Photography – Fluid-treating apparatus – Fluid application to one side only of photographic medium
Reexamination Certificate
2002-02-28
2004-02-17
Rutledge, D. (Department: 2851)
Photography
Fluid-treating apparatus
Fluid application to one side only of photographic medium
C396S627000, C118S052000, C427S240000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06692165
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus for developing a substrate such as a semiconductor wafer, a glass substrate for a liquid crystal display, a glass substrate for a photomask, a substrate for an optical disk or the like.
2. Description of the Background Art
A substrate developing apparatus is employed for developing a photosensitive film of photoresist or the like formed on a substrate such as a semiconductor wafer, a glass substrate for a liquid crystal display (LCD), a glass substrate for a photomask, a substrate for an optical disk or the like.
In relation to development of an exposed photosensitive film formed on the surface of a substrate in a semiconductor manufacturing process or an LCD manufacturing process, known is a developing apparatus discharging a developer from a spray discharge nozzle while horizontally holding the substrate and rotating the same about a vertical axis thereby uniformly and sufficiently supplying the developer to the overall surface of the rotated substrate for developing the photosensitive film or dropping a developer onto the substrate kept in a stationary state from a nozzle having a discharge width at least equivalent to the maximum width of the substrate while moving this nozzle in parallel with the surface of the substrate thereby heaping the developer on the overall surface of the substrate, for example.
The developing apparatus heaping the developer on the overall surface of the substrate for developing the photosensitive film of photoresist or the like generally rotates the substrate at a high speed after a lapse of a prescribed developing time from supply of the developer onto the surface of substrate for discharging a rinse such as pure water, for example, to the surface of the rotated substrate from a discharge nozzle while draining the developer off the substrate by centrifugal force and replacing the developer with the pure water on the overall surface of the substrate, in order to stop development of the photosensitive film with the developer. Thereafter the developing apparatus further continuously rotates the substrate for draining the rinse off the substrate and drying the substrate thereby ending the processing.
However, the conventional developing apparatus performs at least the processing of supplying the rinse while draining the developer for stopping development of the photosensitive film with the developer to the subsequent processing of draining the rinse and drying the substrate in the state rotating the substrate at a high speed, and hence the developer or the rinse drained off the substrate by centrifugal force is disadvantageously splashed back from the periphery to adhere the surface or the back surface of the substrate again and contaminate the substrate. Following further refinement of patterns, a fine pattern formed by the developer may collapse due to influence by the centrifugal force resulting from high-speed rotation of the substrate.
In the process of manufacturing a semiconductor device, for example, a slit scan development system is recently widely employed as one of methods of developing a photoresist film formed on the surface of a substrate such as a semiconductor wafer. This development system linearly horizontally moves a developer discharge nozzle having a slit discharge port substantially equivalent to or longer by about several mm than the diameter of a substrate from a first end to a second end of the substrate horizontally held in a stationary state by a substrate holding part while discharging a developer onto the substrate from the slit discharge port of the developer discharge nozzle for heaping the developer on the substrate. Thus, line width uniformity of a resist film pattern can be remarkably improved by heaping the developer while keeping the substrate stationary.
When the developer discharge nozzle moves at a speed of 50 mm/sec. in this slit scan development, for example, developing time difference of six seconds at the maximum results in a substrate of 300 mm in diameter. In a developing time of about 60 seconds applied to a conventional manufacturing process, development of photoresist substantially converges and hence the developing time difference resulting in the substrate surface does not appear as difference in work dimension exceeding allowance. In manufacturing of a recent semiconductor device, however, a hyperfine working technique is employed while allowance for work dimensions is strictly managed. Therefore, the difference in work dimension resulting from developing time difference, hardly regarded as problematic in general, recently comes into question as the case may be. When the developing time is reduced in order to improve the throughput, further, the difference in work dimension resulting from developing time difference disadvantageously gets remarkable.
Therefore, a scan rinse system of providing a rinse discharge nozzle supplying a rinse (pure water) onto a substrate for stopping development with a slit discharge port for heaping a developer through a developer discharge nozzle, thereafter holding a prescribed developing time and discharging the rinse onto the substrate from the slit discharge port of the rinse discharge nozzle while moving the rinse discharge nozzle at the same speed in the same direction as the developer discharge nozzle is proposed in order to eliminate the developing time difference in the substrate surface.
When a developer discharge nozzle (not shown) heaps a developer
301
on the overall upper surface of a substrate W horizontally held by a substrate holding part
310
and thereafter a rinse discharge nozzle
312
discharges a rinse
302
onto the substrate W from a slit discharge port thereof while horizontally moving from a first end to a second end of the substrate W as shown in
FIG. 31A
, however, the rinse
302
discharged from the rinse discharge nozzle
312
also flows frontward in the direction of movement of the rinse discharge nozzle
312
, as shown in FIG.
31
B. The rinse
302
flowing frontward from the rinse discharge nozzle
312
partially washes away the developer
301
located in front of the rinse discharge nozzle
312
from the substrate W. Therefore, it follows that development is stopped in front of the rinse discharge nozzle
312
before the rinse discharge nozzle
312
moves. Consequently, developing time difference in the surface of the substrate W cannot be efficiently eliminated and work dimension difference resulting from the developing time difference cannot be eliminated either.
FIGS. 48A
to
48
E are model diagrams showing exemplary developing steps through a developing apparatus capable of performing uniform development at a low cost.
As shown in
FIG. 48A
, a developer discharge nozzle
511
moves from a position on a side located outside a substrate
500
held in a stationary state by a substrate holding part
501
to a position on another side located outside the substrate
500
through the substrate
500
along with a rinse discharge nozzle
516
. The developer discharge nozzle
511
is inclined in a direction opposite to a scanning direction A
3
with respect to the substrate
500
, in order to suppress flowage of a developer in the scanning direction A
3
while inducing flowage of the developer in the direction opposite to the scanning direction A
3
on the surface of the substrate
500
thereby improving uniformity of development and preventing development defects.
Then, the substrate
500
held by the substrate holding part
501
is rotated by 180° as shown in
FIG. 48B
, and the developer discharge nozzle
511
moves along with the rinse discharge nozzle
516
, which in turn supplies a rinse onto the substrate
500
thereby stopping development, as shown in
FIG. 48C. A
pure water discharge nozzle
512
cleans a resist film or the like provided on the substrate
500
, as shown in FIG.
48
D. Thereafter the substrate
500
is horizontally rotated about a vertical axis to be dried, as shown in FIG.
48
E.
Thus, develop
Harumoto Masahiko
Nakano Kayoko
Nakano Soichi
Sanada Masakazu
Tamada Osamu
Dainippon Screen Mfg. Co,. Ltd.
Nakano Soichi
Ostrolenk Faber Gerb & Soffen, LLP
Rutledge D.
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