Dainippon Screen Mfg. Co., Ltd.

Sokudo Co., Ltd.

Screen Semiconductor Solutions Co., Ltd.

Smc Corporation

Akihiro Hisai

Hiroshi Kobayashi

Koji Kaneyama

Masahiko Harumoto

Akira Yamaguchi

Toru Asano

Shuichi Yasuda

Tadashi Miyagi

Minobu Matsunaga

Masashi Kanaoka

Takuya Kuroda

Tsuyoshi Okumura

Minoru Sugiyama

Masami Ohtani

Kazuhito Shigemori

Junichi Yoshida

Hiroshi Kato

Masanori Imamura

Hidetoshi Sagawa

Hiroyasu Goto

Kasuhito Shigemori

Kazuhisa Takamatsu

A method for developing a substrate includes spinning the substrate with a spin holder and discharging a developer to the substrate from a plurality of exhaust ports arranged in a row on a developer feeder. The method also includes causing a moving mechanism to move said developer feeder in one direction extending to a center of the substrate in plan view while maintaining a direction of arrangement of said exhaust ports in said one direction, thereby to move said developer feeder between substantially the center and an edge of the substrate. The method further includes causing the developer discharged from said exhaust ports to impinge in separate streams on the substrate, and causing each of the separate streams to impinge spirally on the substrate, thereby to develop the substrate. At least two of loci of positions of impingement of the developer corresponding to said exhaust ports overlap each other.

Developing apparatus

Developing method

After a solvent is discharged onto a substrate in a period from a time point tto a time point t, rotation of the substrate is started at a time point t. A resist liquid is discharged onto a center portion of a target surface of the substrate at a time point t. A rotation speed of the substrate starts to decrease at a time point t, and attains a first speed after a certain period of time. The discharge of the resist liquid is stopped at a time point t. The rotation of the substrate is accelerated in a period from a time point tto a time point t, and the rotation speed of the substrate attains a second speed at the time point t. The rotation of the substrate is decelerated in a period from the time point tto a time point t, and the rotation speed of the substrate attains a third speed at the time point t. Here, deceleration of the rotation of the substrate in the period from the time point tto the time point tis smaller than acceleration of the rotation of the substrate in the period from the time point tto the time point t

Substrate processing apparatus and substrate processing method

A substrate processing apparatus comprises an indexer block, an anti-reflection film processing block, a resist film processing block, a development processing block, and an interface block. An exposure device is arranged adjacent to an interface block. The interface block comprises a drying processing group including two drying processing units and an interface transport mechanism. After a substrate is subjected to exposure processing by the exposure device, the substrate is transported to the drying processing units in the drying processing group by the interface transport mechanism, where the substrate is subjected to cleaning and drying processings.

A method for developing a substrate includes a developing step for supplying a developer to the substrate, and a neutralizing and removing step for supplying a treating solution containing a neutralizing material to the substrate to neutralize the developer, and neutralizing the developer and removing the developer from the substrate. In the neutralizing and removing step, the developer is neutralized by the treating solution. This neutralization reaction forms a product (salt) which easily melts into the treating solution and does not precipitate. Thus, the product is removable from the substrate along with the treating solution. Therefore, the developer is inhibited from remaining on the substrate. As a result, it is possible to prevent post-develop defects due to 'residues of the developer' or the developer remaining on the substrate.

Substrate developing method and developing apparatus

A substrate processing apparatus comprises an indexer block, an anti-reflection film processing block, a resist film processing block, a development processing block, and an interface block. An exposure device is arranged adjacent to the interface block. The interface block comprises washing processing units and an interface transport mechanism. Before a substrate is subjected to exposure processing by the exposure device, the substrate is transported to a washing processing unit by the interface transport mechanism. The substrate is washed and dried by the washing processing unit.

A substrate processing apparatus comprises an indexer block, an anti-reflection film processing block, a resist film processing block, a development processing block, a resist cover film processing block, a resist cover film removal block, and an interface block. An exposure device is arranged adjacent to the interface block. A resist film is formed on a substrate in the resist film processing block. A resist cover film is formed on the resist film in the resist cover film processing block before the substrate is subjected to exposure processing by the exposure device.

A heating unit having a heat pipe structure includes a heater and a cooling pipe disposed in an inner space of a holding table. The holding table and the cooling pipe are thermally insulated by a heat-insulating member, so that it is possible to prevent direct heat transfer from the cooling pipe to the holding table. Therefore, it is possible to rapidly perform a cooling processing while keeping the evenness of the temperature distribution of the mounting face and the temperature distribution of the substrate mounted on the mounting face, and consequently to appropriately keep the evenness of the film thickness and the line width of a wiring layer formed on the substrate upon heat processing.

Heat processing device

A substrate processing apparatus is provided with five inspection devices that perform inspections of different kinds to a substrate. Among the five kinds of inspections, the film quality is measured after resist coating, and before post-coating heat-treatment. As the film quality, the amount of solvent remaining in a resist film is measured. The film thickness is measured after heat-treatment following resist coating and before exposure. Meanwhile, the line width and the superposition precision are measured and macroscopic defect inspection is performed after post-development heat-treatment and before the substrate is returned to an indexer.

Substrate processing apparatus and method including a device for applying a coating and a device for measuring the film quality of the coating

A thermal processor comprises a thermal processing plate employing a heat pipe structure, a heater heating a working fluid and a cooling plate for reducing the temperature of the thermal processing plate. In order to reduce the temperature of the thermal processing plate, a cooling water supply part supplies cooling water to the cooling plate, for reducing the temperature of the thermal processing plate at a high speed. Then, a compressed air supply part supplies compressed air to the cooling plate, for reducing the temperature of the thermal processing plate at a low speed. Thus, a thermal processor capable of quickly reducing the temperature of a thermal processing plate to a set level without exerting bad influence on a result of processing a substrate is provided.

Thermal processor

A substrate thermal processing apparatus easily changes a set temperature at which a substrate is set while thermally processed. A heating plate of the substrate thermal processing apparatus comprises a substrate supporting plate which supports a substrate, an auxiliary heating portion and a main heating portion, and a cooling Peltier element and a water cooling jacket. For heating a substrate, heat which is generated at the main heating portion which comprises a heater portion is transmitted to the substrate supporting plate through the auxiliary heating portion which comprises a Peltier element, so that the substrate is heated up. When the temperature of the substrate supporting plate is to be decreased, the auxiliary heating portion and the cooling Peltier element guide the heat of the substrate supporting plate to the water cooling jacket, and the heat is discharged outside by cooling water.

Apparatus for and method of thermally processing substrate

In a substrate thermal processing device, a temperature of a substrate can be precisely controlled within a short time by means of a hot plate oven. The substrate thermal processing device includes a substrate supporting plate for supporting the substrate, an auxiliary heating/cooling section for heating or cooling the substrate and having a Peltier effect element and disposed on a lower surface of the substrate supporting plate, and a main heating section for heating the substrate and disposed below the substrate supporting plate and the auxiliary heating/cooling section.

Processing system hot plate construction substrate

A plurality of nozzles and treating liquid supplying tubes are supported by rigid support arms forming part of temperature control piping for contacting the tubes to maintain treating liquids in the tubes to a constant temperature. The support arms are pivotable about a pivot axis located sideways from a substrate, such that the nozzles are movable between a dispensing position and a standby position displaced from above the substrate. A drive arm engages and swings a selected one of the support arms to move the nozzle attached to the selected support arm, between the dispensing position and standby position. With this construction, a nozzle selected from the plurality of nozzles is reliably moved in a predetermined posture to a predetermined position, while allowing sufficient temperature control of treating liquids by the temperature controlling piping, and avoiding inadvertent dripping of the treating liquids due to deformations of the treating liquid supplying tubes.

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Kyoto, Japan

Akihiro Hisai