JP2001176786A - Forming apparatus for coating film - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a coating film forming apparatus for forming a coating film with in-plane uniformity and satisfactory throughput and reducing vibrations generated by the apparatus. SOLUTION: A wafer is held by a substrate-holding part which is movable in the Y-direction, and a coating solution nozzle movable in the X- and Y- directions is provided above the wafer. The coating solution nozzle is moved in the X-direction, while the coating solution is fed thereto, and the coating solution nozzle and the substrate-holding part are moved in the opposite direction, when the coating solution nozzle turns at the edge of the moving region in the X-direction. The movement is repeated, and the coating solution is fed over the entire wafer continuously. In addition to this way, each coating solution nozzle is provided on both side of the substrate, the nozzles are moved with point symmetry from the center of the substrate in the X-direction and the reverse direction to feed the coating solution. At this time the shock caused by the movement of each of the coating solution nozzle is transmitted through the substrate and canceled with each other and vibration is reduced.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to semiconductor wafers and LCs.
The present invention relates to a coating film forming apparatus for forming a film by applying a coating liquid for a coating film such as a resist liquid on a substrate to be processed such as a D substrate.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a process of manufacturing a semiconductor device or an LCD, a resist process is performed on a substrate to be processed by a technique called photolithography. This technique involves, for example, applying a resist solution to a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter, referred to as a wafer) to form a liquid film on the surface, exposing the resist film using a photomask, and then performing a development process to perform a desired pattern. Is obtained by a series of steps.

Conventionally, the step of applying a resist solution in the above-described steps is performed by a so-called spin coating method. In this method, a rotatable spin chuck is provided in a cup surrounding the entire circumference, and the wafer is horizontally sucked and held by the spin chuck, and a resist solution is supplied to the wafer W from a nozzle above the center of the wafer. In addition, the resist liquid is diffused by the centrifugal force of the wafer by rotating the wafer W to form a liquid film on the entire wafer.

The line width of a formed resist pattern is proportional to the thickness of the resist film and the exposure wavelength. Therefore, it is necessary to make the liquid film as thin as possible in order to cope with the miniaturization of the pattern, which has been increasing in recent years. In the spin coating method, the thinning is achieved by increasing the rotation speed of the wafer. .

[0005]

However, in the above-described method, since the wafer is rotated at a high speed, the peripheral speed of the outer peripheral portion becomes higher than that of the inner peripheral portion. There is a problem that air turbulence occurs. This turbulence causes the film thickness to fluctuate, so that the film thickness of the entire wafer becomes non-uniform, which is a factor that hinders miniaturization of the pattern.

[0006] Under such circumstances, a coating film forming apparatus that does not use the spin coating method has been studied. In this method, a nozzle 11 having a coating liquid discharge hole facing the wafer W is provided above the wafer W, and the nozzle 11 is reciprocated in the X direction along a guide member (not shown) as shown in FIG. Is intermittently fed in the Y direction, and a resist solution is supplied to the surface of the wafer W in a so-called single-stroke manner.

In this method, since the linear coating regions are arranged side by side and the entire surface is coated, the number of scans of the nozzle 11 is large. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the processing time by increasing the scan speed of the nozzle 11 as much as possible. It is practical.

Therefore, when the nozzle 11 is moved in the X direction, for example, it is considered that the nozzle 11 is accelerated to about several m / s in 6 to 10 ms at one end and sharply decelerated at the other end. There is a problem that large vibration is generated when the nozzle is accelerated and decelerated. Therefore, if the scanning speed of the nozzle 11 is increased in order to increase the throughput, the vibration increases, and for example, the vibration may propagate to other units or the exposure apparatus in the coating and developing system.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a coating film forming apparatus capable of forming a uniform coating film with a high yield of a coating solution and having a high throughput. It is in. It is another object of the present invention to provide a coating film forming apparatus with small vibration.

[0010]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a coating film forming apparatus, comprising: a substrate holding unit for holding a substrate;
Provided facing the substrate held by the substrate holding unit,
A coating liquid nozzle that discharges the coating liquid onto the substrate, an X-direction driving unit that moves the coating liquid nozzle in the X direction, and a Y-direction driving unit that moves the coating liquid nozzle intermittently in the Y direction. And a Y-direction drive unit for the substrate holding unit that intermittently moves the substrate holding unit in the Y direction. After the coating liquid nozzle is moved in the X direction, the coating liquid is linearly applied to the substrate surface. , The coating liquid nozzle and the substrate holding unit are simultaneously intermittently moved in the opposite direction of the Y direction so that the coating liquid nozzle faces a region next to the already coated region.
It is characterized in that regions applied in the directions are sequentially arranged in the Y direction.

According to this structure, the coating liquid nozzle and the substrate holding unit each have a Y-direction drive unit that can move separately, and the coating liquid nozzle and the substrate holding unit are simultaneously moved in the Y direction. Since it is intermittently moved in the direction, the coating liquid nozzle and the substrate holding part theoretically rub against each other at twice the relative speed, compared to moving either the coating liquid nozzle or the substrate holding part. Efficiency can be increased.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a coating film forming apparatus comprising: a substrate holding portion for holding a substrate; and a substrate holding portion which is opposed to the substrate held by the substrate holding portion and is separated from each other in the Y direction. A first coating liquid nozzle and a second coating liquid nozzle provided to face the substrate, and an X-direction drive for moving the first coating liquid nozzle and the second coating liquid nozzle in the X direction, respectively. And a Y-direction drive unit that intermittently moves the first coating liquid nozzle, the second coating liquid nozzle, and the substrate holding unit in the Y direction relatively, and moves the coating liquid nozzle in the X direction. After the application liquid is linearly applied to the substrate surface by moving, the first application liquid nozzle and the second application liquid nozzle are relatively moved in the Y direction, and are moved to a region next to the already applied region. With the coating liquid nozzles facing each other,
It is characterized in that regions applied in the directions are sequentially arranged in the Y direction.

According to this configuration, the regions where the first coating liquid nozzle and the second coating liquid nozzle are both coated in the X direction are arranged in the Y direction. Process in a short time.

Also in the present invention, the first coating liquid nozzle, the second coating liquid nozzle, and the substrate holder may be intermittently moved in the Y direction at the same time in the opposite direction.

Further, the first coating liquid nozzle and the second coating liquid nozzle may be provided, for example, on a common base, and the respective coating liquid nozzles may be configured to move in opposite directions and symmetrically. With such a configuration, the shocks generated during acceleration and deceleration of the first coating liquid nozzle and the second coating liquid nozzle are canceled out and reduced.

Further, in this case, the substrate holding section includes a first substrate holding section and a second substrate holding section, and the first coating liquid nozzle is provided with respect to the substrate held by the first substrate holding section. The processing efficiency can be further improved by discharging the coating liquid and configuring the second coating liquid nozzle to discharge the coating liquid to the substrate held by the second substrate holding unit.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a coating film forming apparatus.
A substrate holding unit that holds the substrate, a coating liquid nozzle that is provided to face the substrate held by the substrate holding unit, and that discharges a coating liquid onto the substrate; A Y-direction drive unit for intermittently moving in the Y direction, and a shock absorbing moving body that moves in the opposite direction and symmetrically with respect to the coating solution nozzle when the coating solution nozzle is moved in the X direction. The coating liquid nozzle is moved in the X direction to apply the coating liquid to the substrate surface in a straight line, and then the coating liquid nozzle is relatively moved in the Y direction to obtain an area adjacent to the already applied area. With the coating liquid nozzle facing
In this manner, the regions applied in the X direction are arranged in the Y direction.

In such a configuration, since a moving body for impact mitigation that moves in the opposite direction and symmetrically with respect to the coating liquid nozzle is provided, as described above, the acceleration of the coating liquid nozzle is accelerated.
Shock during deceleration is reduced.

In the above-mentioned invention, the X-direction drive section includes a guide shaft member extending in the X direction for guiding the coating liquid nozzle, and a nozzle provided to surround the guide shaft member via a space. It may be configured to include a holding body and gas supply means for supplying pressurized gas between the nozzle holding body and the shaft member. According to such a configuration, the shaft member and the nozzle holding body are brought into contact with each other. Since the application liquid nozzle can be guided by the shaft member without performing the operation, friction and vibration caused by the movement of the application liquid nozzle can be reduced.

[0020]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A coating film forming apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to the schematic explanatory views shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, taking a resist film as an example. The wafer W, which is a substrate, is horizontally held by a substrate holding unit 21 which is, for example, a vacuum chuck and which can be moved up and down by an elevating unit 21a.
Is provided on a moving body 21b that moves while being guided by a rail 25 that forms a guide portion extending in the Y direction. The movable body 21b is provided with a pair of mask support members 22 that protrude, for example, on both sides of the substrate holding unit 21 and rise up to a level slightly higher than the surface of the wafer W. On this mask support member 22, a mask member 23
The mask member 23 has only a portion corresponding to the coating film forming region of the wafer W so as to prevent the resist solution supplied from above the mask member 23 from adhering to the coating film forming region of the wafer W. It has an opening shape. The mask member 23 is configured to be detachable from the cup 22 so that the mask member 23 can be cleaned by a cleaning device (not shown) provided outside the apparatus.

The moving body 21b is rotated by a motor 27 provided outside the housing 24, is screwed with a ball screw 26 extending in the Y direction, and can be moved in the Y direction by the rotational force of the ball screw 26. . Here, the “Y-direction driving unit for the substrate holding unit that intermittently moves the substrate holding unit in the Y direction” in the claims corresponds to the rail 25, the ball screw 26, the motor 27, and the like.

On the bottom surface of the housing 24, a set of liquid tanks
Is provided, and a solvent such as a thinner solution is stored. This solvent is for suppressing the volatilization of the coating liquid supplied to the surface of the wafer W, and the temperature, concentration, etc. are controlled in the liquid tank 28 so that the periphery of the wafer W becomes an appropriate solvent vapor atmosphere. I have. In this example, the main body of the apparatus such as the housing 24 is surrounded by the case body 20 in order to form an atmosphere of the solvent vapor so as to be separated from the outside.

Openings are formed in the housing 24, for example, on the left side surface in FIG. 2 and on the side surface of the case body 20 aligned with the side surface so that the wafer W can be loaded and unloaded, though not shown. For example, when loading / unloading the wafer W, a transfer arm (not shown) is inserted between the mask support member 22 and the back surface of the wafer W via the opening of the case body 20 and the housing 24, and the transfer arm and / or the substrate holding section 21 are inserted. This is performed by transferring the wafer W between the two by the raising / lowering operation.

Next, a description will be given of the vicinity of the coating liquid nozzle 3 which moves above the substrate holding unit 21 and supplies the coating liquid to the surface of the wafer W. The coating liquid nozzle 3 is configured to be supported by a guide member 31 such that the discharge hole 3a faces the wafer W and is movable in the X direction. The guide member 31 faces the housing 24. It is provided near the upper end of the side wall, and is configured to be movable in the Y direction while the left and right ends are guided by rails 32a and 32b extending in the Y direction.

The coating liquid nozzle 3 is screwed with a ball screw 33 provided in parallel with the guide member 31, and the motor 34 provided at one end of the ball screw 33 rotates the ball screw 33 in the forward and reverse directions. 3 is guided by the guide member 31 and can reciprocate in the X direction. On the other hand, the coating liquid nozzle 3 is connected to a liquid supply unit 35, and supplies a coating liquid, such as a resist liquid, whose liquid temperature and concentration have been adjusted, from this liquid supply unit 35 via a flow rate control valve (not shown). Then, the resist liquid is discharged from the discharge holes 3a facing the wafer W.

On one end of the guide member 31, for example, a ball screw 36 provided parallel to the rail 32b and driven by a motor 37 is screwed. By rotating the ball screw 36, the guide member 31 is coated. Rail 32a, 3 and 3 are integrated with liquid nozzle 3 and ball screw 33.
It moves in the Y direction guided by 2b. This motor 37
In addition, the motor 34, the motor 27, and the elevating unit 21a are connected to the control unit 38, and their operations are controlled, for example. Guide member 31, ball screw 33, motor 34
And the like correspond to the “X-direction driving unit that reciprocates the coating solution nozzle in the X direction” in the claims, and the rail 32
The components a and 32b, the ball screw 36, the motor 37, and the like correspond to a “Y-direction driving unit for the coating liquid nozzle that intermittently moves the coating liquid nozzle in the Y direction”.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described. First, the substrate holding unit 21 is positioned on the left end side of the housing 24 in FIG. 2, and the wafer W is transferred to the substrate holding unit 21 by the transfer arm (not shown) through the opening (not shown) of the case body 20 and the housing 24. This delivery is performed by a lifting operation of at least one of the substrate holding unit 21 and the transfer arm. And the coating liquid nozzle 3
The substrate holding unit 21 and / or the guide member 31 are moved so that the movement area in the X direction of the wafer W is positioned at one end of the wafer W.
Move in the direction. At this time, the coating liquid nozzle 3 stands by at one end of the guide member 31.

Then, while the wafer W is stopped, a scan (outward path) is performed from one end to the other end while the resist liquid is discharged by the coating liquid nozzle 3, and the coating liquid nozzle 3 turned back at the other end. The substrate holding portion 21 and the guide member 31 are simultaneously moved in the reverse direction in the Y direction by a very small amount, for example, 0. Move 5mm at a time. In this manner, a liquid film of the resist liquid is formed on the entire coating film forming region W1 on the surface of the wafer W.
1 is returned to the position where the wafer was loaded, and the wafer W is unloaded.

According to the present embodiment, since the resist solution is applied to the wafer W by the coating solution nozzle 3 in a so-called one-stroke manner, the yield of the resist solution is dramatically improved as compared with the spin coating method. In addition to this, the turbulence of air due to the rotation of the wafer W does not occur, so that the uniformity of the film thickness is high, and the resist liquid is applied to the peripheral portion of the wafer W by the mask member 41. Since the coating is not performed, the resist film can be prevented from peeling off from the peripheral portion of the wafer W, and
Since the back surface of the wafer W is not stained, there is no possibility that the transfer arm and the like are stained.

Since the scanning area is moved by simultaneously moving the wafer W and the coating liquid nozzle 3 in the opposite directions in the Y direction, only one of them is moved in the Y direction from a theoretical point of view. Only half the time is needed. Since the number of scans is large when applying with one stroke, this method is effective for improving the throughput.

As shown in FIG. 4, the wafer W corresponding to the scan area of the coating liquid nozzle 3 is provided at both ends in the X-direction moving area of the coating liquid nozzle 3 instead of the mask member 23 which covers the entire peripheral portion of the wafer W. A pair of mask members 39a and 39b that cover only the peripheral region of the wafer W are provided so as to be able to move in the Y direction integrally with the coating liquid nozzle 3, and the separation distance between the mask members 39a and 39b is set by the driving mechanism 40 to the wafer W. It may be configured to change according to the width of the coating film formation region W1.

FIG. 5 shows a second embodiment. In this example, if the right side of the coating liquid nozzle 3 in FIG. 5 is referred to as a near side, a plurality of wafers are moved by a transfer arm (not shown) in the near side area. W in order, for example, three substrate holders 4
1, the substrate holding part 41 is located on the back side,
The guide liquid 31 is intermittently moved to the near side to apply a resist liquid onto the wafer W in the same manner as in the above-described embodiment. Then, the wafers W on which the coating has been completed are sequentially carried out in the back area, and when the coating of the last wafer W has been completed, each substrate holding portion 41 is returned to the original position, or this time in the area on which the wafer W was carried out. The wafer W is placed on the substrate holding unit 41, and the same processing is performed.

According to such an embodiment, a plurality of substrate holders are provided on the same rail 25, and each substrate holder and the coating solution nozzle 3 are moved in opposite directions, respectively. Since the coating is performed, the same effect as that of the first embodiment is obtained. In addition, since the coating process and the loading and unloading of the wafer W can be performed in parallel, the throughput is further improved.

Next, a third embodiment will be described.
In the present embodiment, as shown in the schematic diagram of FIG. 6, two substrate holding portions 51a and 51b are provided so as to be guided along a rail 25 extending in the Y direction, and the substrate holding portions 51a and 51b are provided thereabove. Application liquid nozzle 52 corresponding to each of 51b
a and 52b and a set of guide means 53a and 53b for guiding each of the coating liquid nozzles 52a and 52b in the X direction, and supports 54 and 55 for supporting the guide means 53a and 53b at both ends, respectively. Are provided. In this example, the guide means 53a and 53b are configured to be driven in the Y direction while being guided along the supports 54 and 55, and the coating liquid nozzles 52a and 52b and the substrate holders 51a and 51b are connected to the first. You may make it move to a Y direction reversely similarly to embodiment.

The coating liquid nozzles 52a and 52b may be configured to be movable along a pair of sides of the rectangular base 50 facing in the Y direction, for example, as shown in FIG. FIG. 7 shows a ball screw portion 56 and a motor 57 for driving the coating liquid nozzles 52a and 52b in the X direction. Here, since the operation of the device shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 is the same, the operation and effect will be described with reference to the example shown in FIG.

First, in the present embodiment, the position of the substrate 50 at the start of the coating process is, for example, the substrate holders 51a and 51
The wafer Wa and the wafer Wa held by the wafer 1b are positioned such that the X-direction reciprocating area (scan area) of the coating liquid nozzle 52a and the coating liquid nozzle 52b is positioned at the front end.

Then, the coating liquid nozzles 52a and 52b start applying the resist liquid from positions opposite to each other in the X direction as shown in FIG. The movement in the X direction is performed, for example, so that the coating liquid nozzles 52a,
2b starts moving from one end side of each moving area and reaches a predetermined speed, an acceleration period until the predetermined speed is maintained, a constant speed period where the predetermined speed is maintained, a deceleration period until stopping and turning around the other end side, In all the periods, the application liquid nozzle 52a and the application liquid nozzle 52b are synchronized. That is, the coating liquid nozzles 52a and 52b are positioned so as to be always point-symmetric with respect to the center P of the base 50. Therefore, for example, the application liquid nozzle 52a moves its moving area to one end X1 of the base 50 shown in FIG.
When it starts moving from the side and arrives at the other end X2 side, at the same time, the coating liquid nozzle 52b
Arrives at the end on the X1 side.

When the coating liquid nozzles 52a and 52b are turned back at the ends of the respective moving areas, the wafer Wa and the wafer W
b intermittently moves forward in the Y direction, and the coating liquid nozzles 52a,
The coating is performed in the same manner by 52b, and by repeating such an operation, the resist liquid can be supplied to the entire surface of each of the wafer Wa and the wafer Wb in a so-called one-stroke manner. Also in this case, the base 50 may be moved rearward in the Y direction simultaneously with the wafers Wa and Wb.

As described above, in this embodiment, since the two coating liquid nozzles 52a and 52b are provided on the common base 50, for example, the resist liquid can be simultaneously applied to two wafers. . And both coating liquid nozzles 5
The reciprocating movement of 2a and 52b in the X direction is performed by the base 5 shown in FIG.
Since the nozzles are moved so as to be point-symmetrical with respect to the center point P of 0, the shocks generated during the acceleration and deceleration of the mutual coating liquid nozzles are offset through the base 50, so to speak The nozzles 52a and 52b function as a counter balance, and can suppress vibration.

The application of the resist solution in the third embodiment may be performed as follows. That is, as shown in FIG. 9, a base 50 having a length in the Y direction longer than the diameter of two wafers is prepared, and a center point P of the base 50 is prepared.
The coating liquid nozzles 52a and 52b are moved in the X direction symmetrically with respect to the direction, and the wafer Wa and the wafer Wb are intermittently moved from the outside of the base 50 toward the center point P. Even in this case, similarly to the above case, the resist solution can be applied to two wafers simultaneously with a single stroke while suppressing the occurrence of impact by the application solution nozzles.

Next, a fourth embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 10, 11 and 12. FIG. In the present embodiment, for example, the guide member 31 in the first embodiment is used.
Since there is a feature in an X-direction drive unit that moves a coating liquid nozzle that can be used in the X-direction instead of the above, only the relevant portion will be described.

FIG. 10 is a schematic perspective view showing an X-direction drive section 60 in the present embodiment. A drive pulley 62 is provided at one end of a rectangular base 61 extending in the X direction, and a driven pulley is provided at the other end. 63, and each pulley 6
An endless belt 64 is hung on 2 and 63.
A motor 65 is provided above the driving pulley 62. When the driving pulley 62 is rotated, the belt 64 is rotated with the forward / reverse rotation of the driving pulley 62.

Here, a pair of parallel endless belts 64 of the endless belt 64 hung on both pulleys 62 and 63 respectively
4a and 64b, the nozzle support 7 is provided on one side of the belt portion 64a and the belt portion 64 on the other side is provided.
A balancer 8 which is a moving body for reducing impact is provided in b, and each of them moves symmetrically in the opposite direction in the X direction with the rotation of the belt 64. The driving pulley 62 and the driven pulley 63
The two guide shafts 66 and 67, which extend in the X direction and are parallel to each other, are provided between the guide shafts 66 and 67, and are configured to guide the nozzle support 7 and the balancer 8 in the X direction. The nozzle support 7 is provided with a coating liquid nozzle 71 having a discharge hole 70. The weight of the balancer 8 may be, for example, the nozzle support 7 and the coating liquid nozzle 7.
1 is set equal to the total weight.

A mechanism for guiding the nozzle support 7 and the balancer 8 by the guide shafts 66 and 67 will be described below. FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view of the nozzle support 7 and the balancer 8. As shown here, the nozzle support 7 and the balancer 8 are fixed to the belt 64 with the fixing members 72 and 82 sandwiching the belt 64. The nozzle support 7 and the balancer 8 are formed with through holes 73 and 83 through which the guide shafts 66 and 67 pass.
As shown in FIG. 12, the outer peripheral surfaces of the through holes 73 and 83 are formed of a porous member such as a cylindrical body 73a having a large number of holes so that air can flow therethrough. This cylindrical body 73
A ventilation chamber 73b is formed outside a, and this ventilation chamber 73b is connected to an air supply pipe 76 via a flow path 75 formed in the nozzle support 7 (balancer 8). Pressurized air is supplied to the air supply pipe 76 from an air supply source (not shown).
5, 85 and the guide shaft 66 (6
It is blown out into the gap between 7) and the cylindrical body 73a. FIG. 1
In FIG. 1, the portion including the guide shafts 66 and 67 and the through holes 73 and 83 is simply simplified as a circle. Therefore, since the nozzle support 7 and the balancer 8 are guided by the guide shaft 66 with the pressurized air interposed therebetween, mechanical friction does not occur even when the nozzle support 7 and the balancer 8 are moved at a high speed, so that wear of parts is suppressed. effective. The pressure applied to the pressurized air used here is, for example, 2 kg / cm 2 or more.

In the present embodiment, a nozzle support 8A having the same shape as the nozzle support 7 may be provided in place of the balancer 8, and a coating liquid nozzle may be attached to the nozzle support 8A. To face,
The coating may be performed on the wafer W held vertically, and in this case, for example, as shown in FIG. 13, the nozzle supports 7 and 8A are applied to two wafers W opposed to each other with the X-direction driving unit 60 interposed therebetween. In which a resist solution is applied by the application solution nozzles 71 and 81 provided in the first embodiment.

Next, an outline of an example of a coating and developing apparatus in which the above-described coating film forming apparatus is incorporated in a coating unit is shown in FIG.
4 and FIG. FIG. 14 and FIG.
Reference numeral 9 denotes a loading / unloading stage for loading / unloading a wafer cassette. For example, a cassette C containing 25 sheets is placed by an automatic transfer robot. Loading / unloading stage
A transfer arm 90 for the wafer W is provided in a region facing the wafer 9 so as to be freely rotatable in X, Z, Y directions and θ (rotation about a vertical axis). Further, on the back side of the delivery arm 90, for example, on the right side when viewed from the loading / unloading stage 9, for example, on the right side, a coating / developing system unit U1 (coating unit 92,
The developing unit 91) has heating / cooling units U2, U3, and U4 in which the units are stacked in multiple stages on the left, front, and back sides, respectively. Also,
A wafer transfer mechanism configured to transfer a wafer W between the coating unit 92, the developing unit 91, and the heating / cooling system unit, for example, is configured to be vertically movable, move left and right, move back and forth, and rotate around a vertical axis. -A MA is provided. However, in FIG. 14, the unit U2 and the wafer transfer arm MA are not drawn for convenience.

In the coating / developing system unit, for example, an upper developing unit 91 provided with two developing devices described above is provided, and a lower coating unit 92 is provided with two coating units. For example, a heating / cooling unit has a structure in which a heating unit, a cooling unit, a hydrophobizing unit, and the like are housed and arranged in a seven-stage shelf shape in units U2, U3, and U4.

When the above-described portion including the coating / developing system unit and the heating / cooling system unit is called a process station block, an exposure apparatus 101 is located behind the process station block via an interface block 100. It is connected. The interface block 100 transfers a wafer W between the exposure apparatuses 101 by a wafer transfer arm 102 configured to be movable up and down, movable left and right, back and forth, and rotatable around a vertical axis.

The flow of wafers in this apparatus will be described. First, a wafer cassette C containing wafers W is loaded into the loading / unloading stage 9 from the outside, and the wafer transfer arm 9 is loaded.
The wafer W is taken out of the cassette C by the
The wafer is transferred to the wafer transfer arm MA via a transfer table, which is one of the shelves of the heating / cooling unit U3. Next, after a hydrophobic treatment is performed in the processing section of one shelf of the unit U3, a resist liquid is applied by the application unit 92 to form a resist film. After the wafer W coated with the resist film is heated by the heating unit, the unit U4
The wafer is transferred to a cooling unit that can be transferred to and from the wafer transfer arm 102 of the interface block 100, and after processing, is sent to the exposure apparatus 101 via the interface block 100 and the wafer transfer arm 102, where the pattern is
Exposure is performed via a mask corresponding to the mask. The wafer after the exposure processing is received by the wafer transfer arm 102 and transferred to the wafer transfer arm MA of the process station block via the transfer unit of the unit U4.

Thereafter, the wafer W is heated to a predetermined temperature by the heating unit, then cooled to the predetermined temperature by the cooling unit, and subsequently sent to the developing unit 91 for development processing.
A resist mask is formed. Thereafter, the wafer W is returned to the cassette C on the loading / unloading stage 9.

In the above, the substrate used in the present embodiment may be an LCD substrate. The coating liquid is not limited to the resist liquid, but may be an interlayer insulating material, a low dielectric material, a ferroelectric material, a wiring material, an organic metal material, a metal paste, or the like.

[0052]

According to the present invention, it is possible to form a coating film having a high yield of coating liquid and high in-plane uniformity, and to provide a coating film forming apparatus having a high throughput. Further, the present invention can provide a coating film forming apparatus with small vibration.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating a coating film forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the coating film forming apparatus.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a state of supply of a coating liquid when a mask member covering a peripheral portion of a wafer W is used.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing another example of the mask member.

FIG. 5 is a schematic oblique perspective view showing a state of supplying a coating liquid in a second embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a schematic perspective view showing a coating film forming apparatus according to a third embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a schematic perspective view showing another example of the coating film forming apparatus according to the third embodiment.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the operation of the third embodiment.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the operation of the third embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a schematic perspective view showing an X-direction drive unit according to a fourth embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a nozzle support 7 and a balancer 8 according to a fourth embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a partially enlarged view illustrating the nozzle support 7;

FIG. 13 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing another example of the X-direction drive unit according to the fourth embodiment.

FIG. 14 is a perspective view showing an example of a coating / developing apparatus incorporating the coating film forming apparatus.

FIG. 15 is a plan view showing an example of a coating / developing apparatus incorporating the coating film forming apparatus.

FIG. 16 is a perspective view illustrating an example of a coating film forming apparatus that does not use a spin coating method.

[Explanation of symbols]

 W Wafer W1 Coating film forming area 21 Substrate holder 23 Mask member 24 Housing 3 Coating liquid nozzle 31 Guide member 25, 32a, 32b Rail 26, 33, 36 Ball screw 27, 34, 37 Motor 50 Base 51a, 51b Substrate holder 52a, 52b Coating liquid nozzles 53a, 53b Guide means 60 X-direction drive unit 62 Drive pulley 63 Driven pulley 64 Endless belt 66, 67 Guide shaft 7 Nozzle support 8 Balancer

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Yukihiko Ezaki 2655 Tsukurei, Kikuyo-cho, Kikuchi-gun, Kumamoto Tokyo Inside the Electron Kyushu Co., Ltd. Inside Electron Kyushu Kumamoto Office (72) Inventor Nohisa Koga 2655 Tsukurei, Kikuyo-cho, Kikuchi-gun, Kumamoto Prefecture Tokyo Electron Kyushu Corporation Kumamoto Office, 2655 No. 2655 Tsukurei, Kikuyo-cho, Kikuchi-gun, Kumamoto Tokyo Electron Kyushu Co., Ltd.Kumamoto Office (72) Inventor Hirofumi Okuma 2655 Tsukurei, Kikuyo-cho, Kikuchi-gun, Kumamoto Prefecture Tokyo Electron Kyushu Corporation Kumamoto Office, 2655 Address Tokyo Electron Kyushu Kuma Co., Ltd. Business-house F-term (reference) 2H025 AA00 AB16 AB17 EA04 4F041 AA02 AA06 AB02 BA05 BA21 4F042 AA07 BA04 BA08 BA12 BA27 DF21 DF30 5F046 CD01 CD03 CD06 JA02 JA22 JA27

Claims (8)

[Claims] A substrate holding portion for holding a substrate; a substrate holding portion provided to face the substrate held by the substrate holding portion;
A coating liquid nozzle for discharging the coating liquid onto the substrate, an X-direction driving unit for moving the coating liquid nozzle in the X direction, and a Y-direction driving unit for the coating liquid nozzle for intermittently moving the coating liquid nozzle in the Y direction. And a Y-direction drive unit for the substrate holding unit that intermittently moves the substrate holding unit in the Y direction. After the coating liquid nozzle is moved in the X direction, the coating liquid is linearly applied to the substrate surface. The coating liquid nozzle and the substrate holding unit are simultaneously intermittently moved in the opposite direction to each other in the Y direction so that the coating liquid nozzle faces a region adjacent to the already applied region, and the region coated in the X direction is moved in the Y direction. A coating film forming apparatus characterized by being sequentially arranged. 2. A substrate holding portion for holding a substrate, and a first holding portion provided opposite to the substrate held on the substrate holding portion and spaced apart from each other in the Y direction. A first coating liquid nozzle and a second coating liquid nozzle; an X-direction driving unit that moves the first coating liquid nozzle and the second coating liquid nozzle in the X direction; a first coating liquid nozzle and a second coating liquid nozzle A Y-direction drive section for intermittently moving the coating liquid nozzle and the substrate holding section in the Y direction relatively, and moving the coating liquid nozzle in the X direction to linearly apply the coating liquid to the substrate surface After that, the first coating liquid nozzle and the second coating liquid nozzle are relatively moved in the Y direction,
A coating film forming apparatus characterized in that a coating liquid nozzle is opposed to a region next to a region already coated, and the regions coated in the X direction are sequentially arranged in the Y direction. 3. A Y-direction driving unit for a coating liquid nozzle for intermittently moving a first coating liquid nozzle and a second coating liquid nozzle in the Y direction, and a Y-direction driving unit for moving the substrate holding unit. 3. The coating film forming apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising: a Y-direction driving unit for a substrate holding unit that moves intermittently. 4. The coating film forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the first coating liquid nozzle and the second coating liquid nozzle are provided on a common base. 5. The coating film forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the first coating liquid nozzle and the second coating liquid nozzle move in opposite directions and symmetrically. 6. A substrate holding section includes a first substrate holding section and a second substrate holding section, and a first coating liquid nozzle applies a coating liquid to a substrate held by the first substrate holding section. The coating film forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the second coating liquid nozzle is configured to discharge the coating liquid to the substrate held by the second substrate holding unit. 7. A substrate holding portion for holding a substrate, provided to face the substrate held by the substrate holding portion,
A coating liquid nozzle for discharging a coating liquid onto the substrate held by the substrate holding unit; a Y-direction driving unit for intermittently moving the coating liquid nozzle in the Y direction relative to the substrate holding unit; A moving body for mitigating impact in a direction opposite to and symmetrical with respect to the coating liquid nozzle when moving the coating liquid in the X direction. After the liquid is applied linearly, the coating liquid nozzle is relatively moved in the Y direction so that the coating liquid nozzle faces the area next to the already applied area, and the area thus applied in the X direction is moved in the Y direction. Coating film forming apparatus characterized by being sequentially arranged 8. An X-direction drive unit includes: a guide shaft member extending in the X direction for guiding a coating liquid nozzle; a nozzle holder provided to surround the guide shaft member via a space; 8. A gas supply means for supplying a pressurized gas between the nozzle holder and the shaft member.
The coating film forming apparatus according to any one of the above.