Patent ID: 6877518

Claim:
A chemical solution treatment apparatus for dissolving and removing ruthenium-based metal adhering to a semiconductor substrate by a chemical solution, comprising: a chemical solution treatment unit which make the semiconductor substrate come into contact with said chemical solution; a reservoir unit for storing the chemical solution which is used in said chemical solution treatment unit; and a chemical solution circulation system having said reservoir unit, a chemical solution supplying means for supplying the chemical solution inside said reservoir unit to said chemical solution treatment unit, and a chemical solution returning means for returning the chemical solution, which is used and recovered in said chemical solution treatment unit, to said reservoir unit, wherein: said chemical solution treatment unit comprises a chemical solution supplying nozzle for supplying the chemical solution to the semiconductor substrate, and a recovering mechanism for recovering the used chemical solution; said reservoir unit has a structure having a clearance part to be in contact with the chemical solution so that gas components derived from the ruthenium-based metal dissolved and removed in said chemical solution treatment are volatilized outside the chemical solution during circulation of the chemical solution, and comprises an exhaust duct to forcefully exhaust said volatilized gas components out of said reservoir unit; and the residence time of the chemical solution in the chemical solution treatment unit after coming in contact with the semiconductor substrate is shorter than the residence time of the chemical solution in the reservoir unit.