Resist application method and device

Abstract

The resist application method comprises the steps of: thermal processing for evaporating water from the surface of a wafer 10; making the surface of the wafer 10 hydrophobic with a hydrophobic processing material; and applying a resist onto the wafer 10, and the step of thermal processing to the step of making the surface of the wafer 10 hydrophobic are performed in a dehumidified atmosphere.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RERATED APPLICATION [0001] This Application is a divisional of application Ser. No. 10 / 652,314 filed on Sep. 2, 2003. This application is based upon and claims priority of Japanese Patent Application No. 2002-264105, filed on Sep. 10, 2002, the contents being incorporated herein by reference.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] The present invention relates to a resist application method and device for applying a resist to a substrate after the surface of the substrate has been subjected to hydrophobic processing with hexamethyldisilazane. [0003] Conventionally in fabricating semiconductor devices, when a resist is applied to a substrate, such as a wafer or others, generally the surface of the substrate is made hydrophobic with hexamehtyldisilazane (HMDS) as pre-processing. HMDS is a good silylation agent, and easily silylates hydroxyl groups on the surface of the silicon substrate, etc. to make the substrate surface hydrophobic. [0004] The hydrophobic processing wi...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The present invention provides a method and device for applying a resist to a substrate surface. The method includes steps of thermal processing to evaporate water from the substrate surface and make it hydrophobic, followed by the application of a resist. These steps are performed in a dehumidified atmosphere, which prevents the hydrolysis of the hydrophobic processing material and reduces the production of foreign substances on the substrate surface. The device includes a thermal processing unit, a hydrophobic processing unit, and a resist application unit. The use of this method and device improves the adhesion between the substrate and the resist, resulting in high-quality semiconductor devices with high yields.

Problems solved by technology

However, in the conventional resist application device, the humidity of an atmosphere in a clean room, which is to be fed into the internal unit, has not been especially controlled.

However, the water contents of the atmosphere before and after the HMDS processing have not been controlled.

For example, in cooling a substrate after the baking prior to the HMDS processing, in transferring the substrate or in cooling the substrate after the HMDS processing, the water contents of the atmosphere have not been especially controlled.

It cannot be said that the humidity control in the serial processing is sufficient.

However, the atmosphere in which the resist application is performed has also the water content decreased, which will make it difficult to form the resist film in a uniform film thickness.

Also in consideration of the amount of nitrogen gas required to completely replace the processing chamber and the time required for the replacement, etc., it will be difficult to efficiently apply the resist from the viewpoint of cost and time.

Such foreign substances are sufficiently able to mask the etching, and are one factor for causing defects of the pattern as etched, which has much affected yields of the products.

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