Substrate processing apparatus and substrate processing method

Abstract

A substrate processing apparatus and a substrate processing method can appropriately control the charge of a substrate depending on the type of wet processing, thereby reducing defective processing due to static electricity on the surface of the substrate. The substrate processing apparatus includes: a static electricity adjustment section for adjusting static electricity on a substrate; and a wet processing apparatus for carrying out wet processing of the static electricity-adjusted substrate. The static electricity adjustment section removes static electricity from the substrate or charges the substrate into a desired charged state, for example.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus and a substrate processing method, and more particularly to a substrate processing apparatus and a substrate processing method which are useful for carrying out wet processing of a surface of the substrate by bringing the surface of the substrate into contact with a processing liquid, such as a liquid chemical or pure water. [0003] 2. Description of the Related Art [0004] In place of dry processes which have been principally employed for the formation of LSI interconnects or the like on a semiconductor substrate, wet processes, such as plating, chemical-mechanical polishing (CMP), electrolytic etching, electrolytic polishing and cleaning, are increasing being employed these days. For example, a so-called damascene process, which comprises embedding a metal (conductive material), such as aluminum, and more recently silver or copper, by plating into int...

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Benefits of technology

[0013] The present invention has been made in view of the above situation in the related art. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a substrate processing apparatus and a substrate processing method which can appropriately control the charge of a substrate depending on the type of wet processing, thereby reducing defective processing due to static electricity on a surface of the substrate.

[0019] According to the substrate processing apparatus of the present invention, the static electricity adjustment section can appropriately control the charge of a substrate, depending on the type of wet processing, for example, by removing static electricity (electric charge) from the substrate or charging the substrate into a desired charged state, so that wet processing can be carried out on the substrate in the appropriately controlled charged state. This can reduce defective processing, thereby increasing the yield of the device.

[0021] According to the present invention, static electricity on a surface of the substrate is arbitrarily adjusted prior to carrying out wet processing of the surface of the substrate. This makes it possible to produce an LSI or the like in a high yield even in a future generation when finer interconnects of more advanced material are employed. The present invention can thus contribute to cost reduction of electronic products.

Problems solved by technology

Further, in case a liquid chemical (processing liquid), such as a plating solution, for wet processing has a polarity, the contact efficiency between the processing liquid and the substrate can decrease, which can result in defective processing in a local or global region of the substrate.

This defective processing becomes more marked as the processing size of substrate decreases.

For example, a decrease in yield due to defective processing becomes a considerable problem when forming 90 nm-node or later-generation interconnects by the above-described damascene process, though it is negligible with 130 nm-node interconnects.

Further, the type of interconnect material affects defective processing.

In addition, use of a low-k material, such as an organic material or a porous material, for an insulating film increases defective processing.

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