Source: http://www.google.com/patents/US7543593?dq=7,682,496
Timestamp: 2017-02-28 10:23:10
Document Index: 418639276

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 5', 'art 2', 'art 2', 'art 5', 'art 2', 'art 2', 'art 2']

Patent US7543593 - Substrate processing apparatus - Google PatentsSearch Images Maps Play YouTube News Gmail Drive More »Sign inPatentsA substrate processing apparatus is provided. The apparatus includes a plurality of fluid suppliers 61, 61, 63 for supplying different processing fluids. In processing a wafer W, the substrate processing apparatus moves the fluid suppliers 61, 62, 63 along the peripheral part of the wafer W relatively....http://www.google.com/patents/US7543593?utm_source=gb-gplus-sharePatent US7543593 - Substrate processing apparatusAdvanced Patent SearchTry the new Google Patents, with machine-classified Google Scholar results, and Japanese and South Korean patents.Publication numberUS7543593 B2Publication typeGrantApplication numberUS 11/356,364Publication dateJun 9, 2009Filing dateFeb 17, 2006Priority dateAug 2, 2001Fee statusPaidAlso published asUS7332055, US7862680, US20030024645, US20060130968, US20080210278Publication number11356364, 356364, US 7543593 B2, US 7543593B2, US-B2-7543593, US7543593 B2, US7543593B2InventorsTakehiko Orii, Tatsuya Nishida, Osamu KurodaOriginal AssigneeTokyo Electron LimitedExport CitationBiBTeX, EndNote, RefManPatent Citations (30), Referenced by (26), Classifications (19), Legal Events (2) External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, EspacenetSubstrate processing apparatus
US 7543593 B2Abstract
causing relative vertical movement between a substrate and a top plate to change a first positional relationship in which the top plate is located away from the substrate to a second positional relationship in which the top plate is located adjacent to an upper surface of the substrate, wherein in the second positional relationship, the top plate lies above the upper surface to substantially cover an area radially inside of the periphery of the upper surface,
supplying an inert gas to an upper surface of the substrate, and supplying a chemical liquid to a position of the upper surface of the substrate radially outside a portion of the substrate to which the inert gas is supplied while supplying the inert gas to the upper surface of the substrate,
wherein, during the supplying of the inert gas and the chemical liquid, the second positional relationship is maintained, the substrate is rotating and the inert gas is supplied, from the top plate to a space between the substrate and the top plate.
2. The method according to claim 1, wherein a fluid existing in a space adjacent to a peripheral region of the substrate or a fluid existing on a peripheral region of the substrate is sucked when the chemical liquid is supplied to the substrate.
3. The method according to claim 1 wherein the inert gas comprises nitrogen gas.
4. The method according to claim 1, further comprising a step of treating a back surface of a substrate with a liquid prior to supplying the inert gas and prior to supplying the chemical liquid. Description
This application is a division of Ser. No. 10/209,617, filed Aug. 1, 2002, which is being incorporated in its entirety herein by reference.
wherein the processing fluids are supplied from the plural fluid suppliers to the peripheral part of the substrate while rotating the substrate thereby to allow the plurality of fluid suppliers to move along the circumference of the substrate relatively. According to this substrate processing apparatus, the processing fluid supplied from the inside fluid supplier (in the radial direction of the substrate) allows the other processing fluid, such as chemical liquid, supplied from the outside fluid supplier to be swept away in a direction apart from the center of the substrate.
According to the second feature of the invention, a top plate is arranged above the substrate so as to oppose the substrate. The top plate is relatively movable between a position adjacent to the top face of the substrate and a position apart from the top face of the substrate. For example, at processing, if moving the top plate to a position close to the upper face of the substrate thereby to cover a substrate's surface requiring no processing, then it becomes possible to prevent the processing fluid from splashing onto the above substrate's surface requiring no processing.
According to the thirteenth feature of the invention, an outermost fluid supplier of the plural fluid suppliers is adapted so as to supply the substrate with a chemical liquid, while an innermost fluid supplier of the plural fluid, suppliers is adapted so as to supply the substrate with an inert processing fluid.
The wafer transfer unit 7 in the wafer transfer part 5 is movable in both Y-direction and Z-direction and also rotatable in a plane of X-Y (è-direction). The wafer transfer unit 7 includes a pickup/accommodating arm 11 for grasping the wafer W. The pickup/accommodating arm 11 is slidable in a direction of X. In this way, the wafer transfer unit 7 can obtain access to a slot at any height of all the carriers C mounted on the mounting table 6 and also access to two upper and lower wafer delivery units 16, 17 arranged in the cleaning part 2, allowing the wafer W to be transferred from the in/out port 4 to the cleaning part 2, and vice versa.
The downward flow from the fan filter unit (FFU) 26 partially passes through the wafer delivery units 16, 17 and also their upside space and flows into the wafer transfer part 5. Consequently, it is possible to prevent particles etc. from invading the cleaning part 2 through the wafer transfer part 2, thereby maintaining the cleanness in the cleaning part 2.
The main wafer transfer unit 7 includes a cylindrical holder 30 extending in the direction of Z and having vertical walls 27, 28 and a lateral opening 29 therebetween and a wafer transfer body 31 disposed in the holder 30 so as to move up and down in the direction of Z. The cylindrical holder 30 is rotatable owing to the rotational driving force of a motor 32 and correspondingly, the wafer transfer body 31 is rotated in a body with the holder 30.
FIG. 4 is a plan view of the substrate processing unit 12. The substrate processing unit 12 is provided, in a “unit” chamber 42 thereof, with an outer chamber 43 of closed structure for accommodating the wafer W therein, and an “edge arm” housing 44. An opening 45 is formed in the “unit” chamber 42. The “unit” chamber 42 is provided with a mechanical shutter 46 that opens and closes the opening 45 by means of a not-shown closing mechanism. When the wafer W is loaded to or unloaded from the substrate processing unit 12 through the opening 45 by the transfer arm, the mechanical shutter 46 opens. The mechanical shutter 46 for unit chamber is adapted so as to open and close the opening 45 on the interior side of the “unit”chamber 42. Thus, even if a positive pressure is formed in the “unit” chamber 42, an atmosphere inside the “unit” chamber 42 can be prevent from leaking out.
An opening 49 is formed in the “edge-arm” housing 44. The “edge arm” housing 44 is provided with a shutter 50 that opens and closes the opening 49 by means of a not-shown driving mechanism. When the “edge arm” housing 44 is insulated from the outer chamber 43 in terms of atmosphere therein, the shutter 50 for the edge-arm housing closes. The shutter 50 for “edge arm” housing is adapted so as to open and close the opening 49 on the interior side of the outer chamber 43. Thus, even if a positive pressure is formed in the “unit” chamber 42, an atmosphere inside the “unit” chamber 42 can be prevent from leaking out.
Accommodated in the “edge arm” housing 44 is an edge arm (unit) 60 which can eject a chemical liquid, pure water and also N2-gas as an inert gas. The edge arm 60 can be also accommodated in the outer chamber 43 and is movable up to the periphery of the wafer W held by a later-mentioned spin chuck 71. The edge arm 60 takes shelter in the “edge arm” housing 44 except the processing operation. If the edge arm 60 moves into the outer chamber 43 through the opening 49, then the shutter 50 for the “edge arm” housing opens.
As shown in FIG. 5, the edge arm 60 includes a chemical nozzle 61 for supplying the wafer W (metallic membrane 141) with a chemical liquid, a pure-water nozzle 62 for supplying the wafer W with pure water as an inert liquid and a N2-gas nozzle 63 for supplying the wafer W with N2-gas as inert gas. The chemical nozzle 61, the pure-water nozzle 62 and the N2-gas nozzle 63 are all arranged in one line connecting the center of the wafer W with its periphery. That is, according to the shown example, they are arranged in the radial direction of the wafer W in the form of a circular plate. A metallic film 141, such as copper, is laminated on the surface of the wafer W. The chemical nozzle 61 supplies a chemical liquid for removing the metallic film 141. The pure-water nozzle 62 adjoining on the inside of the chemical nozzle 61 supplies pure water for rinsing the peripheral part of the wafer W. The N2-gas nozzle 63 adjoining on the inside of the pure-water nozzle 62 supplies N2-gas for drying the peripheral part of the wafer W.
When it is required to lower the inner cup 70 to the position of FIG. 7 thereby to allow the spin,chuck 71 to transfer the wafer W, the under plate 75 is positioned at the withdrawal position and the top plate is also positioned at the withdrawal position. Consequently, there can be defined a sufficient clearance between the under plate 75 and the wafer W held by the spin chuck 71. Additionally, there is also defined a sufficient clearance between the top plate 72 and the upper face of the wafer W. In this way, the transfer of the wafer W about the spin chuck 71 can be accomplished smoothly.
As shown in FIG. 14, an “inner-cup” drain pipe 110 is connected with the bottom of the inner cup 70 to discharge liquid and droplets in the inner cup 70. The “inner-cup ” drain pipe 110 is movable up and down through a through-port 111 formed on the bottom of the outer chamber 43. The lower end of the “inner-cup” drain pipe 110 is inserted into an “inner-cup” mist trap 112. Owing to the provision of the “inner-cup” mist trap 112, it is possible to remove air-bubbles in the liquid and droplets discharged from the inner cup 70. The air bubbles on removal is discharged through a mist-trap exhaust pipe 113 connected with the “inner-cup” mist trap 112. The liquid and droplets after the removal of air bubbles is collected by an “inner-cup” waste-fluid collecting line 114 connected to the “inner-cup” mist trap 112.
On the other hand, when forming the liquid film by filling the clearance L1 with the chemical liquid for cleaning, it is carried out to allow the chemical liquid to make a detour to the surface's side of the wafer W (a surface of the metallic film 141) via the peripheral part of the back face of the wafer W, thereby supplying the chemical liquid for cleaning up to the peripheral part on the surface of the wafer W, as the object to be eliminated in the later-mentioned removal process. Then, the cleaning process of the peripheral part on the surface of the wafer W is carried out at the same time of the cleaning process of the back face of the wafer W. Subsequently, the spin chuck 71 rotates, for example, at 2,000 rpm for five seconds. As a result, the chemical liquid for cleaning is shaken down from the wafer W and continuously drained into the “inner-cup” drain pipe 110. When the spin chuck 71 rotates at a high speed, the (three) holding member 76 on the chuck body 73 are brought into a condition of FIG. 10 respectively. That is, the lower part of the pusher arm 81 abuts against the inside of the chuck body 73. Therefore, since a grasping force for the wafer W originates in the spring 82 during the high-speed rotation, the wafer W is not subjected to an excessive holding force.
The edge arm 60 may be constructed so as to be movable in the radial direction of the wafer W. Namely, the edge arm 60 may be moved while maintaining the relationship of FIG. 6 among the flows of the processing fluids. Then, it becomes possible to change a width of the wafer's face to be processed in the peripheral part of the wafer W. Additionally, it is possible to perform the processing for the wafer W with the chemical liquid in correspondence with a distance from the circumference of the wafer W in multistage. For example, as shown in FIG. 20, it is possible to eliminate the metallic film 141 so as to get thinner as approaching the periphery of the wafer W. Then, since either N2-gas or pure water prevents progress of the chemical liquid flowing inside the wafer W, it is possible to move the edge arm 60 from the inside of the wafer W to the periphery. In this way, owing to the terraced formation of the corner of the metallic film 141, it can be peeled from the wafer W with difficulty. When the device structure has films formed in multi-layer (like the films 141a, 141b, 141c of FIG. 20), it is preferable to gradually narrow the width of each film to be eliminated from the periphery of the wafer W as the film is being lowered. Consequently, the metallic film 141 gets thinner as approaching the periphery of the wafer W.
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ClassificationH01L21/67S2D8W4, B08B3/02Legal EventsDateCodeEventDescriptionNov 7, 2012FPAYFee paymentYear of fee payment: 4Nov 24, 2016FPAYFee paymentYear of fee payment: 8RotateOriginal ImageGoogle Home - Sitemap - USPTO Bulk Downloads - Privacy Policy - Terms of Service - About Google Patents - Send FeedbackData provided by IFI CLAIMS Patent Services