Apparatus for and method of processing substrate

Abstract

A rinsing liquid adheres to a substrate subjected to a cleaning process. The rinsing liquid on the substrate is first replaced with IPA liquid. While the substrate covered with the IPA liquid is held in a dryer chamber, liquid carbon dioxide is supplied to the surface of the substrate. Liquid nitrogen is supplied to cool down the interior of the dryer chamber. This solidifies the liquid carbon dioxide on the substrate into solid carbon dioxide. Thereafter, the pressure in the dryer chamber is returned to atmospheric pressure, and gaseous nitrogen is supplied into the dryer chamber. Thus, the temperature in the dryer chamber increases. The solid carbon dioxide on the surface of the substrate is sublimated, and is hence removed from the substrate. All of the steps are performed while carbon dioxide is not in a supercritical state but in a non-supercritical state.

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 which remove liquid adhering to various substrates (referred to simply as “substrates” hereinafter) including a semiconductor substrate, a glass substrate for a flat panel display, a substrate for an optical disk, a solar cell panel and the like from the substrates.[0003]2. Description of the Background Art[0004]In the process steps of manufacturing a semiconductor device, for example, a variety of wet processes using liquid are performed on a substrate, and a drying process is then performed on the substrate subjected to such wet processes. In the process of development in photolithography, a chemical liquid such as a developing solution is applied to a substrate to which a pattern is transferred by exposure to light, and thereafter the substrate is cleaned using a rinsing liquid to remove the chemical liquid from the su...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0008]The present invention is intended for a substrate processing apparatus and a substrate processing method which are capable of drying a substrate without collapsing a pattern provided on the substrate in an environment with a pressure lower than that required to achieve a supercritical state.

[0011]According to the present invention, the predetermined material is supplied in a liquid phase onto the substrate, and is then solidified. Thereafter, the predetermined material in a solid phase is sublimated, and is hence removed from the substrate. Thus, capillary force does not act on the substrate. This prevents damages to a pattern provided on the substrate. Also, for the solidification of a material, it is in general sufficient to use a pressure lower than that required to place the material into a supercritical state. The present invention therefore eliminates the need to provide facilities for achieving a high-pressure environment, thereby reducing apparatus costs.

Problems solved by technology

This gives rise to a problem such that, in the drying process of the replacement liquid, surface tension (or capillary force) acting on a boundary surface between the liquid entering the microstructure of a pattern and a gas in contact with the liquid causes adjacent protruding portions of the pattern to attract each other, thereby collapsing the adjacent protruding portions.

The provision of such an apparatus requires apparatus costs.

These problems become considerations not only in the process of drying the substrate by the removal of the replacement liquid but also in the general processes of removing liquid remaining on the substrate from the substrate.

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