provided on the rotary base member
501
for rotating the substrate W and supplying the processing solution to the lower surface of the substrate W. At this time, the inert gas is injected toward the upper surface of the substrate W from the gas outlet
506
of the blocking member
504
to be introduced into and purge the space between the upper surface of the substrate W and the blocking member
504
. The inert gas introduced into the space between the substrate W and the blocking member
504
flows toward the peripheral edge of the substrate W, and is injected outward from the peripheral edge of the substrate W. Therefore, mist of the processing solution scattered from the peripheral edge of the substrate W is forced back by the flow of the inert gas outwardly injected from the peripheral edge of the substrate W not to penetrate into the space between the substrate W and the blocking member
504
, and the processing solution supplied to the lower surface of the substrate W is prevented by the flow of the inert gas from reaching the upper surface of the substrate W from the peripheral edge of the substrate W.
In the aforementioned substrate processing apparatus approaching the blocking member
504
to the upper surface of the substrate W for purging the space between the substrate W and the blocking member
504
by introducing the nitrogen gas, the blocking member
504
must be approached to the upper surface of the substrate W as close as possible in order to effectively prevent the scattered mist and the processing solution from reaching the upper surface of the substrate W. However, the distance capable of approaching the blocking member
504
to the upper surface of the substrate W without coming into contact with the rotated substrate W is limited due to mechanical accuracy of the blocking member
504
. In the structure approaching the blocking member
504
to the upper surface of the substrate W, therefore, the mist of the processing solution or the processing solution cannot necessarily be sufficiently prevented from reaching the upper surface of the substrate W.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to a substrate processing apparatus supporting a substrate by Bernoulli effect and supplying a processing solution to the lower surface of the substrate thereby processing the substrate.
The substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention, supplying a processing solution to a substrate for performing prescribed processing, comprises a proximity suction member downwardly and outwardly injecting gas toward the overall peripheral edge of the upper surface of the substrate for sucking the substrate in a proximity state by Bernoulli effect, a rotating/driving part rotating the substrate sucked by the proximity suction member in the proximity state, and a processing solution supply part supplying the processing solution to a lower surface of the substrate rotated in the state sucked by the proximity suction member in the proximity state.
The proximity suction member sucks the substrate in the proximity state due to the Bernoulli effect for rotating the substrate, supplying the processing solution to the lower surface of the substrate and processing the substrate, thereby preventing mist of the processing solution scattered from the peripheral edge from reaching the upper surface of the substrate and adhering thereto or preventing the processing solution supplied to the lower surface of the substrate from reaching the upper surface from the peripheral edge of the substrate.
According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the proximity suction member comprises a support surface injecting gas from a plurality of holes thereby sucking/supporting the substrate through Bernoulli effect while setting the maximum width of each of the plurality of holes to not more than 2 mm in a section perpendicular to the direction of formation of the holes, and a passage guiding the gas to the plurality of holes.
The substrate can be properly sucked and supported.
According to another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the substrate processing apparatus further comprises a plurality of contact members arranged on the outer periphery of the substrate sucked by the proximity suction member in the proximity state, and the rotating/driving part rotates the plurality of contact members in a plane parallel to a support surface of the proximity suction member injecting the gas thereby sucking

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