Square substrate processing method and apparatus

Abstract

Embodiments of the present application provide a square substrate processing method and device. The square substrate has a warped edge relative to a center of the square substrate. The square substrate includes an edge region corresponding to each side of the square substrate. The square substrate processing method includes disposing an edge region corresponding to any one side to be processed under a nozzle. An angle between the edge region disposed under the nozzle and a horizontal plane is adjusted to be smaller. The nozzle is moved and a processing liquid is sprayed so that a landing point of the processing liquid moves in the edge region under the nozzle to process the edge region under the nozzle. The square substrate processing method of the present application can accurately process the square substrate with a warped edge.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of semiconductor technology, and more specifically, to a method and apparatus for processing a square substrate. Background Technology

[0002] Semiconductor manufacturing processes involve multiple steps of applying a processing solution to a substrate. For example, when removing a thin film deposited at the edge of a substrate, a processing solution needs to be sprayed onto the substrate edge.

[0003] However, since the substrate is usually made of silicon or glass, and the thin film covering the substrate is usually made of metal, the different coefficients of thermal expansion of these materials when the temperature changes can cause the substrate to warp. Furthermore, as substrates become increasingly larger, the problem of substrate warping is becoming more and more prominent.

[0004] When using a processing solution to treat the edge areas of a square substrate, the substrate is warped, with the warping increasing closer to the edge. This makes it difficult to accurately aim the nozzle at the edge, resulting in the processing solution not precisely treating the warped edge areas. Furthermore, since edge treatment primarily involves using a processing solution to treat the substrate's edges, when the substrate is concave (lower in the center and higher at the edges), the processing solution sprayed onto the edge areas tends to flow towards and remain in the center, causing unnecessary treatment in that area. Summary of the Invention

[0005] The embodiments of this application provide a method and apparatus for processing a square substrate, which facilitates the aiming of the nozzle at the edge of the warped square substrate, thereby increasing the accuracy of the processing liquid in processing the edge of the warped square substrate.

[0006] On one hand, this application provides a method for processing a square substrate, wherein the edge of the square substrate is warped relative to the center of the substrate, and the square substrate includes an edge region corresponding to each side. The method includes setting the edge region to be processed corresponding to any one side below a nozzle; reducing the angle between the edge region set below the nozzle and the horizontal plane; moving the nozzle and spraying a processing liquid, so that the contact point of the processing liquid moves within the edge region below the nozzle to process the edge region below the nozzle.

[0007] Specifically, if the edge warps upward relative to the center of the substrate, the edge region below the nozzle is adjusted to be lower than the center of the substrate; if the edge warps downward relative to the center of the substrate, the edge region below the nozzle is adjusted to be higher than the center of the substrate.

[0008] Specifically, the angle between the edge region below the nozzle and the horizontal plane is adjusted to zero.

[0009] Specifically, after the edge region below the nozzle has been processed, if there is an edge region to be processed in the square substrate, the above steps are repeated until the edge region to be processed in the substrate has been processed.

[0010] Specifically, the square substrate is driven to rotate so that any edge region to be processed is positioned below the nozzle.

[0011] Specifically, moving the nozzle allows any edge region to be processed to be positioned below the nozzle.

[0012] Specifically, the angle between the square substrate and the horizontal plane is reduced by adjusting the angle of the edge region located below the nozzle and the horizontal plane.

[0013] Specifically, the contact point of the treatment liquid is closer to the edge of the substrate than the orthographic projection of the nozzle onto the square substrate.

[0014] Specifically, the nozzle sprays out accelerating gas at the same time as spraying out the treatment liquid.

[0015] On the other hand, this application provides a square substrate processing apparatus, wherein the edges of the square substrate are warped relative to the center of the substrate, and the square substrate includes an edge region corresponding to each edge. The apparatus includes: a chuck for carrying the square substrate; an angle adjusting member connected to the chuck for adjusting the angle of the chuck relative to a horizontal plane; a nozzle disposed above the chuck for spraying a processing liquid onto the square substrate; a moving mechanism connected to the nozzle for moving the nozzle; and a controller configured to control the angle adjusting member to reduce the angle between the edge region disposed below the nozzle and the horizontal plane, and to control the nozzle to spray the processing liquid onto the edge region below the nozzle.

[0016] Specifically, the square substrate processing apparatus further includes a rotating mechanism connected to the chuck, the rotating mechanism being used to drive the chuck to rotate in a plane parallel to the chuck.

[0017] Specifically, the square substrate processing device also includes a lifting mechanism connected to the nozzle, which is used to drive the nozzle to move up and down.

[0018] The square substrate processing method of this application reduces the angle between the edge region of the processing liquid and the horizontal plane when processing a square substrate with warping, so that the edge region of the processing liquid is closer to the horizontal plane. This allows the nozzle to be more accurately aligned with the edge region, increases the accuracy of the processing liquid in processing the edge region, and reduces the possibility of the processing liquid flowing towards the center of the substrate.

[0019] Other features and advantages of this application will become apparent from the following detailed description, or may be learned in part from practice of this application.

[0020] It should be understood that the above general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only, and do not limit this application. Attached Figure Description

[0021] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and form part of this specification, illustrate embodiments consistent with this application and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of this application. It is obvious that the drawings described below are merely some embodiments of this application, and those skilled in the art can obtain other drawings based on these drawings without any inventive effort. In the drawings:

[0022] Figure 1 This illustration shows a schematic diagram of the use state of a square substrate processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application processing a square substrate with concave warping.

[0023] Figure 2 This illustration shows a schematic diagram of the use state of a square substrate processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application processing a square substrate with concave warping.

[0024] Figure 3 This illustration shows a schematic diagram of the use state of a square substrate processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application processing a square substrate with convex warping.

[0025] Figure 4 This illustration shows a schematic diagram of the use state of a square substrate processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application processing a square substrate with convex warping.

[0026] Figure 5 The flowchart illustrating a square substrate processing method according to an embodiment of this application is shown.

[0028] 1. Square base plate, 2. Chuck, 3. Nozzle, 4. Angle adjustment component, 5. Rotation mechanism, 6. Moving mechanism, 7. Lifting mechanism. Detailed Implementation

[0029] Exemplary embodiments will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, these exemplary embodiments can be implemented in many forms and should not be construed as limited to the examples set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided to make this application more comprehensive and complete, and to fully convey the concept of the exemplary embodiments to those skilled in the art.

[0030] Furthermore, the described features, structures, or characteristics can be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. In the following description, numerous specific details are provided to give a thorough understanding of embodiments of this application. However, those skilled in the art will recognize that the technical solutions of this application can be practiced without one or more of the specific details, or other methods, components, apparatuses, steps, etc., can be employed. In other instances, well-known methods, apparatuses, implementations, or operations are not shown or described in detail to avoid obscuring various aspects of this application.

[0031] This application provides a square substrate processing apparatus that can increase the accuracy of processing liquid processing the edge area and reduce the possibility of processing liquid contaminating the central area of ​​the square substrate when the square substrate has concave warping.

[0032] like Figure 1 As shown, the substrate processing apparatus includes a chuck 2 for carrying a square substrate 1 and a nozzle 3 for spraying a processing liquid onto the square substrate 1. The chuck 2 is connected to an angle adjustment member 4, which adjusts the angle of the chuck 2 relative to a horizontal plane, thereby adjusting the angle of the square substrate 1 relative to the horizontal plane. The chuck 2 is also connected to a rotation mechanism 5, which rotates the chuck 2. The nozzle 3 is connected to a moving mechanism 6, which moves the nozzle 3 horizontally. The nozzle 3 is connected to a lifting mechanism 7, which moves the nozzle 3 vertically.

[0033] The substrate processing apparatus also includes a controller. Angle adjustment member 4, rotation mechanism 5, moving mechanism 6, and lifting mechanism 7 are communicatively connected to the controller and are controlled and driven by the controller. In one specific embodiment, the square substrate 1 has a concave warp. That is, when the square substrate 1 is placed horizontally, its edges are higher than its center. During the processing of the square substrate 1 with the concave warp, the substrate processing apparatus moves the edge region of any one side of the square substrate 1 to be processed to below the nozzle 3. Here, the edge region is the area between the substrate edge and a position a predetermined width away from the substrate edge.

[0034] Because the square substrate 1 has a concave warp, the edge region located below the nozzle 3 will have a certain angle relative to the horizontal plane. Therefore, the controller controls the angle adjustment component 4 to adjust the tilt angle of the chuck 2, so that the edge region below the nozzle 3 is adjusted to be close to horizontal, thereby allowing the processing liquid to flow towards the edge of the substrate after being sprayed onto the edge region and not towards the center of the substrate. Before adjusting the tilt angle of the chuck 2, as... Figure 1 As shown, the square substrate 1 is placed horizontally, meaning that the edge area of ​​the square substrate 1 is curved upwards relative to the center of the substrate. When the angle adjustment component 4 adjusts the tilt angle of the chuck 2, as... Figure 2As shown, the square substrate 1 is tilted to reduce the angle between the edge region and the horizontal plane, thereby adjusting the height of the edge region below the nozzle 3 to be lower than the center of the substrate, and thus adjusting the edge region below the nozzle 3 to be close to horizontal. The controller controls the lifting mechanism 7 to lower the height of the nozzle 3 to shorten the distance between the nozzle 3 and the edge region. The controller controls the moving mechanism 6 to move the nozzle 3 in the horizontal direction. At the same time, the controller also controls the nozzle 3 to spray the treatment liquid, so that the contact point of the treatment liquid moves within the edge region, thereby allowing the treatment liquid to treat the edge region. If the width of the contact point of the treatment liquid is greater than or equal to the width of the edge region, and the contact point spans the edge region, then the contact point moves in a straight line along the length direction of the edge region to cover the edge region. If the width of the contact point of the treatment liquid is less than the width of the edge region, or the contact point does not span the edge region, then the contact point moves along the length direction of the edge region and also along the width direction of the edge region, so that the treatment liquid treats the edge region.

[0035] After one edge of the substrate is processed, the controller controls the rotating mechanism 5 to rotate the chuck 2, thereby rotating the edge areas of the other edges of the square substrate 1 to be processed successively under the nozzle. Since the warping of each edge is not necessarily the same, the edge areas to be processed can be adjusted to near horizontality again by the angle adjustment component 4. The four edges of the square substrate 1 are processed sequentially using the above method to ensure that all edge areas of the square substrate 1 are processed. In some embodiments, the nozzle 3 is an adjustable-angle nozzle. Before spraying the processing liquid, the nozzle 3 can adjust the angle of the sprayed processing liquid according to the process requirements, which is more conducive to the precise processing of the warped square substrate 1 by the processing liquid.

[0036] In other embodiments of this application, such as Figure 3 As shown, the square substrate 1 has a convex warp; when placed horizontally, the edges of the square substrate 1 are low and the center is high. When processing the square substrate 1 with the convex warp, as... Figure 4 As shown, the edge region of any one side of the square substrate 1 to be processed is moved below the nozzle 3. The controller controls the angle adjustment component 4 to tilt the square substrate 1 via the chuck 2, adjusting the height of the edge region below the nozzle 3 to be higher than the center of the substrate, thereby adjusting the edge region below the nozzle 3 to be nearly horizontal. The controller controls the moving mechanism 6 to move the nozzle 3 so that the liquid droplet falls on the edge region below the nozzle 3. The nozzle 3 moves while spraying the processing liquid, so that the edge region below the nozzle 3 is processed. After the edge region below the nozzle 3 is processed, the controller controls the rotating mechanism 5 to rotate the chuck 2, thereby successively adjusting the edge regions of the other sides of the square substrate 1 to be processed to be nearly horizontal. By using the above method, all four sides of the square substrate 1 are processed in sequence, so that the edge regions of the square substrate 1 are all processed.

[0037] In other embodiments of this application, the substrate processing apparatus does not include the rotating mechanism 5. The controller controls the moving mechanism 6 to move the nozzles 3 successively above the other edges of the square substrate 1 to be processed. That is, instead of moving the square substrate 1 to position the edge area to be processed below the nozzles 3, the nozzles 3 are moved to position the nozzles 3 above the edge area to be processed. The angle adjusting member 4 tilts the chuck 2 to reduce the angle between the edge area below the nozzles 3 and the horizontal plane, which is beneficial for the nozzles 3 to accurately process the edge area. When processing the square substrate 1 with concave warping, the processing liquid sprayed onto the edge area can flow towards the edge of the substrate instead of flowing towards the center of the substrate.

[0038] like Figure 5 As shown, this embodiment also provides a substrate processing method for processing a square substrate with warpage, which is performed by the aforementioned substrate processing apparatus. The substrate processing method specifically includes the following steps:

[0039] S110: Set the edge region corresponding to any side of the square substrate to be processed below the nozzle.

[0040] When processing a square substrate with a processing solution, a region on the square substrate that is a predetermined width from the wafer edge needs to be processed. This predetermined width from the substrate edge is defined as the edge region. The predetermined width is determined according to process requirements.

[0041] In one specific embodiment, a square substrate is placed on a chuck below the nozzle. Rotating the chuck causes the square substrate to rotate, thereby adjusting the position of the edge region to be processed, and thus rotating the edge region to be processed to below the nozzle. When the edge region below the nozzle has been processed, if there is still an edge region to be processed, the edge region to be processed is rotated to below the nozzle.

[0042] In another specific embodiment, a square substrate is placed on a chuck below the nozzle, and the nozzle is moved horizontally to position it above the edge region to be processed, thereby positioning the edge region to be processed below the nozzle. When the edge region below the nozzle has been processed, if there is still an edge region to be processed, the nozzle is moved above the edge region to be processed.

[0043] S120: Reduce the angle between the edge area below the nozzle and the horizontal plane.

[0044] If the square substrate has a concave warp, the square substrate is tilted to adjust the edge area below the nozzle to be lower than the center of the substrate, thereby reducing the angle between the edge area below the nozzle and the horizontal plane.

[0045] Specifically, because the square substrate has a concave warp, when placed horizontally, the plane where the center of the substrate is located is a horizontal plane, and the edge area forms an upward-extending slope relative to the plane where the center of the substrate is located. However, when the edge area below the nozzle is adjusted to be lower than the center of the substrate, that is, when the square substrate is placed at an angle and the side below the nozzle becomes the side with the lowest height in the square substrate, the plane where the center of the substrate is located forms an upward-extending slope relative to the horizontal plane. This reduces the angle between the edge area below the nozzle and the horizontal plane, making it easier for the nozzle to align with the edge area, which is beneficial for subsequent spraying and also prevents the treatment liquid sprayed on the edge area from flowing to the center of the substrate.

[0046] Conversely, if the square substrate has a convex warp, the square substrate is tilted to adjust the edge area below the nozzle to be higher than the center of the substrate, thereby reducing the angle between the edge area below the nozzle and the horizontal plane.

[0047] Specifically, when a square substrate with a convex warp is placed horizontally, the edge region forms a downward-sloping surface relative to the plane containing the center of the substrate. However, when the edge region below the nozzle is adjusted to be higher than the center of the substrate, that is, when the square substrate is placed at an angle and the side below the nozzle becomes the tallest side of the square substrate, the plane containing the center of the substrate forms a downward-sloping surface relative to the side below the nozzle. This reduces the angle between the edge region below the nozzle and the horizontal plane, which is beneficial for subsequent spraying of the treatment liquid.

[0048] Preferably, the edge area below the nozzle is adjusted to be horizontal to further facilitate nozzle alignment with the edge area, which is beneficial for subsequent spraying. When the square substrate has a concave warp, it can prevent the treatment liquid sprayed on the edge area from flowing to the center of the substrate.

[0049] When a square substrate is placed on a chuck, its edge area warps upwards or downwards relative to the chuck, making it difficult to measure the angle between the edge area and the horizontal plane. However, when the substrate center is placed on the chuck, the angle between the plane containing the substrate center and the horizontal plane is easily measured, as is the angle between the edge area and the plane containing the substrate center. Therefore, by adjusting the angle between the plane containing the substrate center and the horizontal plane, the angle between the edge area and the horizontal plane can be easily adjusted. In one specific embodiment, the angle between the plane containing the substrate center and the horizontal plane is set as a fixed angle according to process requirements. In other embodiments of this application, the angle between the edge area and the plane containing the substrate center is used as the tilt angle between the plane containing the substrate center and the horizontal plane to accurately adjust the warped edge area to a horizontal position.

[0050] S130: Adjust the nozzle so that the liquid contact point falls within the edge area below the nozzle.

[0051] Since the height of the edge area below the nozzle is adjusted in step S120, the position of the edge area will change accordingly. Therefore, the position of the nozzle needs to be adjusted before the treatment liquid is sprayed so that the treatment liquid can treat the edge area.

[0052] S140: Spray the treatment liquid and move the nozzle until the edge area below the nozzle is treated.

[0053] If the width of the contact point is greater than or equal to the width of the edge region, and the contact point spans the edge region below the nozzle, then move the nozzle so that the contact point moves along the length of the edge region so that the treatment liquid treats the edge region below the nozzle.

[0054] If the width of the contact point is less than the width of the edge region, or if the width of the contact point is greater than the width of the edge region but does not cross the edge region, then while moving the contact point along the length direction of the edge region, it also moves the contact point along the width direction of the edge region so that the treatment liquid can treat the entire edge region below the nozzle.

[0055] In the embodiments of this application, when processing a square substrate with warpage, the angle between the edge region treated by the processing liquid and the horizontal plane is reduced, so that the edge region treated by the processing liquid is closer to the horizontal plane. This allows the nozzle to be more accurately aligned with the edge region, increasing the accuracy of the processing liquid treatment of the edge region. Furthermore, when the square substrate has concave warpage, the edge region warps upwards. When the angle between the upwardly warped edge region and the horizontal plane is reduced, on the one hand, the closer the edge region is to the horizontal plane, the less likely the processing liquid will flow towards the center of the substrate; on the other hand, when the angle between the edge region and the horizontal plane is reduced, the plane containing the center of the substrate warps upwards, further preventing the processing liquid from flowing towards the center of the substrate.

[0056] S150: Repeat S110-S140 until the edge areas of the square substrate have been processed.

[0057] In one specific embodiment, when the square substrate is rotated so that the edge to be processed is positioned below the nozzle, if all four edges of the square substrate are edges to be processed, then each time step S110 is executed, the square substrate is rotated 90 degrees in the same direction so that the edges to be processed are successively positioned below the nozzle so that all edge areas in the square substrate are processed; if there are still edges to be processed after the edge areas corresponding to any one edge of the square substrate have been processed, then the square substrate is rotated until the edge to be processed is positioned below the nozzle.

[0058] To prevent the processing liquid from splashing onto the square substrate closer to the center of the substrate than the edge area, in step S140, the liquid contact point is closer to the edge of the substrate than the projection of the nozzle on the square substrate, and the angle between the nozzle and the edge area being processed is greater than 90 degrees, so that the processing liquid sprayed from the nozzle is bounced off the square substrate, avoiding contamination of the areas of the square substrate that do not need to be processed.

[0059] To further prevent the untreated areas of the square substrate from being contaminated by the processing liquid, in one specific embodiment, in step S140, the nozzle simultaneously sprays an accelerating gas, such as nitrogen, while spraying the processing liquid. Nitrogen increases the spray velocity of the processing liquid, causing it to reach the square substrate at a higher speed. This results in the square substrate experiencing a greater impact force, which in turn generates a stronger reaction force, causing the processing liquid to bounce off the substrate and preventing its accumulation. In other embodiments of this application, nitrogen is replaced with other gases that do not react with the processing liquid.

[0060] Other embodiments of this application will readily occur to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the specification and practice of the embodiments disclosed herein. This application is intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of this application that follow the general principles of this application and include common knowledge or customary techniques in the art not disclosed herein.

[0061] It should be understood that this application is not limited to the precise structure described above and shown in the accompanying drawings, and various modifications and changes can be made without departing from its scope. The scope of this application is limited only by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A method for processing a square substrate, wherein the edges of the square substrate are warped relative to the center of the substrate, and the square substrate includes an edge region corresponding to each side, characterized in that, The method includes: Set the edge region to be processed corresponding to any one of the edges below the nozzle; The angle between the edge region located below the nozzle and the horizontal plane is reduced; Move the nozzle and spray the treatment liquid, so that the contact point of the treatment liquid moves within the edge area below the nozzle to treat the edge area below the nozzle.

2. The method for processing a square substrate according to claim 1, characterized in that, The step of reducing the angle between the edge region below the nozzle and the horizontal plane includes: If the edge warps upward relative to the center of the substrate, then the edge region below the nozzle is adjusted to be lower than the center of the substrate; If the edge warps downward relative to the center of the substrate, the edge region below the nozzle is adjusted to be higher than the center of the substrate.

3. The method for processing a square substrate according to claim 1, characterized in that, The step of reducing the angle between the edge region below the nozzle and the horizontal plane includes adjusting the angle between the edge region below the nozzle and the horizontal plane to zero.

4. The method for processing a square substrate according to claim 1, characterized in that, After the edge region below the nozzle has been processed, if there is an edge region to be processed in the square substrate, repeat the above steps until the edge region to be processed in the substrate has been processed.

5. The method for processing a square substrate according to claim 1, characterized in that, Setting any edge region to be processed below the nozzle includes driving the square substrate to rotate.

6. The method for processing a square substrate according to claim 1, characterized in that, Setting any edge region to be processed below the nozzle includes moving the nozzle.

7. The method for processing a square substrate according to claim 1, characterized in that, The reduction of the angle between the edge region located below the nozzle and the horizontal plane includes adjusting the angle of the square substrate relative to the horizontal plane.

8. The method for processing a square substrate according to claim 1, characterized in that, Moving the nozzle and spraying the treatment liquid includes: making the contact point of the treatment liquid closer to the edge of the substrate than the orthographic projection of the nozzle on the square substrate.

9. The method for processing a square substrate according to claim 1, characterized in that, Moving the nozzle and spraying the treatment liquid includes: the nozzle spraying an accelerating gas at the same time as spraying the treatment liquid.

10. A square substrate processing apparatus, wherein the edges of the square substrate are warped relative to the center of the substrate, and the square substrate includes an edge region corresponding to each edge, characterized in that, The device includes: A chuck is used to support the square substrate; An angle adjustment component, connected to the chuck, is used to adjust the angle of the chuck relative to the horizontal plane; A nozzle, positioned above the chuck, is used to spray a treatment liquid onto the square substrate; A moving mechanism, connected to the nozzle, is used to move the nozzle; The controller is configured to control the angle adjustment element to reduce the angle between the edge region located below the nozzle and the horizontal plane, and to control the nozzle to spray the treatment liquid onto the edge region below the nozzle.

11. The square substrate processing apparatus according to claim 10, characterized in that, It also includes a rotating mechanism connected to the chuck, which drives the chuck to rotate in a plane parallel to the chuck.

12. The square substrate processing apparatus according to claim 10, characterized in that, It also includes a lifting mechanism connected to the nozzle, which is used to drive the nozzle to move up and down.

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