JP2001276758A - Substrate cleaning device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a substrate cleaning device capable of rapidly removing an organic matter sticking to a substrate. SOLUTION: An ozone gas is supplied into a chamber 10 from an ozone gas supply nozzle 50 to form an ozone gas atmosphere on the periphery of the substrate W. Next, water vapor is blown to the substrate W placed in the ozone gas atmosphere from a water vapor supply nozzle 30. After that, the water vapor is condensed on the surface of the substrate W and the ozone gas is dissolved in generated water droplets to obtain ozone water. Thus, the organic matter such as a resist sticking to the surface of the substrate W is removed by an oxidation/decomposition reaction of the ozone water sticking to the surface of the substrate W. Although the solubility of ozone is unavoidably low, due to the high temperature of the water vapor blown to the substrate W, the oxidation reaction itself is active simply because the temperature is high.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a flat panel display (FPD) such as a semiconductor substrate or a glass substrate for a liquid crystal display device.
The present invention relates to a substrate cleaning apparatus that performs a cleaning process on a surface of a substrate for a display, a glass substrate for a photomask, a substrate for an optical disk, and the like (hereinafter, simply referred to as a “substrate”), for example, a process of removing organic substances attached to the substrate.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a process of manufacturing the above substrate, a cleaning process of the substrate has been indispensable. As one of cleaning apparatuses for performing a cleaning process of a substrate, there is an apparatus using ozone water. This apparatus supplies ozone water to the surface of a substrate and oxidizes organic substances such as a resist with ozone to decompose and remove the organic substances to clean the surface of the substrate.
As is well known, ozone has an extremely strong oxidizing power, and the substrate is cleaned using such a strong oxidizing power of ozone.

[0003]

When a cleaning process using ozone water is performed, the higher the ozone concentration in the ozone water, the faster the decomposition rate of organic substances is increased, and the time required for the cleaning process can be shortened. In general, the solubility of gas in water increases as the temperature of the water decreases, and the same tendency applies to ozone water. That is, as the temperature of the ozone water is lowered, a large amount of ozone is dissolved in the water, so that a high-concentration ozone water can be obtained.

On the other hand, the decomposition rate of organic substances depends not only on the concentration of ozone in ozone water but also on the temperature during the reaction. The higher the reaction temperature, the more the oxidation reaction is activated, and the faster the decomposition rate of organic substances.

Therefore, when low-temperature ozone water is supplied, the ozone concentration in the ozone water can be increased, but the reaction temperature is low, so that the decomposition rate of organic substances cannot be remarkably increased. Conversely, when high-temperature ozone water is supplied, the reaction temperature is high,
Because the ozone concentration in the ozone water must be low,
As a result, similarly to the above, the decomposition rate of organic substances could not be remarkably increased. In other words, in the conventional ozone water cleaning, the decomposition rate of organic substances cannot be remarkably increased due to the inconsistency of the characteristics of the ozone concentration in the ozone water and the decomposition rate of organic substances with respect to temperature. However, a relatively long time is required, and the throughput of the apparatus is reduced.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has as its object to provide a substrate cleaning apparatus capable of quickly removing organic substances attached to a substrate.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a substrate cleaning apparatus for cleaning a surface of a substrate, comprising: a chamber for accommodating a substrate; and ozone gas in the chamber. An ozone gas supply means for supplying and forming an ozone gas atmosphere around the substrate; and a water vapor supply means for supplying water vapor to the substrate placed in the ozone gas atmosphere and condensing the water vapor on the surface of the substrate. I have.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the substrate cleaning apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention, the water vapor supply means includes:
A stream of water vapor is supplied to the surface of the substrate placed in the ozone gas atmosphere.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided the substrate cleaning apparatus according to the first or second aspect, further comprising a cooling means for cooling the substrate placed in the ozone gas atmosphere.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the substrate cleaning apparatus according to the third aspect of the present invention, the temperature of the steam supplied by the steam supply means is set to 100 ° C. or more, and the cooling means is connected to the steam supply means. The gas mixing means mixes the supplied steam with the nitrogen gas at room temperature.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

<1. Overall Configuration of Substrate Cleaning Apparatus> FIG.
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an overall configuration of a substrate cleaning apparatus according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a side view showing a part of the substrate cleaning apparatus of FIG. This substrate cleaning apparatus is a cleaning apparatus that decomposes and removes organic substances such as a resist adhering to the substrate surface with ozone water, and mainly includes a chamber 10 for accommodating the substrate W,
An ozone gas supply nozzle 50 that supplies ozone gas into the chamber 10 and a water vapor supply nozzle 30 that supplies water vapor into the chamber 10 are provided.

The chamber 10 is a housing for accommodating the substrate W, and an auto cover 11 is provided on an upper part thereof. The auto cover 11 is slid in the horizontal direction by a drive mechanism (not shown). When the auto cover 11 is closed (the state of FIG. 1), the chamber 10 becomes a closed chamber, and the inside thereof becomes a closed space. In this state, the gas in the chamber 10 does not leak to the outside, and the inside of the chamber 10 can be brought into a reduced pressure state lower than the atmospheric pressure. On the other hand, when the auto cover 11 is opened, the inside of the chamber 10 becomes an open space, and an unprocessed substrate W is loaded into the chamber 10 by a substrate transfer robot (not shown) and the processed substrate W
From the chamber 10.

A processing tank 20 is fixedly disposed inside the chamber 10. Two processing liquid supply nozzles 21 are provided inside the bottom of the processing tank 20. Each of the two processing liquid supply nozzles 21 is a hollow cylindrical member arranged so that the longitudinal direction is substantially horizontal. The processing liquid supply nozzle 21 is connected to a pure water supply line via a pure water valve 22, and is connected to a chemical supply line via a chemical valve 23. The pure water or the chemical supplied from the pure water supply line or the chemical supply line to the processing liquid supply nozzle 21 is supplied into the processing tank 20 from a plurality of discharge holes provided in the processing liquid supply nozzle 21. The chemical used in the present embodiment is, for example, a substrate W such as hydrofluoric acid.
This is a liquid for cleaning the surface. Further, in this specification, pure water and a chemical solution are collectively referred to as a processing solution.

The processing liquid supplied from the processing liquid supply nozzle 21 is stored in the processing tank 20. When the processing liquid is further supplied from the processing liquid supply nozzle 21 to the processing tank 20,
Eventually, the processing liquid overflows from the processing tank 20 and flows into the collection unit 24. The recovery unit 24 is connected to a drain line via a drain valve 25. Therefore, when the drain valve 25 is opened, the processing liquid flowing into the recovery unit 24 is discharged to a drain line outside the apparatus. This drain line is also connected to the bottom of the chamber 10 via the drain valve 25, and the processing liquid that has flowed to the bottom of the chamber 10 for some reason is also discharged to the drain line. Further, the pure water supply line, the chemical solution supply line, and the drainage line in FIG. 1 are all provided outside the substrate cleaning apparatus according to the present invention (for example, the substrate cleaning apparatus according to the present invention is incorporated therein). Is disposed in the substrate processing apparatus). In this regard, a nitrogen gas supply line, an IPA vapor supply line,
The same applies to the vacuum decompression line and the exhaust line.

A lifter L is provided inside the chamber 10.
H is provided (see FIG. 2). The lifter LH has a function of moving the lifter arm 26 up and down in the vertical direction. The lifter arm 26 has three holding rods 27a,
27b, 27c are fixed so that their longitudinal directions are substantially horizontal (parallel to the processing liquid supply nozzle 21), and the outer edge of the substrate W fits into each of the three holding rods 27a, 27b, 27c. A plurality of holding grooves for holding the substrate W in a standing posture are provided at predetermined intervals.

With such a configuration, the lifter LH is 3
The plurality of substrates W, which are stacked and held in parallel with each other by the holding rods 27a, 27b, and 27c, are held in the processing tank 20.
(A position indicated by a solid line in FIG. 1 and hereinafter referred to as an “immersion position”), and a position immersed in the processing liquid (a position indicated by a chain line in FIG. 1). , And hereinafter referred to as a “pulling position”). The lifter LH can employ various mechanisms such as a feed screw mechanism using a ball screw and a belt mechanism using a pulley and a belt as a mechanism for moving the lifter arm 26 up and down.

The processing tank 2 is provided inside the chamber 10.
An ozone gas supply nozzle 50 is provided on the side of “0”. The ozone gas supply nozzle 50 is a hollow cylindrical member arranged with the longitudinal direction being substantially horizontal. The ozone gas supply nozzle 50 is connected to an ozone gas supply source 52 via an ozone gas valve 51. When the ozone gas valve 51 is open, the ozone gas is supplied from the ozone gas supply source 52 to the ozone gas supply nozzle 50. The supplied ozone gas is supplied to the inside of the chamber 10 from a plurality of discharge holes provided in the ozone gas supply nozzle 50.

When the ozone gas is supplied from the ozone gas supply nozzle 50 into the chamber 10 while the lifter LH is raising the substrate W to the lifting position, the inside of the chamber 10 is replaced by the ozone gas and the substrate W is lifted. An ozone gas atmosphere is formed in the periphery. The ozone gas supply nozzle 50 is not limited to a hollow cylindrical nozzle having a discharge hole,
Any structure that can supply ozone gas into the chamber 10 may be used. In addition, the installation position is the processing tank 2
The position is not limited to the side of 0, and may be any position as long as the ozone gas can be supplied into the chamber 10.

Further, two steam supply nozzles 30 are provided inside the chamber 10. Each of the two steam supply nozzles 30 is a hollow cylindrical member arranged with its longitudinal direction being substantially horizontal (parallel to the processing liquid supply nozzle 21). Each of the two steam supply nozzles 30 is formed with a plurality of discharge holes 30a.
reference).

Each of the two steam supply nozzles 30 is connected to a mixer 32 via a steam valve 31. The mixer 32 is connected to a steam generator 34 via a mass flow controller 33 and to an air supply source 36 via a mass flow controller 35. The steam generator 34 heats water to generate a gas (steam) thereof.
Generate steam at 00 ° C. The air supply source 36
Has a temperature control section inside thereof, and in this embodiment, 2
Supply air adjusted to 0 ° C.

The mass flow controllers 33 and 35 have a function of adjusting the flow rate of the gas. The mass flow controllers 33 and 35 supply the steam supplied from the steam generator 34 to the mixer 32 and the steam supplied from the air supply source 36 to the mixer 32, respectively. Adjust the flow rate of the air to be supplied. The mixer 32 has a function of mixing the supplied steam and air and supplying the mixture to the steam supply nozzle 30.
The steam supplied from the mixer 32 to the steam supply nozzle 30 is discharged into the chamber 10 from a plurality of discharge holes 30 a provided in the steam supply nozzle 30. At this time, the steam of the steam is supplied to each surface of the plurality of substrates W raised to the lifting position by the lifter LH, that is, the steam is blown to each surface of the plurality of substrates W, The steam supply nozzle 30 is configured. That is, the steam supply nozzle 30 is disposed above at least the center of the substrate W raised to the lifting position, and the discharge holes 30a of the steam supply nozzle 30 are connected to the three holding rods 27a, 27 of the lifter LH.
It is formed so as to be located between each of the plurality of substrates W arranged and held in parallel with each other by b and 27c. Further, the discharge hole 30a of the steam supply nozzle 30 is formed so that the discharge direction is directed obliquely downward.

The temperature of the steam discharged from the steam supply nozzle 30 is adjustable between 20 ° C. and 100 ° C. That is, the temperature of the steam discharged from the steam supply nozzle 30 can be changed by adjusting the mixing ratio of the steam of 100 ° C. and the air temperature-controlled to 20 ° C. by the mass flow controllers 33 and 35. Specifically, by shutting off the air supply from the air supply source 36 by the mass flow controller 35, steam at 100 ° C. is supplied from the steam supply nozzle 30. The air supply source 36 is controlled by the mass flow controller 35.
By increasing the supply of air from the steam generator and reducing the supply of steam from the steam generator 34 by the mass flow controller 33, the temperature of the steam discharged from the steam supply nozzle 30 can be lowered to approach 20 ° C.

In addition to the above, two IPA supply nozzles 40 are provided inside the chamber 10.
Each of the two IPA supply nozzles 40 is also a hollow cylindrical member arranged so that the longitudinal direction is substantially horizontal. Each of the two IPA supply nozzles 40 is connected to a nitrogen gas supply line via a nitrogen valve 41 and connected to an IPA vapor supply line via an IPA valve 42. Nitrogen gas supply line or IP
Nitrogen gas or IPA (isopropyl alcohol) vapor sent from the A vapor supply line to the IPA supply nozzle 40 is supplied into the chamber 10 from a plurality of discharge holes provided in the IPA supply nozzle 40. In addition, IP
The IPA vapor sent from the A vapor supply line is carried by using nitrogen gas as a carrier gas. In FIG. 2, the illustration of the IPA supply nozzle 40 and the like is omitted for convenience of illustration.

Further, the chamber 10 is connected to a vacuum pressure reducing line via a vacuum pressure reducing valve 60 and to an exhaust line via an exhaust valve 61. By opening the exhaust valve 61, the gas inside the chamber 10 can be exhausted to the exhaust line outside the apparatus, and by opening the vacuum depressurizing valve 60, the inside of the chamber 10 is vacuum-evacuated to reduce the pressure below the atmospheric pressure. be able to.

In the present embodiment, the ozone gas supply nozzle 50 corresponds to the ozone gas supply means, the steam supply nozzle 30 corresponds to the steam supply means, and the mixer 32
Corresponds to the gas mixing means.

<2. Processing Procedure in Substrate Cleaning Apparatus> Next, the processing procedure and the content in the substrate cleaning apparatus having the above configuration will be described. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure in the substrate cleaning apparatus of FIG.

First, the plurality of substrates W carried into the chamber 10 are held at the lifting position by the lifter LH (step S1). That is, as shown by a dashed line in FIG. 1, the substrate W is held at a position pulled up from the processing bath 20.

Next, the ozone gas valve 51 is opened to supply ozone gas from the ozone gas supply nozzle 50 into the chamber 10 (step S2). At this time, the auto cover 11 is closed to make the inside of the chamber 10 a closed space, and other gas supply to the chamber 10 is stopped by closing each corresponding valve. In order to replace the atmosphere in the chamber 10 with an ozone gas atmosphere, only the exhaust valve 61 is opened.

As the supply of ozone gas from the ozone gas supply nozzle 50 progresses, the atmosphere in the chamber 10 is gradually replaced with the ozone gas atmosphere, and the ozone gas atmosphere is formed around the plurality of substrates W held at the lifting position. .

Next, in step S3, the steam valve 31 is opened, and steam is blown from the steam supply nozzle 30 onto the substrate W. At this time, a phenomenon that occurs on the surface of the substrate W will be described with reference to FIGS. FIGS. 4 and 5 are views of a state in which steam is blown from the steam supply nozzle 30 onto the substrate W as viewed from the front and side surfaces of the substrate W. At this stage, the air supply from the air supply source 36 is shut off by the mass flow controller 35, and the water supply nozzle 30
While the steam at 00 ° C. is discharged, the ozone gas supply from the ozone gas supply nozzle 50 is continued.

The temperature of the substrate W held at the lifting position by the lifter LH is about room temperature. 4 and 5
As shown in (2), when high-temperature steam is blown from the steam supply nozzle 30 onto the substrate W at room temperature, condensation (condensation) of water vapor occurs on the surface of the substrate W, and many fine water droplets adhere to the surface of the substrate W. State. At this time, since an ozone gas atmosphere is formed around the substrate W held at the lifting position, the peripheral ozone gas is dissolved in water droplets attached to the surface of the substrate W in parallel with the condensation phenomenon of water vapor. As a result, ozone water is attached to the surface of the substrate W.

By the oxidative decomposition reaction of the ozone water thus adhered, organic substances such as the resist adhered to the surface of the substrate W are removed. Although the solubility of ozone inevitably decreases due to the high temperature of the water vapor blown onto the substrate W, the oxidation reaction itself becomes remarkably active due to the high temperature.

In particular, when water vapor is condensed on the surface of the substrate W in an ozone gas atmosphere as in this embodiment,
Since the dissolution of the ozone gas occurs immediately in parallel with the condensation phenomenon, the ozone concentration in the fine water droplets generated on the surface of the substrate W reaches a saturation concentration (or a concentration close thereto) immediately after the generation. Therefore, the organic matter such as the resist attached to the substrate W can be quickly removed.

Further, as the ozone water generated on the surface of the substrate W oxidizes organic substances, dissolved ozone in the ozone water is consumed, and the ozone water is relatively easily deactivated (the oxidizing power is weakened). ). Here, if water vapor is blown from the water vapor supply nozzle 30 to the surface of the substrate W as in the present embodiment, the ozone water deactivated by the kinetic energy of the vapor flow of the water vapor is immediately pushed down together with the decomposed organic matter. As a result, new condensation and ozone dissolution occur, and as a result, ozone water having a fresh saturated concentration (or a concentration close thereto) always comes into contact with the surface of the substrate W. As this phenomenon progresses further, a state in which the thin ozone water liquid film constantly flows downward along the surface of the substrate W is continued as shown in FIG. Therefore, the organic matter after the decomposition is efficiently discharged, and the oxidizing power of the ozone water is always kept at a constant level, so that the organic matter such as the resist attached to the substrate W can be more quickly removed.

As shown in FIG. 5, when a thin film of ozone water is constantly blown downward along the surface of the substrate W by spraying water vapor, the substrate W
There is no interface where the droplets and the air contact each other. Generally, such an interface is a portion where particles are easily generated due to oxidation of silicon. Eliminating the interface by spraying steam from the steam supply nozzle 30 also leads to suppression of particle generation.

Further, the surface shape of the substrate W is becoming complicated with the recent increase in the device structure of a semiconductor or the like. However, if ozone water is generated by condensation of water vapor as in this embodiment, It is possible to easily cope with a substrate W having a complicated surface shape. FIG. 6 is a diagram schematically showing a state in which water vapor is condensed on a substrate W having a complicated surface shape. Even if fine small holes or grooves are formed on the surface of the substrate W, water vapor is a gas and easily enters such a portion and condenses. As a result, as shown in the figure, the entire surface of the substrate W having a complicated surface shape is uniformly covered with a thin liquid film. Therefore, the oxidative decomposition reaction by the ozone water proceeds uniformly on the entire surface of the substrate W, and the attached organic matter such as the resist can be quickly removed.

Referring back to FIG. 3, after the above-described organic substance removing process using ozone is performed for a predetermined time, the process proceeds from step S4 to step S5, where a subsequent chemical solution process and the like are performed.

Since the temperature of the steam blown from the steam supply nozzle 30 onto the substrate W is high, the temperature of the substrate W increases as the ozone treatment by condensation proceeds. When the temperature of the substrate W rises and approaches the temperature of the water vapor discharged from the water vapor supply nozzle 30 (here, 100 ° C.), condensation of the water vapor on the substrate W becomes difficult, and the above-mentioned organic substance removal processing by ozone is gradually performed. Will be hindered. For this reason, in the present embodiment, in the process of repeating the loop of step S3 and step S4 in FIG.
6 is mixed to cool the substrate W.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a temperature change pattern of the substrate W. It is assumed that the supply of steam from the steam supply nozzle 30 is started at time t ₀ . At this time, the air supply from the air supply source 36 is shut off by the mass flow controller 35, and only the steam at 100 ° C. is discharged from the steam supply nozzle 30. Thereafter, until time t ₁ , 100
Only water vapor at a temperature of ° C. is blown from the water vapor supply nozzle 30 onto the substrate W, and the temperature of the substrate W gradually increases. And
At time t ₁ , the air supply from the air supply source 36 is started by the mass flow controller 35 and the mixer 32 mixes the steam at 100 ° C. with the air adjusted to 20 ° C. That is, the steam at 100 ° C. is cooled in the mixer 32, and the cooled steam is supplied to the steam supply nozzle 3.
0 is sprayed on the substrate W.

At this time, the mass flow controllers 33 and 35 adjust the mixing ratio of the steam of 100 ° C. and the air whose temperature has been adjusted to 20 ° C., so that the temperature of the steam discharged from the steam supply nozzle 30 is reduced. As described above, it can be arbitrarily changed. The steam supply from the steam generator 34 is shut off by the mass flow controller 33, and the substrate W
Air at 20 ° C.

In this manner, until time t ₂ , the cooled water vapor (or air) is blown onto the substrate W, and the temperature of the substrate W decreases. That is, the mixer 3
2 cools the substrate W by mixing steam at 100 ° C. and air temperature-controlled at 20 ° C.
Then, at time t ₂ , the mass flow controller 3
By 5, the air supply from the air supply source 36 is shut off, and steam at 100 ° C. is discharged from the steam supply nozzle 30 to the substrate W. After that, the supply of only the water vapor and the air mixing as described above are repeated at a constant cycle until the predetermined time in step S4 elapses.

In this way, the substrate W heated by the high-temperature steam being blown is periodically cooled, so that the efficiency of condensation of the water vapor on the substrate W is constantly recovered at a constant cycle. That is, there is no possibility that the above-mentioned organic substance removal treatment by ozone is hindered.

Returning to FIG. 3, the processing after step S5 will be briefly described. When the organic substance removing process using ozone as described above is completed, a cleaning process of the substrate W with a chemical solution and pure water is subsequently performed (step S5). The cleaning process using a chemical solution is, for example, a surface cleaning process performed by immersing the substrate W in hydrofluoric acid or the like. The cleaning treatment with pure water is a so-called rinsing treatment in which the substrate W is immersed in pure water. Specifically, first, the ozone gas valve 51 and the steam valve 31 are closed to stop the supply of the ozone gas and the steam to the chamber 10, and then the nitrogen valve 41 is closed.
Is opened to supply nitrogen gas from the IPA supply nozzle 40 to the chamber 10, and the atmosphere in the chamber 10 is replaced with an inert atmosphere of nitrogen gas.

Then, the chemical liquid valve 23 or the pure water valve 22 is opened to store the chemical liquid or pure water in the treatment tank 20. Thereafter, the substrate W is lowered to the immersion position by the lifter LH, and is immersed in the chemical solution or the pure water in the processing tank 20. The substrate W may be subjected to only the cleaning process using pure water, or may be subjected to the cleaning process using pure water after the cleaning process using the chemical solution.

Thereafter, when a predetermined time has elapsed and the cleaning process of the substrate W with the pure water is completed, a lifting and drying process is performed next (step S6). Withdrawing and drying treatment means that IPA vapor is supplied while lifting the substrate W from pure water, and the substrate W
This is a process for replacing the moisture adhering to the surface of the substrate with IPA. Specifically, the IPA valve 42 is opened (the nitrogen valve 41 is closed) while the substrate W is lifted from the pure water in the processing tank 20 to the lifting position by the lifter LH, and IPA vapor (strictly) is supplied from the IPA supply nozzle 40 to the chamber 10. In
(IPA vapor delivered by a nitrogen carrier gas). Thereby, the IP supplied around the substrate W
A vapor replaces the moisture on the surface of the substrate W, and the surface of the substrate W
It will be covered by PA.

When the lifting and drying process is completed, finally, a reduced pressure drying process is performed (step S7). The vacuum drying process is a process in which the substrate W to which the IPA has adhered is evaporated under reduced pressure to vaporize the attached IPA. Specifically, all the valves for gas supply to the chamber 10 are closed, and the vacuum decompression valve 60 is opened to evacuate the inside of the chamber 10 to reduce the pressure of the substrate W. At this time, the substrate W is mounted on the lifter LH.
Held in the withdrawn position. By being placed under reduced pressure, the IPA covering the substrate W evaporates, and the substrate W is completely dried. At this time, the nitrogen valve 41 may be opened to supply nitrogen gas to the chamber 10 in order to promote drying.

Thereafter, the nitrogen valve 41 is opened to set the inside of the chamber 10 to a nitrogen gas atmosphere and the pressure to atmospheric pressure.
The automatic cover 11 is opened and the substrate W is carried out, and a series of processing ends.

According to the above embodiment, the substrate W
All the cleaning processes (organic matter removal process, chemical solution process, rinsing process, etc.) related to the above can be performed in one chamber 10, so that the substrate W is not exposed to the atmosphere, and particles and the like are contaminated. Is unlikely to occur. Further, diffusion of ozone gas, IPA vapor, and the like to the outside of the apparatus can be easily prevented, and safety is high.

<3. Modifications> While the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described examples. For example, in the above embodiment, the temperature of the steam generated by the steam generator 34 is set to 100 ° C., but the steam is further heated to 10 ° C.
The steam having a temperature of 0 ° C. or higher may be generated from the steam generator 34 and discharged from the steam supply nozzle 30. The temperature of the air supplied from the air supply source 36 is not limited to 20 ° C., but may be any temperature (10 ° C. to 30 ° C.) that can lower the temperature of steam. For example,
In particular, air at room temperature (for example, 20 ° C.) may be supplied without performing temperature control. Alternatively, an inert gas such as a room temperature nitrogen gas may be supplied to the mixer 32. If the temperature of these gases is lower than room temperature, the cooling effect is more excellent and the substrate can be cooled in a short time, so that it is natural that the throughput can be further increased.

Further, the cooling pattern of the substrate W at the time of the organic substance removing treatment with ozone is not limited to the pattern shown in FIG. 7, but may be any pattern that periodically lowers the temperature of the substrate W.

In the above embodiment, a so-called batch type apparatus for processing a plurality of substrates W at once is described.
The technology according to the present invention can also be applied to a so-called single-wafer apparatus that processes the substrates W one by one.

[0053]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, water vapor is supplied to the substrate placed in the ozone gas atmosphere, and the water vapor is condensed on the surface of the substrate. Ozone water having a saturated concentration can be easily generated on the surface, and organic substances attached to the substrate can be quickly removed.

Further, according to the second aspect of the present invention, since the steam flow is supplied to the surface of the substrate placed in the ozone gas atmosphere, the ozone water which has lost the oxidizing power is flushed away to continuously generate new ozone water. Water is generated, and the organic substances attached to the substrate can be removed more quickly.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the cooling device for cooling the substrate placed in the ozone gas atmosphere is further provided, the efficiency of condensation of water vapor on the substrate can be recovered.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, since the temperature of the water vapor is 100 ° C. or higher and the cooling means is a gas mixing means for mixing the water vapor with the nitrogen gas at room temperature,
The same effect as that of the third aspect can be obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of a substrate cleaning apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view showing a part of the substrate cleaning apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure in the substrate cleaning apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a state in which steam is blown from a steam supply nozzle onto a substrate as viewed from the front of the substrate.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a state in which steam is blown from a steam supply nozzle onto a substrate, as viewed from a side surface of the substrate.

FIG. 6 is a diagram schematically showing a state in which water vapor is condensed on a substrate having a complicated surface shape.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a temperature change pattern of a substrate.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 10 chamber 30 water vapor supply nozzle 32 mixer 50 ozone gas supply nozzle W substrate

Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI Theme coat II (Reference) H01L 21/304 645 H01L 21/304 645B (72) Inventor Tomomiori Kojimaru No. 1 Tenjin Kitamachi 1 Dainippon Screen Mfg. Co., Ltd. F term (reference) 2H088 FA21 FA30 MA20 2H090 HC18 JB02 JC19 3B201 AA03 AB08 AB44 BB03 BB13 BB21 BB82 BB93 BB96 BB98 CB12 CC01 CC11 CC15 CD11 CD33

Claims (4)

[Claims] An apparatus for cleaning a substrate surface, comprising: a chamber for accommodating a substrate; an ozone gas supply unit configured to supply an ozone gas into the chamber to form an ozone gas atmosphere around the substrate; A substrate cleaning apparatus, comprising: water vapor supply means for supplying water vapor to a substrate placed in an ozone gas atmosphere to condense water vapor on the surface of the substrate. 2. The substrate cleaning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said water vapor supply means supplies an air stream of water vapor to a surface of the substrate placed in said ozone gas atmosphere. 3. The substrate cleaning apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising cooling means for cooling the substrate placed in the ozone gas atmosphere. 4. The substrate cleaning apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the temperature of the steam supplied by the steam supply unit is 100 ° C.
As described above, the cooling means is a gas mixing means for mixing steam supplied from the steam supply means with nitrogen gas at room temperature.