Tokyo Electron Limited

Tsuyoshi Shibata

Takahisa Otsuka

Kunie Ogata

Masahide Tadokoro

Shinichi Shinozuka

Eiichi Nishimura

Heiko Weichert

A substrate processing system includes a resist pattern forming apparatus including modules each configured to perform a predetermined process on a substrate with an underlying film formed thereon, an etched pattern forming apparatus including chambers each configured to perform patterning of the underlying film by use of a resist pattern as a mask, and examination devices configured to perform measurement and examination of a pattern attribute rendered on a substrate after a process in the resist pattern forming apparatus and after a process in the etched pattern forming apparatus. A controller is preset to utilize measurement results and transfer data to calculate correction value ranges respectively settable in the modules and the chambers and to determine combinations of the modules and the chambers such that corrections made within the correction value ranges cause a pattern attribute to approximate a predetermined value for each of the substrates.

Substrate processing system and method

A processing temperature of thermal processing is corrected based on measurement of a first dimension of a resist pattern on a substrate from a previously obtained relation between a dimension of a resist pattern and a temperature of thermal processing, a second dimension of the resist pattern after thermal processing is performed at the corrected processing temperature is measured, a distribution within the substrate of the second dimension is classified into a linear component expressed by an approximated curved surface and a nonlinear component, a processing condition of exposure processing is corrected based on the linear component from a previously obtained relation between a dimension of a resist pattern and a processing condition of exposure processing, and thermal processing at the processing temperature corrected in a temperature correcting step and exposure processing under the processing condition corrected in an exposure condition correcting step are performed to form a predetermined pattern.

Substrate processing method, computer-readable storage medium and substrate processing system

A substrate processing method is arranged to perform a heat process on a substrate with a coating film formed thereon to bake and cure the coating film. At first, the substrate, with the coating film formed thereon, is held at a preparatory temperature lower than a lower limit of temperature for baking and curing the coating film, to adjust distribution of a predetermined component in the coating film. Then, the substrate, with distribution of the predetermined component thus adjusted, is subjected to a heat process at a temperature not lower than the lower limit of temperature.

Substrate processing method

In the present invention, a plurality of heat treatment plates are provided side by side in a linear form on a base of a heat treatment apparatus in a coating and developing treatment system. In the heat treatment apparatus, three transfer member groups are provided which transfer a substrate in zones between adjacent heat treatment plates. At the time when performing a pre-baking treatment in the heat treatment apparatus, the substrate is transferred in order to the heat treatment plates at the same temperature, whereby the heat treatment is dividedly performed on the heat treatment plates. According to the present invention, substrates are subjected to heat treatment along the same route, so that the thermal histories are made uniform among the substrates.

Substrate treatment system, substrate treatment method, and computer readable storage medium

In a pattern measuring unit installed in a coating and developing treatment system, the height of a pattern formed on a substrate is measured using the Scatterometry method. Based on the measured height of the pattern, an appropriate number of rotations of the substrate during application of a coating solution is calculated, so that the rotation of the substrate during the application is controlled by the calculated number of rotations of the substrate. Since the number of rotations of the substrate when the coating solution is applied to the substrate is controlled, it is unnecessary to stop the system which performs photolithography processing on the substrate, resulting in improved productivity of the substrate.

Substrate processing method, program, computer-readable storage medium, and substrate processing system

Substrate processing apparatus

In the present invention, a plurality of heat treatment units are arranged side by side in a linear form and a substrate transfer mechanism for transferring the substrate between the heat treatment units is provided in a heat treatment apparatus. The substrate is sequentially heat-treated in the arrangement order, whereby one heat treatment as a whole is dividedly and successively performed in the plurality of heat treatment units. This allows substrates to be heat-treated along the same route and uniforms the thermal history among the substrates. At the time when heat-treating a plurality of substrates, the present invention causes less variation in thermal history among the substrates as compared to the case of parallel heat treatments.

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Koshi, Japan

Tsuyoshi Shibata