Substrate processing device and substrate processing method

Abstract

Provided is a substrate processing device capable of photographing a liquid column-shaped processing liquid ejected to the end of a substrate. The substrate processing device comprises a substrate holding portion 20, a cup member 40, a lifting mechanism 44, a first nozzle 31, and a camera 70. The substrate holding portion 20 holds a substrate W and rotates the substrate W. The cup member 40 surrounds the outer periphery of the substrate holding portion 20. The lifting mechanism 44 raises the cup member 40 in such a manner that the upper end of the cup member 40 is located at an upper end position higher than the substrate W held by the substrate holding portion 20. The first nozzle 31 has a spray port at a position lower than the upper end position, and sprays a first processing liquid from the spray port toward the end of the substrate W. The camera 70 photographs a photographing area observed from a photographing position above the substrate W, and the photographing area includes the first processing liquid ejected from the spray port of the first nozzle 31.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to a substrate processing device and a substrate processing method. Background Art

[0002] As a device for processing a substrate, a substrate processing device is used that rotates the substrate in a horizontal plane while spraying a processing liquid from a spray nozzle onto the surface of the substrate. The processing liquid that lands on the approximate center of the substrate from the spray nozzle spreads to the entire surface of the substrate by the centrifugal force accompanying the rotation of the substrate, and scatters outward from the periphery of the substrate. By spreading the processing liquid to the entire surface of the substrate, the processing liquid can act on the entire surface of the substrate. As the processing liquid, a chemical liquid or a cleaning liquid corresponding to the processing of the substrate is used.

[0003] In such a substrate processing apparatus, there is proposed a technique of providing a camera to monitor whether the processing liquid is appropriately discharged (Patent Documents 1 to 5).

[0004] Furthermore, in the process of manufacturing a semiconductor substrate, various films remaining on the peripheral edge of the substrate may adversely affect a device surface of the substrate.

[0005] Therefore, a bevel process for removing the film from the peripheral edge of the substrate has been proposed in the past. In the bevel process, a treatment liquid for removal is sprayed from a spray nozzle toward the edge of the substrate while the substrate is rotated in a horizontal plane, and the film at the peripheral edge of the substrate is removed by the treatment liquid.

[0006] Prior art literature

[0007] Patent Literature

[0008] Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2015-173148

[0009] Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2017-29883

[0010] Patent Document 3: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2015-18848

[0011] Patent Document 4: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2016-122681

[0012] Patent Document 5: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2008-135679 Summary of the invention

[0013] Problem that the invention aims to solve

[0014] In the bevel treatment, since the treatment liquid is only supplied to the end of the substrate, the flow rate of the treatment liquid decreases. In other words, the liquid column-shaped treatment liquid ejected from the ejection nozzle becomes thinner. Therefore, the liquid column-shaped treatment liquid is easily affected by various factors such as the airflow accompanying the rotation of the substrate and the static electricity generated around it, and its ejection state is easily changed. Specifically, the various factors may cause the landing position of the treatment liquid relative to the substrate to shift, or liquid splashing may occur. Since the offset of the landing position and the generation of liquid splashing will have an adverse effect on the process, it is desired to monitor the ejection state of the treatment liquid.

[0015] However, in the bevel processing, since the interval between the discharge nozzle and the substrate is narrow, it takes time and effort to capture the image of the liquid column-shaped processing liquid discharged from the discharge nozzle.

[0016] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a substrate processing apparatus capable of capturing an image of a processing liquid in the form of a liquid column ejected onto an end portion of a substrate.

[0017] Means used to solve problems

[0018] A first form of a substrate processing device comprises: a substrate holding portion that holds a substrate and rotates the substrate; a cup member that surrounds the outer periphery of the substrate holding portion; a lifting mechanism that raises the cup member in such a manner that the upper end portion of the cup member is located at an upper end position higher than the substrate held by the substrate holding portion; a first nozzle that has a spray port at a position lower than the upper end position and sprays a first processing liquid from the spray port toward an end portion of the substrate; and a camera that captures a capturing area observed from a capturing position above the substrate, wherein the capturing area includes the first processing liquid sprayed from the spray port of the first nozzle.

[0019] The second form of the substrate processing device, in the first form of the substrate processing device, has a moving mechanism, which moves the camera to the shooting position above the substrate, and the shooting position is a position where the height position of the lower end of the light-receiving surface of the camera is the same as the upper end position of the cup member, or a position where the height position of the lower end of the light-receiving surface of the camera is lower than the upper end position.

[0020] A third form of a substrate processing device, in the first form of the substrate processing device, has a mirror and a moving mechanism for moving the mirror, the camera is arranged in an area other than above the substrate, the moving mechanism moves the mirror to the shooting position above the substrate, and the light from the shooting area is reflected from the mirror to the camera.

[0021] A fourth form of the substrate processing device, in the third form of the substrate processing device, the moving mechanism moves the mirror to a position where the lower end of the reflecting surface of the mirror is the same as the upper end position of the cup member, or moves the mirror to a position where the lower end of the reflecting surface of the mirror is lower than the upper end position.

[0022] A fifth aspect of the substrate processing apparatus is the substrate processing apparatus of any one of the first to fourth aspects, wherein the imaging position is a position on the upstream side of the first nozzle in the rotation direction of the substrate.

[0023] A sixth form of the substrate processing apparatus comprises, in the first form of the substrate processing apparatus, a moving mechanism which moves the camera to the shooting position above the substrate, wherein the first processing liquid contains hydrofluoric acid, and the lower part of the camera is covered with a chemical-resistant resin or metal.

[0024] The seventh form of the substrate processing device, in any one form of the substrate processing device from the first form to the sixth form, comprises: a fixing member that fixes the first nozzle, and a moving mechanism that shifts the fixing member to move the first nozzle to above the end of the substrate; the camera is fixed to the fixing member.

[0025] The eighth form of the substrate processing device, in any one form of the substrate processing device from the first form to the sixth form, further comprises: a second nozzle that sprays a second processing liquid toward the substrate, a fixed component that fixes the second nozzle, and a moving mechanism that shifts the fixed component to move the second nozzle above the substrate; the camera is fixed to the fixed component.

[0026] A ninth aspect of the substrate processing apparatus is the substrate processing apparatus of any one of the first aspect to the eighth aspect, wherein the imaging region is an imaging region observed along a direction closer to a circumferential direction than a radial direction of the substrate.

[0027] A first form of a substrate processing method, in a substrate processing device of any one form from the first form to the ninth form, comprises: a holding step of holding the substrate by the substrate holding portion; a substrate rotating step of rotating the substrate holding portion holding the substrate; a slope processing step of spraying the first processing liquid from the first nozzle to the end of the substrate; and a slope monitoring step of monitoring the spraying state of the first processing liquid based on the captured image obtained by the camera capturing the capturing area.

[0028] A second aspect of the substrate processing method is the substrate processing method according to the first aspect, wherein in the bevel processing step, the first processing liquid is ejected toward the substrate from two or more ejection ports.

[0029] A third form of the substrate processing method, in the substrate processing method of the first form or the second form, in the slope monitoring step, based on the brightness value of the pixels in the area of ​​the captured image that is located directly below the first nozzle and has a horizontal length longer than a vertical length, the spraying state quantity of the processing liquid sprayed from the front end of the first nozzle is calculated, and the spraying state quantity is the liquid column width or the spraying position of the processing liquid.

[0030] A fourth form of the substrate processing method, in the third form of the substrate processing method, the slope monitoring process includes: a process of obtaining a central value or an average value of the ejection state quantity as a reference value; and a process of determining that an abnormality has occurred in the first processing liquid when the difference between the ejection state quantity and the reference value is greater than a specified value.

[0031] A fifth aspect of the substrate processing method is the substrate processing method of the third aspect or the fourth aspect, wherein the region is set at a position in the captured image that includes a portion of the first processing liquid reflected on the upper surface of the substrate by specular reflection.

[0032] A sixth aspect of the substrate processing method is the substrate processing method of the fifth aspect, wherein the exposure time of the camera is set to be longer than the time required for the substrate to rotate once.

[0033] The seventh form of the substrate processing method is to calculate the ejection state quantity based on the brightness value of the pixels in the area in the captured image obtained by integrating or averaging a plurality of captured images obtained by the camera within a time period longer than the time required for the substrate to rotate once in the fifth form of the substrate processing method.

[0034] An eighth form of the substrate processing method, in the substrate processing method of the first form or the second form, in the slope monitoring process, the captured image is classified into any one of a category in which the width of the liquid column of the processing liquid sprayed from the front end of the first nozzle or the ejection position is normal and a category in which the width of the liquid column of the processing liquid sprayed from the front end of the first nozzle or the ejection position is abnormal, by a classifier based on machine learning.

[0035] A ninth form of the substrate processing method, in the eighth form of the substrate processing method, in the slope monitoring process, a region located directly below the first nozzle and having a horizontal length longer than a vertical length is cut out from the captured image, and the image of the cut region is input into the classifier.

[0036] The tenth form of the substrate processing method is a substrate processing method of any one of the first to ninth forms, wherein the captured image includes a portion of the periphery of the substrate, and the bevel processing step includes: a step of determining the substrate periphery position of the portion of the periphery of the substrate based on the captured image; and a step of moving the first nozzle from the substrate periphery position to a processing position on the center side of the substrate with a specified width.

[0037] Effects of the Invention

[0038] According to the first aspect of the substrate processing apparatus, the first processing liquid discharged from the first nozzle can be imaged.

[0039] According to the second aspect of the substrate processing apparatus, it is easy to make the optical axis of the camera further along the horizontal direction.

[0040] According to the third aspect of the substrate processing apparatus, the influence of the first processing liquid sprayed onto the substrate on the camera can be reduced. For example, even if the first processing liquid contains hydrofluoric acid, the vaporized component of the first processing liquid is unlikely to adhere to the camera, thereby reducing the possibility of camera corrosion.

[0041] According to the fourth aspect of the substrate processing apparatus, it is easy to make the imaging direction from the imaging position along the horizontal direction.

[0042] According to the fifth aspect of the substrate processing apparatus, the amount of the first processing liquid on the peripheral edge of the substrate is smaller on the upstream side of the first nozzle than on the downstream side of the first nozzle. Therefore, the influence of the first processing liquid on the substrate can be reduced.

[0043] According to the sixth aspect of the substrate processing apparatus, the possibility of camera corrosion can be reduced.

[0044] According to the seventh aspect of the substrate processing apparatus, the camera is fixed to the fixing member to which the first nozzle is fixed. Therefore, the camera can be positioned with high accuracy relative to the first nozzle.

[0045] According to the eighth aspect of the substrate processing apparatus, since the mechanism for moving the camera and the mechanism for moving the discharge nozzle can be used together, the manufacturing cost and size can be reduced.

[0046] According to the ninth aspect of the substrate processing apparatus, the radial position of the landing position of the processing liquid with respect to the substrate can be easily observed.

[0047] According to the first aspect and the second aspect of the substrate processing method, the discharge state can be monitored based on an appropriate captured image.

[0048] According to the third aspect of the substrate processing method, since the brightness values ​​of the pixels in the horizontally long region are used, even if the interval between the first nozzle and the substrate is narrow, it is easy to set the region so as to include a part of the vertical direction of the ejected first processing liquid. Therefore, the ejection state quantity can be appropriately obtained based on the pixel values ​​of the region.

[0049] According to the fourth aspect of the substrate processing method, an operator can recognize abnormality.

[0050] According to the fifth aspect of the substrate processing method, the length of the liquid column-shaped first processing liquid reflected on the upper surface of the substrate becomes longer due to the mirror reflection, so that the area can be easily set.

[0051] According to the sixth aspect of the substrate processing method, in the captured image, the pattern on the upper surface of the substrate is averaged and made uniform, so that the outline of the first processing liquid reflected on the upper surface of the substrate can be made clear.

[0052] According to the seventh aspect of the substrate processing method, in the captured image, the pattern on the upper surface of the substrate is averaged and made uniform, so that the outline of the first processing liquid reflected on the upper surface of the substrate can be made clear.

[0053] According to the eighth aspect of the substrate processing method, abnormality can be detected with high accuracy.

[0054] According to the ninth aspect of the substrate processing method, it is possible to perform classification without the influence of the region that has a low correlation with the discharge state, and thus it is possible to improve the classification accuracy.

[0055] According to the tenth aspect of the substrate processing method, the first nozzle can be moved to the processing position with high accuracy. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0056] Figure 1 This is a diagram showing an example of a schematic structure of a substrate processing apparatus.

[0057] Figure 2 This is a plan view schematically showing an example of the structure of the processing unit.

[0058] Figure 3 This is a cross-sectional view schematically showing an example of the structure of the processing unit.

[0059] Figure 4 FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically showing an example of a captured image obtained by a camera.

[0060] Figure 5 This is a perspective view schematically showing an example of the structure of a camera and a camera holder.

[0061] Figure 6 is a flow chart showing one example of substrate processing.

[0062] Figure 7 is a flowchart showing an example of monitoring processing.

[0063] Figure 8 This is a diagram that magnifies a portion of a captured image.

[0064] Fig. 9 is a graph showing an example of brightness values ​​within a line segment area.

[0065] Fig.10 This is a plan view schematically showing an example of the structure of the processing unit.

[0066] Fig.11 FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing an example of a captured image.

[0067] Fig.12 This is a plan view schematically showing an example of the structure of the processing unit.

[0068] Fig.13 This is a plan view schematically showing an example of the structure of the processing unit.

[0069] Fig.14 This is a functional block diagram schematically showing an example of the internal structure of the control unit. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0070] The following describes the embodiments with reference to the attached drawings. In addition, the drawings are schematic diagrams, and for the convenience of description, the structure is appropriately omitted or simplified. In addition, the mutual relationship of the size and position of the structure shown in the drawings is not accurately recorded and can be appropriately changed.

[0071] In the following description, the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the names and functions of these components are also assumed to be the same. Therefore, in order to avoid duplication, the detailed description of these components may be omitted.

[0072] <Overview of substrate processing apparatus>

[0073] Figure 1 1 is a diagram showing the overall structure of a substrate processing apparatus 100. The substrate processing apparatus 100 is an apparatus for processing a substrate W by supplying a processing liquid to the substrate W. The substrate W is, for example, a semiconductor substrate. The substrate W has a substantially disk shape.

[0074] The substrate processing device 100 rotates the substrate W in a horizontal plane while supplying a processing liquid to the end of the substrate W, thereby removing unnecessary substances attached to the peripheral end of the substrate W. The width of the peripheral end (the width along the radial direction) is, for example, about 0.5 mm to 3 mm. Examples of unnecessary substances include films such as SiO2 films, SiN films, and polysilicon films, as well as particles. Examples of processing liquids for removing such unnecessary substances include a mixed solution (SC-1) of hydrofluoric acid (HF), phosphoric acid (H3PO4), ammonia (NH3) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), and hydrofluoric nitric acid (a mixed solution of hydrofluoric acid and nitric acid (HNO3)). The substrate processing device 100 rotates the substrate W while supplying a processing liquid to the end of the substrate W, thereby removing unnecessary substances. Such processing is also called bevel processing.

[0075] The substrate processing device 100 has a divider 102, a plurality of processing units 1, and a main transport robot 103. The divider 102 has the function of moving an unprocessed substrate W received from outside the device into the device and moving the processed substrate W out of the device. The divider 102 carries a plurality of carriers and has a transfer robot (all omitted in the figure). As the carrier, a FOUP (front opening unified pod) or a SMIF (standard mechanical interface) box that stores the substrate W in a closed space, or an OC (open cassette) that exposes the substrate W to the outside air in a stored state can be used. The transfer robot transfers the substrate W between the carrier and the main transport robot 103.

[0076] The substrate processing apparatus 100 is provided with 12 processing units 1. The detailed configuration structure is that 4 towers are arranged so as to surround the main transport robot 103, and the towers are formed by stacking 3 processing units 1. In other words, the 4 processing units 1 arranged to surround the main transport robot 103 are stacked in three layers. Figure 1 One of the layers is shown. In addition, the number of the processing units 1 mounted in the substrate processing apparatus 100 is not limited to 12, and may be 8 or 4, for example.

[0077] The main transport robot 103 is installed in the center of four stacked towers of the processing units 1. The main transport robot 103 carries unprocessed substrates W received from the indexer 102 into each processing unit 1, and carries processed substrates W out of each processing unit 1 and hands them to the indexer 102.

[0078] <Processing unit>

[0079] Next, the processing unit 1 will be described. Hereinafter, one processing unit 1 among the 12 processing units 1 mounted in the substrate processing apparatus 100 will be described, but the same also applies to the other processing units 1 . Figure 2 is a top view of the processing unit 1. In addition, Figure 3 It is a longitudinal sectional view of the processing unit 1.

[0080] The processing unit 1 has the following components as main elements in the chamber 10: a substrate holding part 20 that holds the substrate W in a horizontal posture (a posture in which the normal line of the substrate W is along the vertical direction); three processing liquid supply parts 30, 60, and 65 for supplying processing liquid to the upper surface of the substrate W held by the substrate holding part 20; a processing cup (cup member) 40 that surrounds the substrate holding part 20; and a camera 70. In addition, a partition plate 15 is provided around the processing cup 40 in the chamber 10 to divide the inner space of the chamber 10 into upper and lower parts. In addition, the processing unit 1 is provided with a control part 9 and a notification part 93.

[0081] <Chamber>

[0082] The chamber 10 has a side wall 11 extending in the vertical direction, a top wall 12 that closes the upper side of the space surrounded by the side wall 11, and a bottom wall 13 that closes the lower side. The space surrounded by the side wall 11, the top wall 12, and the bottom wall 13 serves as a processing space for the substrate W. In addition, a loading and unloading port for the main transport robot 103 to load and unload the substrate W in and out of the chamber 10 and a gate for opening and closing the loading and unloading port are provided in a portion of the side wall 11 of the chamber 10 (both are omitted in the figure).

[0083] A fan filter unit (FFU) 14 is installed on the top wall 12 of the chamber 10, and is used to further clean the air in the clean room where the substrate processing device 100 is installed and supply it to the processing space in the chamber 10. The fan filter unit 14 has a fan and a filter (such as a HEPA filter (High Efficiency Particulate Air Filter)) for taking in the air in the clean room and sending it into the chamber 10, forming a downflow of clean air in the processing space in the chamber 10. In order to evenly disperse the clean air supplied from the fan filter unit 14, a punching plate with a plurality of blowing holes may also be provided directly below the top wall 12.

[0084] <Substrate holding section>

[0085] The substrate holding part 20 is, for example, a rotary chuck. The substrate holding part 20 has a circular plate-shaped rotary base 21, which is fixed in a horizontal position to the upper end of a rotary shaft 24 extending in a vertical direction. A rotary motor 22 is provided below the rotary base 21 to rotate the rotary shaft 24. The rotary motor 22 rotates the rotary base 21 in a horizontal plane via the rotary shaft 24. In addition, a cylindrical cover member 23 is provided to surround the rotary motor 22 and the rotary shaft 24.

[0086] The outer diameter of the disk-shaped rotating base 21 is slightly larger than the diameter of the circular substrate W held by the substrate holding portion 20. Therefore, the rotating base 21 has a holding surface 21a facing the entire lower surface of the substrate W to be held.

[0087] A plurality of (four in the present embodiment) chuck pins 26 are vertically provided on the peripheral edge of the holding surface 21a of the rotating base 21. The plurality of chuck pins 26 are arranged at equal intervals along the circumference corresponding to the outer circumference of the circular substrate W (if there are four chuck pins 26 as in the present embodiment, they are arranged at 90° intervals). The plurality of chuck pins 26 are driven in conjunction with a linkage mechanism (not shown) housed in the rotating base 21. The substrate holding portion 20 holds the substrate W by bringing each of the plurality of chuck pins 26 into contact with the outer circumferential end of the substrate W, thereby being able to hold the substrate W above the rotating base 21 in a horizontal posture close to the holding surface 21a (see FIG. 2 ). Figure 3 ), and can make multiple chuck pins 26 separate from the outer peripheral end of the substrate W to release the grip.

[0088] In a state where the substrate holding portion 20 holds the substrate W by gripping it with a plurality of chuck pins 26, the rotary motor 22 rotates the rotary shaft 24, thereby enabling the substrate W to rotate about the rotary axis CX, which is an axis in a vertical direction passing through the center of the substrate W. Figure 2 Rotate counterclockwise.

[0089] <Processing liquid supply unit>

[0090] The processing liquid supply unit 30 includes a spray nozzle 31, a fixing member 32, and a moving mechanism 33. The fixing member 32 is a member for fixing the spray nozzle 31, and includes, for example, a nozzle arm 321 and a nozzle base 322. The spray nozzle 31 is mounted at the front end of the nozzle arm 321. The base end side of the nozzle arm 321 is fixed and connected to the nozzle base 322. The moving mechanism 33 moves the spray nozzle 31 by displacing the fixing member 32. For example, the moving mechanism 33 is a motor for rotating the nozzle base 322 around an axis along the vertical direction. Figure 2As shown by arrow AR34 in FIG. 3 , the nozzle base 322 rotates so that the discharge nozzle 31 moves in an arc shape along the horizontal direction between a processing position above the end of the substrate W and a standby position outside the processing cup 40 .

[0091] The processing liquid supply unit 30 may also include a plurality of spray nozzles 31. Figure 2 and Figure 3 In the example of FIG. 3 , three ejection nozzles 31 are shown as the ejection nozzles 31. The three ejection nozzles 31 are fixed to the nozzle base 322 via the nozzle arm 321. Therefore, the three ejection nozzles 31 move synchronously with each other. The three ejection nozzles 31 are arranged in the circumferential direction of the substrate W in the processing position. The interval between the three ejection nozzles 31 in the circumferential direction is, for example, about ten or so mm.

[0092] like Figure 3 As shown in the example, the ejection nozzle 31 is connected to the processing liquid supply source 37 via the piping 34. An on-off valve 35 is provided in the middle of the piping 34. A jet outlet (not shown) is formed on the lower surface of the front end of the ejection nozzle 31. By opening the on-off valve 35, the processing liquid from the processing liquid supply source 37 flows inside the piping 34 and is ejected from the jet outlet of the ejection nozzle 31. The processing liquid ejected when the ejection nozzle 31 is stopped at the processing position lands on the end of the upper surface of the substrate W held by the substrate holding portion 20. By the rotation of the substrate W, the processing liquid from the ejection nozzle 31 is supplied to the entire area of ​​the peripheral edge of the substrate W, thereby removing unnecessary substances at the peripheral edge (bevel processing).

[0093] A suck back valve 36 may be provided in the middle of each pipe 34. The suck back valve 36 sucks the processing liquid in the pipe 34 when the ejection of the processing liquid stops, thereby introducing the processing liquid from the front end of the ejection nozzle 31. Thus, when the ejection stops, it is difficult for the processing liquid to drop as a large mass (liquid drop) from the front end of the ejection nozzle 31.

[0094] When a plurality of ejection nozzles 31 are provided, the ejection nozzles 31 may be connected to different processing liquid supply sources 37. In other words, the processing liquid supply unit 30 may be configured to supply a plurality of processing liquids. Alternatively, at least two of the plurality of ejection nozzles 31 may supply the same processing liquid.

[0095] In addition, in the processing unit 1 of the present embodiment, in addition to the above-mentioned processing liquid supply unit 30, two processing liquid supply units 60 and 65 are further provided. The processing liquid supply units 60 and 65 of the present embodiment have the same structure as the above-mentioned processing liquid supply unit 30. That is, the processing liquid supply unit 60 has a spray nozzle 61, a fixed member 62 and a moving mechanism 63. The fixed member 62 has a nozzle arm 621 and a nozzle base 622 in the same manner as the fixed member 32. The spray nozzle 61 is installed at the front end of the nozzle arm 621, and the nozzle base 622 is connected to the base end of the nozzle arm 621. The moving mechanism 63 is, for example, a motor, and by rotating the nozzle base 622, as shown by the arrow AR64, the spray nozzle 61 is moved in an arc shape between a processing position above the end of the substrate W and a standby position outside the processing cup 40. The spray nozzle 61 also supplies the processing liquid to the end of the substrate W. As the substrate W rotates, the processing liquid from the discharge nozzle 61 is supplied to the entire area of ​​the peripheral edge of the substrate W, thereby removing unnecessary substances at the peripheral edge (bevel processing).

[0096] The processing liquid supply unit 65 includes a spray nozzle 66, a fixed member 67, and a moving mechanism 68. The fixed member 67 includes a nozzle arm 671 and a nozzle base 672. The spray nozzle 66 is mounted at the front end of the nozzle arm 671, and the nozzle base 672 is connected to the base end of the nozzle arm 671. The moving mechanism 68 is, for example, a motor, which rotates the nozzle base 672, so that the spray nozzle 66 moves in an arc shape between a processing position above the approximate center of the substrate W and a standby position outside the processing cup 40, as shown by the arrow AR69. The spray nozzle 61 also supplies the processing liquid to the approximate center of the substrate W. As the substrate W rotates, the processing liquid from the spray nozzle 66 spreads from the center of the substrate W and scatters from the periphery of the substrate W to the outside. As a result, the processing liquid can act on the entire upper surface of the substrate W.

[0097] Each of the processing liquid supply parts 60 and 65 may be configured to supply a plurality of processing liquids. Alternatively, each of the processing liquid supply parts 60 and 65 may be configured to supply a single processing liquid.

[0098] The processing liquid supply parts 60 and 65 spray processing liquid onto the upper surface of the substrate W held by the substrate holding part 20 when their respective spray nozzles 61 and 66 are located at the processing position. In addition, at least one of the processing liquid supply parts 60 and 65 may be a two-fluid nozzle that mixes a cleaning liquid such as pure water with a pressurized gas to generate droplets and sprays the mixed fluid of the droplets and the gas onto the substrate W. In addition, the processing liquid supply parts provided in the processing unit 1 are not limited to three, as long as there are more than one. The respective spray nozzles of the processing liquid supply parts 60 and 65 may also be connected to the processing liquid supply source via a pipe in the same manner as the processing liquid supply part 30. In addition, an opening and closing valve is provided in the middle of the pipe, and a back-suction valve is further provided. Below, the slope processing using the processing liquid supply part 30 is representatively described.

[0099] <Processing cup>

[0100] The processing cup 40 is provided in a manner of surrounding the substrate holding portion 20. The processing cup 40 includes an inner cup 41, a middle cup 42, and an outer cup 43. The inner cup 41, the middle cup 42, and the outer cup 43 are provided in a manner of being able to be raised and lowered. Specifically, a lifting mechanism 44 is provided in the processing unit 1, and the lifting mechanism 44 can lift and lower the inner cup 41, the middle cup 42, and the outer cup 43, respectively. The lifting mechanism 44 includes, for example, a ball screw mechanism.

[0101] When the inner cup 41, the middle cup 42, and the outer cup 43 are raised, the upper end of the processing cup 40 (here, the upper end of the outer cup 43) is located above the upper surface of the substrate W. Hereinafter, the height position of the upper end of the outer cup 43 when the outer cup 43 is raised is also referred to as the upper end position of the processing cup 40. In the vertical direction, the interval between the upper end position of the processing cup 40 and the substrate W can be set to, for example, about 2 mm to more than ten mm.

[0102] When the inner cup 41, the middle cup 42, and the outer cup 43 are in the ascending state, the processing liquid scattered from the periphery of the substrate W hits the inner circumferential surface of the inner cup 41 and falls. The fallen processing liquid is properly recovered by the first recovery mechanism (not shown). When the inner cup 41 is lowered and the middle cup 42 and the outer cup 43 are in the ascending state, the processing liquid scattered from the periphery of the substrate W hits the inner circumferential surface of the middle cup 42 and falls. The fallen processing liquid is properly recovered by the second recovery mechanism (not shown). When the inner cup 41 and the middle cup 42 are lowered and the outer cup 43 is in the ascending state, the processing liquid scattered from the periphery of the substrate W hits the inner circumferential surface of the outer cup 43 and falls. The fallen processing liquid is properly recovered by the third recovery mechanism (not shown). Thus, different processing liquids can be properly recovered respectively.

[0103] Hereinafter, the state in which the outer cup 43 rises will be described as the state in which the processing cup 40 rises. That is, the state in which the processing cup 40 rises includes the state in which the inner cup 41, the middle cup 42 and the outer cup 43 all rise, the state in which only the middle cup 42 and the outer cup 43 rise, and the state in which only the outer cup 43 rises.

[0104] <Divider>

[0105] The partition plate 15 is provided around the processing cup 40 so as to partition the inner space of the chamber 10 up and down. The partition plate 15 may be a single plate-shaped member surrounding the processing cup 40, or may be formed by joining a plurality of plate-shaped members. In addition, a through hole or a notch penetrating in the thickness direction may be formed on the partition plate 15. In the present embodiment, a through hole (not shown) for inserting a support shaft is formed, and the support shaft is used to support the nozzle base 322, 622, 672 of the processing liquid supply unit 30, 60, 65.

[0106] The outer peripheral end of the partition plate 15 is connected to the side wall 11 of the chamber 10. In addition, the edge of the partition plate 15 surrounding the processing cup 40 is formed in a circular shape with a larger diameter than the outer diameter of the outer cup 43. Therefore, the partition plate 15 does not hinder the lifting and lowering of the outer cup 43.

[0107] In addition, an exhaust duct 18 is provided at a part of the side wall 11 of the chamber 10 and near the bottom wall 13. The exhaust duct 18 is connected to an exhaust mechanism (not shown). The clean air supplied from the fan filter unit 14 and flowing down in the chamber 10, the air passing through the processing cup 40 and the partition plate 15 is discharged from the exhaust duct 18 to the outside of the device.

[0108] <Camera>

[0109] The camera 70 is disposed in the chamber 10 and above the partition plate 15. The camera 70 has, for example, an imaging element (e.g., a CCD (Charge Coupled Device)) and an optical system such as an electronic shutter and a lens. The camera 70 can capture an imaging area to be described below. That is, the imaging area is an area where the substrate W is observed from the imaging position above, and is an area including the front end of the ejection nozzle 31 in the processing position and the substantially liquid column-shaped processing liquid ejected from the front end toward the end of the substrate W (see also Figure 3 ).

[0110] Figure 4 1 is a diagram schematically showing an example of image data (hereinafter referred to as captured image) IM1 obtained by the camera 70. Figure 4In the example of , the captured image IM1 includes the front ends of the three ejection nozzles 31. The captured image IM1 includes the substantially columnar processing liquid Lq1 ejected from the ejection nozzle 31 located in the center among the three ejection nozzles 31. The substantially columnar processing liquid Lq1 mentioned here refers to the processing liquid Lq1 flowing from the front end of the ejection nozzle 31 toward the upper surface of the substrate W. The camera 70 outputs the captured image IM1 to the control unit 9.

[0111] like Figure 2 As shown in the example, the camera 70 can be arranged to be movable. Figure 2 In the example, the camera 70 is fixed to the fixing member 62 of the processing liquid supply part 60. As a more specific example, a camera holding part 73 for holding the camera 70 is provided, and the camera holding part 73 is connected to the nozzle arm 621 of the fixing member 62. For example, the camera holding part 73 is fixed to the front end of the nozzle arm 621 by a fastening member (such as a screw) at its base end side, and the camera 70 is fixed and held by the fastening member at the front end side. The camera holding part 73 is formed of, for example, metal (such as stainless steel). The moving mechanism 63 moves the camera 70 to a shooting position above the substrate W by displacing the fixing member 62. More specifically, the moving mechanism 63 can reciprocate the camera 70 between the shooting position above the substrate W and the standby position outside the processing cup 40 by rotating the nozzle base 622.

[0112] exist Figure 2 In the example, the standby position of the ejection nozzle 31 is located at a position offset by approximately 90 degrees in the clockwise direction relative to the standby position of the camera 70. The ejection nozzle 31 and the camera 70 move from their respective standby positions to approach each other, and stop at their respective processing positions and shooting positions. At the shooting position of the camera 70, the camera 70 is held by the camera holding portion 73 in a posture capable of shooting a shooting area including the front end of the ejection nozzle 31 and the roughly liquid column-shaped processing liquid Lq1 ejected from the front end. Figure 2 In the example of FIG. 6 , the camera holding portion 73 protrudes obliquely in the clockwise direction relative to the nozzle arm 621 and holds the camera 70 at its front end side.

[0113] Here, an example of the positional relationship between the camera 70 and the ejection nozzle 31 when the ejection nozzle 31 stops at the processing position and the camera 70 stops at the imaging position is described. The positional relationship is described below using the ejection nozzle 31 located in the center among the three ejection nozzles 31.

[0114] exist Figure 2In the example, the camera 70 is located at the center of the substrate W relative to the discharge nozzle 31 in a plan view. That is, the radial position of the camera 70 relative to the substrate W is located closer to the center of the substrate W than the radial position of the discharge nozzle 31 .

[0115] In addition, Figure 2 In the example, when viewed from above, the camera 70 captures the front ends of the three ejection nozzles 31 from a shooting direction that is closer to the circumferential direction than the radial direction of the substrate W. That is, the position of the camera 70 relative to the circumferential direction of the substrate W is offset to one side relative to the circumferential position of the ejection nozzle 31. Furthermore, in other words, when viewed from above, the angle θ1 (0<θ1<90) formed by the imaginary straight line L1 connecting the center of the substrate W and the ejection nozzle 31 and the optical axis of the camera 70 is greater than the angle θ2 (02<θ2<90) formed by the imaginary straight line L2 orthogonal to the straight line L1 and the optical axis of the camera 70. As a result, the radial position of the landing position of the processing liquid Lq1 relative to the substrate W can be easily observed in the captured image IM1. However, when the angle θ2 is too small, the three ejection nozzles 31 may be arranged and overlapped in the depth direction when observed from the shooting position. In this case, since it is difficult to include all three ejection nozzles 31 in the captured image IM1 , the angle θ2 may be set so that the three ejection nozzles 31 are appropriately offset in the lateral direction when viewed from the imaging position.

[0116] In addition, the camera 70 captures the captured area from a capturing direction closer to the circumferential direction, so that when viewed from the capturing position, the three ejection nozzles 31 are offset from each other in the depth direction. The intervals between the three ejection nozzles 31 in the depth direction are, for example, several mm to more than ten mm. The depth of field of the camera 70 is set to a large extent to make the outlines of the three ejection nozzles 31 clear. In addition, the distance between the camera 70 and the ejection nozzle 31 is, for example, about 100 mm.

[0117] exist Figure 2 In the example, the camera 70 is located on the upstream side relative to the ejection nozzle 31 in the rotation direction of the substrate holding portion 20. Compared with the case where the camera 70 is located on the downstream side relative to the ejection nozzle 31, the amount of the processing liquid Lq1 on the peripheral end of the substrate W may be reduced when the camera 70 is located on the upstream side relative to the ejection nozzle 31. The reason is that the processing liquid Lq1 may fly outward from the periphery of the substrate W as the substrate W rotates. Therefore, as long as the camera 70 is located on the upstream side relative to the ejection nozzle 31, it is difficult for the processing liquid Lq1 to adhere to the camera 70, or the vaporized component of the processing liquid Lq1 is difficult to affect the camera 70. In other words, from the viewpoint of protecting the camera 70, it is preferred that the camera 70 is located on the upstream side relative to the ejection nozzle 31.

[0118] In addition, when the discharge nozzle 31 discharges the processing liquid Lq1, the processing cup 40 is in an ascending state. The reason is that the processing liquid Lq1 scattered from the periphery of the substrate W is received by the processing cup 40. In this state, the front end (discharge port) of the discharge nozzle 31 is located at a position lower than the upper end position of the processing cup 40. For example, in the vertical direction, the interval between the upper end position of the processing cup 40 and the upper surface of the substrate W is set to about 2 mm to more than ten mm, and the interval between the discharge nozzle 31 and the substrate W is set to about 2 mm or less (for example, about 1 mm).

[0119] Here, for comparison, a case where the imaging position of the camera 70 is set outside the processing cup 40 is described. For example, the imaging position is set on the side close to the ejection nozzle 31 in the space outside the processing cup 40 ( Figure 3 Since the upper end of the processing cup 40 is located at a higher position than the front end of the ejection nozzle 31, the processing cup 40 may hinder the shooting. That is, even if the processing liquid Lq1 in a substantially columnar shape is to be shot from the shooting position outside the processing cup 40, the processing liquid Lq1 may be blocked by the processing cup 40. When the shooting position is set to a higher position to avoid the processing cup 40, the ejection nozzle 31 is shot from obliquely above. Since the distance between the front end of the ejection nozzle 31 and the substrate W is narrow, when the processing liquid Lq1 in a substantially columnar shape is to be shot from obliquely above, the processing liquid Lq1 may be blocked by the ejection nozzle 31.

[0120] Therefore, it is also conceivable to set the imaging position to the side opposite to the ejection nozzle 31 in the space outside the processing cup 40 with respect to the center of the substrate W ( Figure 3 Thus, it is possible to capture the substantially columnar processing liquid Lq1 ejected from the ejection nozzle 31. However, since the distance between the tip of the ejection nozzle 31 and the capturing position of the camera 70 becomes longer, a high-resolution camera 70 or a telephoto camera 70 is required.

[0121] In contrast, in the present embodiment, since the imaging position is located above the substrate W, it is easy to make the imaging position close to the upper surface of the substrate W in the height direction, and it is easy to make the optical axis of the camera 70 along the horizontal direction. Therefore, the camera 70 is not blocked by the processing cup 40 and the ejection nozzle 31, and can image the substantially columnar processing liquid Lq1 ejected from the ejection nozzle 31. The angle formed by the optical axis of the camera 70 and the horizontal plane can be set to, for example, less than about ten degrees.

[0122] In addition, when observing from above, the camera 70 can also be brought close to the ejection nozzle 31. Therefore, a cheaper camera with lower resolution or no telephoto can be used. Such a camera is small in size and is therefore preferred. Figure 4 In the example of FIG. 5 , since the distance between the camera 70 and the ejection nozzle 31 is short, only a portion of the periphery of the substrate W is included in the captured image IM1 .

[0123] Here, an example of the shooting position of the camera 70 in the height direction is described. The shooting position of the camera 70 can also be set so that the lower end of the light receiving surface of the imaging element of the camera 70 is located at the same position as or lower than the upper end position of the processing cup 40. For example, the distance between the camera 70 and the upper surface of the substrate W can be set to about 1 mm to 5 mm. In this way, the camera 70 can be brought closer to the upper surface of the substrate W, and the optical axis of the camera 70 can be made to be closer to the horizontal direction.

[0124] Alternatively, the imaging position of the camera 70 may be set so that the lower end of the frame of the camera 70 is located at the same position as or lower than the upper end of the processing cup 40 .

[0125] In addition, the camera holding portion 73 may support the lower surface of the camera 70 . Figure 5 is a perspective view schematically showing an example of a camera 70 and a camera holding portion 73. Figure 5 In FIG, a substrate W and a discharge nozzle 31 are also shown. Figure 5 In the example of , the camera holding portion 73 has: an L-shaped connecting member 731; an upper surface member 732, located on the upper surface side of the camera 70; a side member 733, located on the side surface side of the camera 70; and a lower surface member 734, located on the lower surface side of the camera 70. The connecting member 731 has: a first rod-shaped member extending horizontally from the nozzle arm 621; and a second rod-shaped member extending vertically downward from the front end of the first rod-shaped member. The front end of the second rod-shaped member is connected to the upper surface member 732. Figure 5 In the example of FIG. 7 , the upper surface member 732, the side member 733, and the lower surface member 734 have a plate-like shape. The upper surface member 732 and the lower surface member 734 are arranged with their thickness directions along the vertical direction, and the side member 733 is arranged with its thickness direction along the horizontal direction. The side member 733 connects the upper surface member 732 and the lower surface member 734. The lower surface member 734 also functions as a supporting member for supporting the camera 70.

[0126] In such a structure, the imaging position of the camera 70 can also be set so that the lower end of the lower surface member 734 is located at the same position as or lower than the upper end position of the processing cup 40. In this way, the camera 70 can be brought closer to the upper surface of the substrate W, and the optical axis of the camera 70 can be made to be more horizontal.

[0127] <Lighting Department>

[0128] like Figure 3 As shown, an illumination unit 71 is provided in the chamber 10 and above the partition plate 15. The illumination unit 71 includes a light source such as an LED (Light Emitting Diode). The wavelength of the light emitted by the illumination unit 71 is not particularly limited, but for example, visible light or near infrared light may be used. Figure 3 In the example of FIG. 7 , the lighting unit 71 is arranged above the camera 70. For example, when viewed from above, the lighting unit 71 is arranged at a position overlapping with the camera 70 (see FIG. 7 ). Figure 2 ). The lighting unit 71 may also be held by the camera holding unit 73. For example, the lighting unit 71 may also be fixed to the upper surface of the upper surface member 732 of the camera holding unit 73. Usually, since the interior of the chamber 10 is a dark room, when the camera 70 takes a picture, the lighting unit 71 irradiates light to the photographing area.

[0129] <Control Department>

[0130] The control unit 9 controls various structures of the substrate processing apparatus 100 to process the substrate W. In addition, the control unit 9 performs image processing on the captured image IM1 obtained by the camera 70. Since the camera 70 captures the front end of the ejection nozzle 31 from the capturing position above the substrate W, the captured image IM1 obtained by the camera 70 appropriately includes the substantially liquid column-shaped processing liquid Lq1 ejected from the ejection nozzle 31. The control unit 9 monitors the landing position (inclined surface monitoring) of the processing liquid Lq1 ejected from the ejection nozzle 31 by performing image processing on the captured image IM1. An example of this monitoring process will be described in detail later.

[0131] The hardware structure of the control unit 9 is the same as that of a normal computer. That is, the control unit 9 includes: a CPU (Central Processing Unit) for performing various calculations, a read-only memory for storing basic programs, namely a ROM (Read Only Memory), a freely readable and writable memory for storing various information, namely a RAM (Random Access Memory), and a disk that pre-stores control software and data. The CPU of the control unit 9 executes a prescribed processing program, so that each action mechanism of the substrate processing device 100 is controlled by the control unit 9, and the substrate processing device 100 is processed. In addition, the CPU of the control unit 9 executes a prescribed processing program to perform image processing. In addition, part or all of the functions of the control unit 9 can also be implemented by dedicated hardware.

[0132] <Hosting Department>

[0133] The notification unit 93 is, for example, a sound output unit (e.g., a speaker) or a display. The notification unit 93 can make various notifications to the operator. For example, the sound output unit outputs a notification sound (a buzzer sound or a sound) or the display displays notification information, thereby making various notifications to the operator. The notification of the notification unit 93 is controlled by the control unit 9.

[0134] <Operation of the control unit>

[0135] Figure 6 1 is a flowchart showing an example of substrate processing. First, in step S1, the main transport robot 103 transports the substrate W onto the substrate holder 20. The substrate holder 20 holds the transported substrate W.

[0136] Next, in step S2, the control unit 9 controls the moving mechanism 33 to move the discharge nozzle 31 to the processing position, and controls the moving mechanism 63 to move the camera 70 to the imaging position. Next, in step S3, the control unit 9 controls the lifting mechanism 44 to raise the processing cup 40, and controls the rotating motor 22 to rotate the rotating base 21. The rotating speed of the rotating base 21 is set to, for example, about 1000 rpm or more.

[0137] Next, in step S4, the control unit 9 controls the camera 70 to start photographing. The camera 70 photographs the photographing area at a predetermined frame rate (e.g., 60 frames / second), and sequentially outputs the obtained photographed images IM1 to the control unit 9. As described later, the control unit 9 monitors the discharge state of the processing liquid Lq1 based on image processing of the photographed images IM1.

[0138] Next, in step S5, the control unit 9 starts to eject the processing liquid Lq1 from the ejection nozzle 31. Specifically, the control unit 9 outputs an opening signal to the on-off valve 35. The on-off valve 35 opens based on the opening signal and opens the pipe 34. As a result, the processing liquid Lq1 from the processing liquid supply source 37 is ejected from the ejection nozzle 31 and lands on the end of the upper surface of the substrate W. The flow rate of the processing liquid Lq1 is set to, for example, several ml / minute to tens of ml / minute. The flow rate of the processing liquid Lq1 is less than the flow rate of the processing liquid when the entire surface of the substrate W is processed (for example, the flow rate of the processing liquid ejected from the ejection nozzle 66 of the processing liquid supply unit 65).

[0139] The processing liquid Lq1 is ejected toward the end of the substrate W while rotating the substrate W, so that the processing liquid Lq1 acts on the entire area of ​​the peripheral end of the substrate W. The processing liquid Lq1 can remove unnecessary substances attached to the peripheral end of the substrate W (bevel processing). The processing liquid Lq1 corresponding to the type of unnecessary substances (e.g., film) can be ejected sequentially from the ejection ports of the three ejection nozzles 31. In addition, the processing liquid can be ejected from at least two ejection ports of the three ejection nozzles 31 at the same time.

[0140] In order to appropriately remove unnecessary substances adhering to the peripheral edge of the substrate W during the bevel surface processing, it is desirable to control the flow rate of the processing liquid Lq1 with high accuracy.

[0141] In addition, a device is formed in a device area other than the peripheral end in the upper surface of the substrate W. Since the processing liquid Lq1 removes the film, it is not desirable for the processing liquid Lq1 to enter the device area. This is because it is possible to remove the required film in the device area. On the other hand, it is necessary to remove the unnecessary film present in the peripheral end. In order to meet this requirement, it is desirable to control the landing position of the processing liquid Lq1 with high precision during the bevel processing. The necessary accuracy of the landing position of the processing liquid Lq1 relative to the substrate W is, for example, about tens (e.g., 50) μm.

[0142] In the slope processing, since the flow rate of the processing liquid Lq1 is small, the processing liquid Lq1 is easily affected by the airflow accompanying the rotation of the substrate W or the surrounding static electricity, and the landing position of the processing liquid Lq1 may vary.

[0143] The control unit 9 monitors the discharge state of the processing liquid Lq1 in the monitoring process. The specific operation of the monitoring process will be described in detail later.

[0144] When the end condition of the inclined surface treatment is satisfied, the control unit 9 stops the discharge of the treatment liquid Lq1 from the discharge nozzle 31 in step S6. Although the end condition of the inclined surface treatment does not need to be particularly limited, a condition such as the time elapsed from step S5 reaching a predetermined time can be adopted. In response to the satisfaction of the end condition, the control unit 9 outputs a closing signal to the on-off valve 35. The on-off valve 35 performs a closing action based on the closing signal and closes the pipe 34. Thus, the discharge of the treatment liquid Lq1 is terminated. In addition, when a back-sucking valve 36 is provided, the control unit 9 outputs a suction signal to the back-sucking valve 36.

[0145] After stopping the ejection of the processing liquid Lq1, a process of drying the substrate W may be appropriately performed. Next, in step S7, the control unit 9 causes the camera 70 to stop photographing. That is, the monitoring process is terminated. Next, in step S8, the control unit 9 controls the rotary motor 22 to stop the rotation of the rotary base 21, and controls the lifting mechanism 44 to lower the processing cup 40. Next, in step S9, the control unit 9 controls the moving mechanism 33 and the moving mechanism 63 respectively to move the ejection nozzle 31 and the camera 70 to their respective standby positions.

[0146] Figure 7 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the monitoring process. Figure 7First, in step S11, the control unit 9 specifies a line segment region R2 described below in the captured image IM1.

[0147] Figure 8 IM1 is a diagram schematically showing an example of an enlarged view of the captured image IM1. Figure 8 In the example of , a diagram in which an area R1 near the front end of a discharge nozzle 31 is enlarged is shown. The line segment area R2 is an area directly below the discharge nozzle 31 in the captured image IM1, and is an area containing a portion of the roughly liquid column-shaped processing liquid Lq1 discharged from the discharge nozzle 31. The line segment area R2 is set at a position separated from the discharge nozzle 31 in the captured image IM1. The line segment area R2 has a long strip shape that is long in the transverse direction. That is, the longitudinal width of the line segment area R2 is narrower than its transverse width. More specifically, the transverse width of the line segment area R2 is set to be wider than the liquid column width of the processing liquid Lq1 discharged from the discharge nozzle 31, for example, it is set to be more than 3 times the normal liquid column width. The transverse position of the line segment area R2 is set so that both ends of the width direction of the processing liquid Lq1 are included in the line segment area R2. The longitudinal width of the line segment area R2 can be appropriately set, for example, the longitudinal width can be equivalent to the width of one pixel. Here, as an example, the width of the line segment region R2 in the longitudinal direction is set to be equivalent to the width of one pixel.

[0148] The line segment region R2 in the captured image IM1 is preset with respect to the ejection nozzle 31. That is, the relative positional relationship between the ejection nozzle 31 and the line segment region R2 is preset. Information indicating the positional relationship may be stored in a storage medium of the control unit 9.

[0149] In addition, since the relative position of the camera 70 with respect to the ejection nozzle 31 may change depending on the accuracy of the moving mechanism 33, 63, the position of the ejection nozzle 31 in the captured image IM1 may also change. Therefore, the control unit 9 can determine the position of the ejection nozzle 31 in the captured image IM1, and determine the line segment area R2 that satisfies a predetermined positional relationship with respect to the determined ejection nozzle 31. In order to determine the position of the ejection nozzle 31 in the captured image IM1, a reference image including the appearance of the front end of the ejection nozzle 31 is also pre-stored in the storage medium of the control unit 9. The control unit 9 determines the position of the ejection nozzle 31 in the captured image IM1 by pattern matching based on the reference image, and determines the line segment area R2 based on the predetermined relative positional relationship for the determined ejection nozzle 31. Thus, even if the position of the ejection nozzle 31 in the captured image IM1 changes, the line segment area R2 can be appropriately determined corresponding to the position of the ejection nozzle 31.

[0150] In the state where the ejection nozzle 31 is ejecting the processing liquid Lq1, a portion of the processing liquid Lq1 in a substantially liquid column shape is included in the line segment region R2. Since the light irradiated by the illumination unit 71 is reflected by the processing liquid Lq1 and received by the camera 70, the brightness value of the pixel reflecting the processing liquid Lq1 becomes higher than the brightness values ​​of other pixels. In addition, in the case where the camera 70 is a grayscale black and white camera, it can be said that the pixel value of the pixel represents the brightness value. Here, as an example, the camera 70 is a black and white camera.

[0151] Fig. 9 : is a graph showing an example of the brightness values ​​(here, pixel values) of the pixels in the line segment region R2. The horizontal axis represents the pixel numbers of the pixels arranged in the horizontal direction in the line segment region R2, and the vertical axis represents the pixel values. Fig. 9 , three graphs G1 to G3 with different flow rates of the processing liquid Lq1 are shown. The graphs G1 to G3 are graphs when the flow rate of the processing liquid Lq1 is 18 ml / min, 12 ml / min, and 8 ml / min, respectively.

[0152] Since the pixel value of the pixel reflecting the processing liquid Lq1 is greater than the pixel values ​​of other pixels, the pixel value changes sharply at both ends of the width direction of the roughly liquid column-shaped processing liquid Lq1. That is, it can be said that the area where the pixel value of each pixel in the line segment area R2 is greater than the reference value A1 is the area corresponding to the processing liquid Lq1. The reference value A1 can be preset by simulation or experiment.

[0153] Reference Figure 7 In step S12, the control unit 9 calculates the liquid column width of the treatment liquid Lq1 based on the pixel values ​​of the pixels in the line segment area R2. For example, the control unit 9 determines for each pixel whether the pixel value in the line segment area R2 is greater than the reference value A1. Next, the control unit 9 calculates the number of pixels LW1 between the pixels at both ends among the plurality of pixels having pixel values ​​greater than the reference value A1, and calculates the liquid column width based on the number of pixels LW1. Also refer to Fig. 9 The larger the flow rate of the processing liquid Lq1, the larger the liquid column width of the processing liquid Lq1.

[0154] Next, in step S13, the control unit 9 determines whether the difference (absolute value) between the obtained liquid column width and the width reference value is greater than a predetermined width allowable value. That is, the control unit 9 determines whether the liquid column width is within an appropriate range. As the width reference value, a value representing an appropriate liquid column width can be used. For example, the average value of the normal liquid column width can be calculated based on a plurality of captured images IM1 captured in a state where the processing liquid Lq1 is normally ejected, and the average value is used as the width reference value. The width allowable value is also preset. The width reference value and the width allowable value can also be stored in a storage medium of the control unit 9, for example.

[0155] When the difference is greater than the width allowable value, in step S14, the control unit 9 causes the notification unit 93 to notify that the flow rate is abnormal, and then executes step S15 (described later). As a result, the operator can recognize that a flow rate abnormality has occurred. On the other hand, when the difference is less than the allowable value, step S14 is not executed and step S15 is executed.

[0156] In step S15, the control unit 9 determines the discharge position of the processing liquid Lq1 based on the pixels in the line segment region R2. As the discharge position, for example, the center position in the width direction of the processing liquid Lq1 in the line segment region R2 can be used.

[0157] In order to determine the ejection position, the control unit 9 first determines the positions of the two ends of the width direction of the processing liquid Lq1 in the line segment region R2 in the above-mentioned manner. Specifically, the control unit 9 determines the pixels located at the two ends among the plurality of pixels having a pixel value greater than the reference value A1 as the positions of the two ends of the width direction of the processing liquid Lq1. Then, the control unit 9 obtains the center position of the two ends as the ejection position of the processing liquid Lq1.

[0158] Next, in step S15, the control unit 9 determines whether the difference (absolute value) between the ejection position of the processing liquid Lq1 and the position reference value is greater than a predetermined position tolerance value. That is, the control unit 9 determines whether the ejection position of the processing liquid Lq1 is within an appropriate range. Since the ejection position of the processing liquid Lq1 reflects the landing position of the processing liquid Lq1 relative to the substrate W, it can also be said that the control unit 9 determines whether the landing position is within an appropriate range. As a position reference value, a value representing an appropriate ejection position can be used. For example, the average value of the normal ejection position can be calculated based on a plurality of captured images IM1 captured in a state where the processing liquid Lq1 is ejected normally, and the average value is used as the position reference value. The position tolerance value is also preset. The position reference value and the position tolerance value can also be stored in a storage medium of the control unit 9, for example.

[0159] When the difference is greater than the position tolerance value, in step S17, the control unit 9 causes the notification unit 93 to notify that the ejection position is abnormal, and the process is terminated. Thus, the operator can recognize that an ejection position abnormality has occurred. On the other hand, when the difference is smaller than the tolerance value, step S17 is not executed and the process is terminated.

[0160] As described above, the control unit 9 can monitor the discharge state (flow rate and discharge position) of the processing liquid Lq1 discharged from the discharge nozzle 31 .

[0161] In addition, in the above example, the control unit 9 monitors the central position of the processing liquid Lq1 in the width direction as the ejection position. However, the control unit 9 may monitor the positions of the two ends in the width direction as the ejection positions of the processing liquid Lq1. That is, the control unit 9 may also determine whether the positions of one end and the other end in the width direction of the processing liquid Lq1 are appropriate. By calculating the difference between the position of one end of the processing liquid Lq1 and its normal position and the difference between the position of the other end of the processing liquid Lq1 and its normal position, the ejection state of the processing liquid Lq1 can be determined more finely.

[0162] In addition, in the above example, the longitudinal width of the line segment region R2 is set to the width of one pixel, but the longitudinal width of the line segment region R2 may also be set to the width of a plurality of pixels. In this case, the pixel values ​​of the pixels arranged in the longitudinal direction may be integrated by column, and the liquid column width and the ejection position of the processing liquid Lq1 may be obtained based on the plurality of integrated values ​​in the plurality of columns. Thus, the average value of the liquid column width in the vertical direction of the processing liquid Lq1 may be obtained as the liquid column width, and similarly, the average value of the ejection position in the vertical direction may be obtained as the ejection position.

[0163] In the above example, the camera 70 is fixed to the fixing member 62 similarly to the ejection nozzle 61. That is, the fixing member 62 serves as both a mechanism for moving the camera 70 and a mechanism for moving the ejection nozzle 61. Therefore, compared with the case where dedicated mechanisms are provided separately, the manufacturing cost and size can be reduced.

[0164] <Securing the camera>

[0165] Fig.10 1 is a top view schematically showing an example of the structure of the processing unit 1A. The processing unit 1A has the same structure as the processing unit 1 except that the camera 70 is fixed to the object. In the processing unit 1A, the camera 70 is fixed to the fixing member 32 in the same manner as the ejection nozzle 31 that is the object of imaging. More specifically, the camera holding portion 73 is connected to the nozzle arm 321 on the side of the nozzle arm 321. The camera holding portion 73 holds the camera 70. The camera 70 is fixed to the fixing member 32 via the camera holding portion 73. The camera 70 and the camera holding portion 73 are arranged on the counterclockwise side of the nozzle arm 321 (i.e., from the standby position of the ejection nozzle 31 toward the processing position) with respect to the nozzle arm 321. In addition, the camera 70 is held by the camera holding portion 73 in a posture that allows it to capture the front end of the ejection nozzle 31 and the processing liquid Lq1 ejected from the ejection nozzle 31.

[0166] The moving mechanism 33 rotates the nozzle base 322, thereby maintaining the positional relationship between the ejection nozzle 31 and the camera 70 while moving the ejection nozzle 31 and the camera 70 to the processing position and the imaging position, respectively. The positional relationship between the imaging position of the camera 70 and the processing position of the ejection nozzle 31 is the same as that of the processing unit 1.

[0167] Similar to the processing unit 1 , with this processing unit 1A, the camera 70 can appropriately capture an image of the substantially liquid column-shaped processing liquid Lq1 ejected from the ejection nozzle 31 .

[0168] Furthermore, since the camera 70 and the ejection nozzle 31 are fixed to the same fixing member 32, the camera 70 can be positioned with high accuracy relative to the ejection nozzle 31. That is, in the processing unit 1, the ejection nozzle 31 and the camera 70 are fixed to the nozzle arms 321 and 621 which are different from each other. Therefore, in view of the accuracy of the moving mechanisms 33 and 63, it is necessary to provide a relatively wide margin between the camera 70 and the nozzle arm 321. In contrast, in the processing unit 1A, since the ejection nozzle 31 and the camera 70 are fixed to the same nozzle arm 321, the margin between the camera 70 and the nozzle arm 321 can be set to be relatively wide. have to That is, the camera 70 can be brought closer to the nozzle arm 321. Thus, the camera 70 can capture the ejection nozzle 31 from a direction closer to the circumferential direction. Therefore, it is easy to identify the ejection position of the processing liquid Lq1 in the radial direction in the captured image IM1.

[0169] <Camera protection>

[0170] When the treatment liquid Lq1 contains hydrofluoric acid, the lower surface of the frame of the camera 70 or the lower end surface of the lower surface member 734 of the camera holding portion 73 may be formed of a chemically resistant material. In short, the protective member 74 for protecting the camera 70 may be provided on the lower surface side of the camera 70. As the protective member 74, a chemically resistant resin or metal such as stainless steel having high chemical resistance to hydrofluoric acid may be used, and the chemically resistant resin may be a fluororesin such as polytetrafluoroethylene or a vinyl chloride resin.

[0171] This can reduce the possibility that the camera 70 located above the substrate W is corroded by the vaporized components of the processing liquid Lq1 . Therefore, the reliability of the camera 70 can be improved.

[0172] <Line segment area R2>

[0173] Fig.11 FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically showing another example of the region R1 of the captured image IM1. Fig.11In the illustrated captured image IM1, the ejection nozzle 31 is included in the upper surface of the substrate W. This is because the light from the illumination unit 71 is reflected by the ejection nozzle 31, then mirror-reflected on the upper surface of the substrate W and received by the light receiving surface of the camera 70. That is, the upper surface of the substrate W functions as a mirror, and the appearance of the existing ejection nozzle 31 is projected on the upper surface.

[0174] In such a captured image IM1, the line segment region R2 may be set to include a portion of the substantially liquid columnar processing liquid Lq1 projected on the upper surface of the substrate W. That is, in the captured image IM1, the line segment region R2 may be set to cross the substantially liquid columnar processing liquid Lq1 projected on the upper surface of the substrate W.

[0175] The control unit 9 can determine the liquid column width and the discharge position of the processing liquid Lq1 within the line segment region R2 by the same image processing as the above-mentioned image processing.

[0176] However, in the present embodiment, since the optical axis of the camera 70 is more along the horizontal direction, the longitudinal length of the processing liquid Lq1 reflected on the upper surface of the substrate W in the captured image IM1 becomes longer than the length of the processing liquid Lq1 between the discharge nozzle 31 and the substrate W. Thus, it is easy to set the line segment region R2 so as to cross the processing liquid Lq1. In addition, the longitudinal width of the line segment region R2 can be set wider.

[0177] In addition, various patterns such as metal patterns, semiconductor patterns, insulating layer patterns, and resist patterns may be formed on the upper surface of the substrate W. Therefore, the processing liquid Lq1 reflected on the upper surface of the substrate W is affected by these patterns. Therefore, the outline of the processing liquid Lq1 may be blurred.

[0178] Therefore, the exposure time of the camera 70 can be set to be longer than the rotation time required for one rotation of the substrate W. As a result, the pattern of the substrate W in the captured image IM1 is averaged and homogenized, so that the outline of the processing liquid Lq1 in the captured image IM1 can be made clear. As a result, the accuracy of determining the positions of both ends of the processing liquid Lq1 can be improved, and further, the liquid column width and the ejection position can be obtained with high accuracy.

[0179] Alternatively, the exposure time may be shorter than the rotation time. The control unit 9 may integrate or average a plurality of captured images IM1 captured within a predetermined time longer than the rotation time, and generate a processed image at predetermined intervals. In each processed image at a predetermined time, the pattern on the upper surface of the substrate W is averaged and made uniform, so that the contour of the processing liquid Lq1 can be made conspicuous.

[0180] <Position of the ejection nozzle 31>

[0181] The processing position of the discharge nozzle 31 may be controlled based on the captured image IM1. This will be described in detail below.

[0182] The processing position of the discharge nozzle 31 is a position separated by a predetermined width from the periphery of the substrate W. Therefore, the control unit 9 determines the position of the periphery of the substrate W in the captured image IM1 (hereinafter referred to as the substrate periphery position). First, the control unit 9 determines the periphery region R3 described below in the captured image IM1.

[0183] The peripheral region R3 is a region including a portion of the peripheral edge of the substrate W in the captured image IM1. Figure 8 In the example of , the peripheral region R3 has a rectangular shape. The position of the peripheral region R3 is pre-set corresponding to the position of the ejection nozzle 31, similarly to the line segment region R2. That is, the relative positional relationship between the ejection nozzle 31 and the peripheral region R3 is pre-set. Information indicating the positional relationship may also be stored in the storage medium of the control unit 9.

[0184] The control unit 9 determines the position of the ejection nozzle 31 in the captured image IM1 by pattern matching, and determines the peripheral region R3 based on the determined position of the ejection nozzle 31. Furthermore, the control unit 9 determines the substrate peripheral position of the substrate W in the peripheral region R3. For example, the control unit 9 determines the periphery of the substrate W based on image processing such as edge detection processing. Thus, the substrate peripheral position of the substrate W based on the position of the ejection nozzle 31 can be determined.

[0185] The control unit 9 may also determine the processing position of the ejection nozzle 31 based on the substrate peripheral position. For example, when the ejection nozzle 31 stops at the correct processing position, a captured image IM1 is obtained in advance, and the substrate peripheral position in the peripheral region R3 is obtained in advance from the captured image IM1, and the substrate peripheral position is stored in advance in the storage medium of the control unit 9 as a reference position.

[0186] The control unit 9 compares the determined substrate peripheral position with the reference position, and adjusts the position of the ejection nozzle 31 in a manner to reduce the difference. For example, when the substrate peripheral position is offset to the left relative to the reference position in the captured image IM1, the control unit 9 controls the moving mechanism 33 to move the ejection nozzle 31 to the center side of the substrate W, and when the substrate peripheral position is offset to the right relative to the reference position, the control unit 9 controls the moving mechanism 33 to move the ejection nozzle 31 to the peripheral side of the substrate W. In this way, the ejection nozzle 31 can be moved to the position that becomes the center of the substrate W by a predetermined width relative to the substrate peripheral position.

[0187] <Landing position relative to the substrate>

[0188] In the above example, the control unit 9 obtains the ejection position of the processing liquid Lq1 based on the pixels in the line segment region R2 based on the position of the ejection nozzle 31. That is, the ejection position based on the position of the ejection nozzle 31 is obtained and the ejection position is monitored. However, the control unit 9 may monitor the ejection position of the processing liquid Lq1 based on the position of the periphery of the substrate W.

[0189] As described above, the control unit 9 can determine the ejection position and the substrate peripheral position, both of which are based on the position of the ejection nozzle 31. Therefore, the control unit 9 can determine the ejection position (and then determine the landing position) based on the substrate peripheral position based on these positions. For example, table information that serves as a reference is generated in advance through experiments, etc. Specifically, each time the processing position of the ejection nozzle 31 is appropriately changed in advance through the control of the control unit 9, the ejection nozzle 31 is caused to eject the processing liquid Lq1 and obtain the captured image IM1. Moreover, at each processing position of the ejection nozzle 31, the distance between the landing position of the processing liquid Lq1 and the periphery of the substrate W is measured, and the positional relationship between the substrate end position and the ejection position in the captured image IM1 at this time is determined. Moreover, the measured distance and the determined positional relationship are associated with each other, and they are pre-stored as table information in the storage medium of the control unit 9.

[0190] The control unit 9 determines the positional relationship between the substrate end position and the ejection position in the captured image IM1, and calculates the distance between the periphery of the substrate W and the landing position of the processing liquid Lq1 (i.e., the landing position based on the periphery of the substrate W) based on the determined positional relationship and the table information.

[0191] The control unit 9 may also determine whether the landing position is within an appropriate range. For example, determine whether the difference between the landing position and the landing reference value is greater than a specified allowable value. The landing reference value is a target value for the landing position and is preset. The allowable value may also be preset. When the difference is greater than the allowable value, the control unit 9 may also cause the notification unit 93 to notify that the landing position is abnormal. In addition, the control unit 9 may also control the moving mechanism 33 to move the ejection nozzle 31 from the peripheral position of the substrate to the center of the substrate W with a specified width, so that the landing position is within an appropriate range.

[0192] <Photographic optical system>

[0193] Fig.12 1 is a diagram schematically showing an example of the structure of the processing unit 1B. The processing unit 1B has the same structure as the processing unit 1 except for the imaging optical system. The processing unit 1B is provided with a mirror 75. The mirror 75 is arranged at an imaging position above the substrate W, and the camera 70 is arranged in a region other than above the substrate W. Fig.12As shown in the example, the camera 70 may be located above the processing cup 40 in a plan view. The mirror 75 reflects light from the imaging region toward the light receiving surface of the camera 70. Therefore, the camera 70 can image the imaging region observed from the imaging position above the substrate W.

[0194] like Fig.12 As shown in the example, the mirror 75 can be arranged to be movable. Fig.12 In the example, the mirror 75 is fixed to the fixing member 62 of the processing liquid supply part 60. As a more specific example, a mirror holding part 76 for holding the mirror 75 is provided, and the mirror holding part 76 is connected to the nozzle arm 621 of the fixing member 62. For example, the mirror holding part 76 is fixed to the front end of the nozzle arm 621 by a fastening member (such as a screw) at its base end side, and the mirror 75 is fixed and held by the fastening member at its front end side. The mirror holding part 76 is formed of, for example, metal (such as stainless steel). The moving mechanism 63 rotates the nozzle base 622, thereby enabling the mirror 75 to reciprocate between a shooting position above the substrate W and a standby position outside the processing cup 40. The moving mechanism 63 moves the mirror 75 to the shooting position, thereby enabling light from the shooting area to be reflected from the mirror 75 to the camera 70.

[0195] The positional relationship between the position of the mirror 75 (shooting position) and the ejection nozzle 31 when viewed from above is the same as the positional relationship between the position of the camera 70 (shooting position) and the ejection nozzle 31 in the processing unit 1. The shooting position is preferably close to the substrate W. For example, the shooting position may be set so that the lower end of the reflection surface of the mirror 75 is located at the same position as or lower than the upper end position of the processing cup 40. Alternatively, when the mirror holding portion 76 has a lower surface member disposed on the lower side of the mirror 75, the shooting position may be set so that the lower end of the lower surface member is located at the same position as or lower than the upper end position of the processing cup 40. Thus, the camera 70 can shoot the shooting area observed from the shooting position in a direction closer to the horizontal. That is, it is easy to make the shooting direction from the shooting position more along the horizontal direction.

[0196] According to the processing unit 1B, since the camera 70 can be arranged in a region other than above the substrate W, the influence of the processing liquid Lq1 on the camera 70 can be reduced. For example, the possibility of the processing liquid Lq1 adhering to the camera 70 or the possibility of the vaporized component of the processing liquid Lq1 adhering to the camera 70 can be reduced. Therefore, for example, even if the processing liquid Lq1 contains hydrofluoric acid, the camera 70 is not easily corroded.

[0197] In addition, the camera 70 may be fixed in the processing unit 1B in a substantially immovable manner, or may be fixed in the processing unit 1B in a movable manner.

[0198] In addition, the mirror 75 does not necessarily need to be fixed to the fixing member 62 of the processing liquid supply unit 60, and can be fixed to the fixing member 32 of the processing liquid supply unit 30 in the same manner as the camera 70 of the processing unit 1A. In this way, the mirror 75 can be brought closer to the nozzle arm 321, so it is easy to make the shooting direction from the shooting position more along the circumferential direction.

[0199] <One pair of lighting parts>

[0200] Fig.13 This is a diagram schematically showing an example of the structure of the processing unit 1C. The processing unit 1C has the same structure as the processing unit 1 except for the lighting unit 71. In the processing unit 1C, a pair of lighting units 71 are provided. When viewed from above, the pair of lighting units 71 irradiate light from both sides of the camera 70. The pair of lighting units 71 can be located, for example, on the side of the camera 70, or can be located above the camera 70. The pair of lighting units 71 can also be held by the camera holding unit 73. In a shooting state where the camera 70 and the ejection nozzle 31 are stopped at the shooting position and the processing position, respectively, the pair of lighting units 71 can be arranged on the opposite side of each other relative to the group of ejection nozzles 31 when viewed along the shooting direction.

[0201] Since the pair of lighting units 71 irradiate the shooting area from both sides relative to the ejection nozzle 31 in the shooting state, the brightness values ​​of the two ends of the processing liquid Lq1 ejected from the ejection nozzle 31 will increase in the shot image IM1, and the outline of the processing liquid Lq1 will be conspicuous. That is, the difference between the brightness values ​​of the pixels corresponding to the two ends of the processing liquid Lq1 and the brightness values ​​of the pixels corresponding to the area outside the processing liquid Lq1 increases. As a result, the control unit 9 can determine the positions of the two ends of the processing liquid Lq1 with higher accuracy. Furthermore, the liquid column width and the ejection position can be obtained with higher accuracy.

[0202] Machine Learning

[0203] In the above example, the control unit 9 processes the captured image IM1 to obtain the liquid column width and the discharge position of the processing liquid Lq1 and determines whether the liquid column width and the discharge position are within an appropriate range. However, the control unit 9 may also perform determination using machine learning.

[0204] Fig.14: is a diagram schematically showing an example of the internal structure of the control unit 9. The control unit 9 has a classifier 91 and a machine learning unit 92. The captured images IM1 from the camera 70 are sequentially input to the classifier 91. The classifier 91 classifies each input captured image IM1 into a category related to the ejection state quantity (flow rate or ejection position) of the ejection nozzle 31. The category can also be called a class. As a category, a category with abnormalities in the ejection state quantity and a category with no abnormalities can be used. More specifically, a first category indicating that both the flow rate and the ejection position are normal, a second category indicating that only the flow rate is abnormal, a third category indicating that only the ejection position is abnormal, and a fourth category indicating that both the flow rate and the ejection position are abnormal can be used.

[0205] The classifier 91 is generated by a machine learning unit 92 using a plurality of teaching data. That is, the classifier 91 can be said to be a classifier that has been machine-learned. As a machine learning algorithm, the machine learning unit 92 uses, for example, the nearest neighbor method, a support vector machine, a random forest, or a neural network (including deep learning). Since the neural network automatically generates feature quantities, the designer does not need to determine feature vectors.

[0206] The teaching data includes image data and a label indicating which category the image data is classified into. The image data is a captured image taken by the camera 70 and is generated in advance. The correct category is assigned to each image data as a label. This assignment can be performed by an operator. The machine learning unit 92 performs machine learning based on these teaching data and generates a classifier 91.

[0207] As an example, a classifier 91 for classifying frames by the nearest neighbor method is described. The classifier 91 has a feature vector extraction unit 911, a determination unit 912, and a storage medium storing a determination database 913. Each frame of the captured image from the camera 70 is sequentially input into the feature vector extraction unit 911. The feature vector extraction unit 911 extracts a feature vector of the captured image IM1 according to a prescribed algorithm. The feature vector is a vector representing a feature quantity corresponding to the ejection state of the ejection nozzle 31. As the algorithm, a known algorithm can be adopted. The feature vector extraction unit 911 outputs the feature vector to the determination unit 912.

[0208] The judgment database 913 stores a plurality of feature vectors (hereinafter referred to as reference vectors) generated from a plurality of teaching data by the machine learning unit 92, and the reference vectors are classified into various categories. Specifically, the machine learning unit 92 generates a plurality of reference vectors by applying the same algorithm as the feature vector extraction unit 911 to the plurality of teaching data. Furthermore, the machine learning unit 92 assigns the label (correct category) of the teaching data to the reference vector.

[0209] The determination unit 912 classifies the captured image IM1 based on the feature vector input from the feature vector extraction unit 911 and the plurality of reference vectors stored in the determination database 913. For example, the determination unit 912 may determine the reference vector closest to the feature vector and classify the captured image IM1 into the category of the determined reference vector (nearest neighbor method). Thus, the determination unit 912 can classify the captured image input to the classifier 91 (feature vector extraction unit 911) into the category.

[0210] The control unit 9 classifies each captured image IM1 into any one of the first to fourth categories by the classifier 91. This classification means determining whether the discharge state quantity of the processing liquid Lq1 is within an appropriate range. Since the classification is performed by machine learning, abnormalities can be detected with high accuracy.

[0211] <Input to the classifier>

[0212] In the above example, although the entire region of the captured image IM1 is used as input data to the classifier 91, the present invention is not necessarily limited to this. For example, the control unit 9 may cut out an image of the line segment region R2 in the captured image IM1 and input the image to the classifier 91. In this case, an image representing the line segment region R2 is also used as learning data input to the machine learning unit 92.

[0213] Thus, the classifier 91 can perform classification without the influence of the region that has a low correlation with the discharge state, and thus can improve the classification accuracy.

[0214] In addition, when the line segment region R2 has a width equivalent to more than two pixels as its vertical width, an integral value group can be used as input data to the classifier 91, and each column of the integral value group includes the sum of the pixel values ​​arranged in a row in the vertical direction of the line segment region R2, that is, the integral value.

[0215] <Server>

[0216] In the above example, the control unit 9 provided in the substrate processing apparatus 100 generates the classifier 91 by machine learning and classifies the frame by the classifier 91. However, at least part of the machine learning function (the classifier 91 and the machine learning unit 92) of the control unit 9 may be provided in a server.

[0217] The embodiment of the substrate processing apparatus has been described above, but the embodiment can be modified in various ways other than the above-described embodiment without departing from the gist of the present invention. The above-described various embodiments and modified examples can be combined as appropriate for implementation.

[0218] In addition, although a semiconductor substrate is used as the substrate W, the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, a glass substrate for a photomask, a glass substrate for a liquid crystal display, a glass substrate for a plasma display, a substrate for an FED (Field Emission Display), a substrate for an optical disk, a magnetic disk, or a magneto-optical disk may be used.

[0219] Description of Reference Numerals

[0220] 20: substrate holding part,

[0221] 31: The first nozzle (spray nozzle),

[0222] 33, 63: mobile mechanism,

[0223] 40: cup component (processing cup),

[0224] 44: Lifting mechanism

[0225] 66, 69: Second nozzle (spray nozzle),

[0226] 70: Camera,

[0227] 75: Mirror,

[0228] 93: Ministry of Information,

[0229] 91: Classifier,

[0230] 100: substrate processing equipment,

[0231] W: substrate.

Claims

1. A substrate processing device, wherein: have: A substrate holding part, which holds the substrate and rotates the substrate; a cup member surrounding the outer periphery of the substrate holding portion; a lifting mechanism for raising the cup member in such a manner that the upper end of the cup member is located at an upper end position higher than the substrate held by the substrate holding portion; a first nozzle having a spray port at a position lower than the upper end position, and spraying a first processing liquid from the spray port toward an end portion of the substrate; as well as a camera that captures a capture area observed from a capture position above the substrate, wherein the capture area includes the first processing liquid ejected from the ejection port of the first nozzle; The imaging position with respect to the radial direction of the substrate is located closer to the center of the substrate than the radial direction position of the first nozzle.

2. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: A moving mechanism is provided, wherein the moving mechanism moves the camera to the shooting position above the substrate, The shooting position is a position where the height position of the lower end of the light receiving surface of the camera is the same as the upper end position of the cup member, or a position where the height position of the lower end of the light receiving surface of the camera is lower than the upper end position.

3. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: A mirror and a moving mechanism for moving the mirror are provided. The camera is arranged in a region other than above the substrate. The moving mechanism moves the mirror to the imaging position above the substrate, and reflects light from the imaging area from the mirror toward the camera.

4. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein: The moving mechanism moves the mirror to a position where a lower end of a reflection surface of the mirror is the same as the upper end of the cup member, or to a position where the lower end of the reflection surface of the mirror is lower than the upper end.

5. The substrate processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein: The imaging position is a position on the upstream side with respect to the first nozzle in the rotation direction of the substrate.

6. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: A moving mechanism is provided, wherein the moving mechanism moves the camera to the shooting position above the substrate, The first treatment liquid comprises hydrofluoric acid, The lower portion of the camera is covered with chemical-resistant resin or metal.

7. The substrate processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein: have: a fixing member fixing the first nozzle, and a moving mechanism that displaces the fixing member to move the first nozzle to above the end of the substrate; The camera is fixed to the fixing member.

8. The substrate processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein: Also features: a second nozzle, spraying a second processing liquid toward the substrate; a fixing member fixing the second nozzle, and a moving mechanism that displaces the fixing member to move the second nozzle to above the substrate; The camera is fixed to the fixing member.

9. The substrate processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein: The imaging region is an imaging region observed in a direction closer to the circumferential direction than the radial direction of the substrate.

10. A substrate processing method, in the substrate processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, comprising: A holding step of holding the substrate by the substrate holding portion; a substrate rotating step of rotating the substrate holding portion holding the substrate; a bevel processing step of spraying the first processing liquid from the first nozzle toward the end of the substrate; as well as The slope monitoring step monitors the discharge state of the first processing liquid based on the captured image obtained by the camera capturing the captured area.

11. The substrate processing method according to claim 10, wherein: In the bevel processing step, the first processing liquid is ejected toward the substrate from two or more ejection ports.

12. The substrate processing method according to claim 10, wherein: In the slope monitoring process, based on the brightness value of pixels in an area in the captured image that is located directly below the first nozzle and has a horizontal length longer than a vertical length, the spraying state quantity of the processing liquid sprayed from the front end of the first nozzle is calculated, and the spraying state quantity is the liquid column width or the spraying position of the processing liquid.

13. The substrate processing method according to claim 12, wherein: The slope monitoring process comprises: a step of obtaining a median value or an average value of the ejection state quantity as a reference value; and and determining that an abnormality has occurred in the first processing liquid when a difference between the discharge state amount and the reference value is equal to or larger than a predetermined value.

14. The substrate processing method according to claim 12, wherein: The region is set at a position including a portion of the first processing liquid reflected on the upper surface of the substrate by specular reflection in the captured image.

15. The substrate processing method according to claim 14, wherein: The exposure time of the camera is set to be longer than the time required for the substrate to rotate once.

16. The substrate processing method according to claim 14, wherein: The discharge state amount is obtained based on the brightness values ​​of pixels in the region in captured images obtained by integrating or averaging a plurality of captured images obtained by the camera over a period of time longer than a period required for one rotation of the substrate.

17. The substrate processing method according to claim 10, wherein: In the slope monitoring process, the captured image is classified into either a category in which there is no abnormality in the width of the liquid column or the ejection position of the processing liquid ejected from the front end of the first nozzle or a category in which there is an abnormality in the width of the liquid column or the ejection position of the processing liquid ejected from the front end of the first nozzle through a classifier based on machine learning.

18. The substrate processing method according to claim 17, wherein: In the slope monitoring step, a region located directly below the first nozzle and having a lateral length longer than a longitudinal length is cut out from the captured image, and an image of the cut-out region is input to the classifier.

19. The substrate processing method according to claim 10, wherein: The captured image includes a portion of the periphery of the substrate, The bevel processing step comprises: a step of obtaining a substrate peripheral edge position of a portion of the peripheral edge of the substrate based on the captured image; and The step of moving the first nozzle from a peripheral position of the substrate to a processing position on the center side of the substrate by a predetermined width.

20. A substrate processing device, wherein: have: A substrate holding part, which holds the substrate and rotates the substrate; a cup member surrounding the outer periphery of the substrate holding portion; a lifting mechanism for raising the cup member in such a manner that the upper end of the cup member is located at an upper end position higher than the substrate held by the substrate holding portion; a first nozzle having a spray port at a position lower than the upper end position, and spraying a first processing liquid from the spray port toward an end portion of the substrate; as well as a camera that captures a capture area observed from a capture position above the substrate, wherein the capture area includes the first processing liquid ejected from the ejection port of the first nozzle; A moving mechanism is provided, wherein the moving mechanism moves the camera to the shooting position above the substrate, The shooting position is a position where the height position of the lower end of the light receiving surface of the camera is the same as the upper end position of the cup member, or a position where the height position of the lower end of the light receiving surface of the camera is lower than the upper end position.

Images