Substrate processing method, substrate processing apparatus, and substrate processing system

Abstract

The present invention provides a substrate processing method that can minimize the adverse effects of particles during substrate processing. [Solution] A substrate processing apparatus 41 is provided with a cover mechanism 61 located at the upper end of a cup 53, which can close the open upper opening. The apparatus comprises a loading process for loading a substrate W into a mechanical chuck 8, a cup raising process for raising the cup 53 relative to the mechanical chuck 8 so that the upper opening is positioned above the substrate W, a liquid supply process for supplying liquid to the rotating substrate W from a nozzle 10, and a spin-drying process for rotating the substrate W with the upper opening closed to dry it.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a substrate processing method, a substrate processing apparatus, and a substrate processing system for performing predetermined liquid processing one by one on a substrate in a horizontal posture.

Background Art

[0002] Patent Document 1 describes a substrate processing apparatus having two cover members as a method for suppressing the diffusion of the atmosphere generated by substrate processing. The two cover members can perform a state transition between a separated state and a combined state. When performing substrate processing, in the combined state, the peeling liquid supply nozzle penetrates the gap portion of the cover member, and the processing liquid is supplied to the upper surface of the wafer. In the combined state, the upper space of the substrate held by the wafer rotation mechanism is covered by the cover member to form a processing space. Thereby, the diffusion of the atmosphere in the upper space during substrate processing is suppressed.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Document

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] However, the conventional configuration is a method that does not diffuse the particles generated near the wafer to the outside. In recent years, the need to suppress the inflow of external particles near the wafer has been increasing, but the conventional configuration does not correspond to such needs. That is, the conventional configuration cannot be said to be the most desirable configuration from the viewpoint of suppressing the adverse effects of particles on the substrate.

[0005] This invention has been made in view of these circumstances, and its purpose is to provide a substrate processing method, a substrate processing apparatus, and a substrate processing system that can minimize the adverse effects of particles in substrate processing. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] To solve the above problems, the present invention has the following configuration. That is, the substrate processing method of the present invention is a substrate processing method using a substrate processing apparatus comprising: a chuck capable of fixing a substrate; a rotating mechanism for rotating the chuck; a cylindrical cup having an upper opening provided on the outer circumference of the chuck; a lifting mechanism for moving the cup up and down; a nozzle for supplying liquid to the substrate fixed to the chuck; and a cover mechanism provided at the upper end of the cup that can close the open upper opening. The loading process involves loading the substrate into the chuck, A cup raising process in which the cup is raised relative to the chuck so that the upper opening is positioned on the upper part of the substrate, A liquid supply process in which liquid is supplied from the nozzle to a rotating substrate, The system includes a spin-drying process in which the upper opening is closed by the cover mechanism and the substrate is rotated to dry it. It is characterized by the following:

[0007] [Function and Effects] According to the above configuration, a substrate processing apparatus equipped with a cover mechanism provided at the upper end of the cup and capable of closing the open upper opening, comprises a loading process for loading a substrate into a chuck, a cup raising process for raising the cup relative to the chuck so that the upper opening is positioned above the substrate, a liquid supply process for supplying liquid to the rotating substrate from a nozzle, and a spin-drying process for rotating the substrate with the upper opening closed to dry it. With this configuration, during the substrate drying process, particles floating in the apparatus will not enter the cup in which the substrate being dried is located. Therefore, according to the present invention, a substrate processing method can be provided that can process substrates while suppressing the adverse effects of particles.

[0008] Furthermore, in the substrate processing method described above, Preferably, after the liquid supply process and before the spin-drying process, a paddle process is provided in which liquid is supplied from the nozzle to the substrate after the rotation has stopped, thereby putting the substrate into a paddle state.

[0009] [Function and Effects] According to the above configuration, after the liquid supply process and before the spin-drying process, a paddle process is provided in which liquid is supplied from a nozzle to the substrate after the rotation has stopped, thereby turning the substrate into a paddle state. With this configuration, the substrate is filled with liquid before the spin-drying process and while the cup is open. When the substrate is filled with liquid, particles entering the substrate from outside the cup are captured on the paddle surface and cannot reach the substrate. Therefore, this configuration provides a substrate processing method in which the adverse effects of particles are further suppressed.

[0010] Furthermore, in the substrate processing method described above, The spin-drying process is preferably carried out by supplying an inert gas through a hole provided in the cover mechanism.

[0011] [Function / Effect] With the above configuration, inert gas is supplied through holes provided in the cover mechanism during the spin-drying process. With this configuration, the drying of the substrate during the spin-drying process is promoted by the action of the inert gas.

[0012] Furthermore, this specification also discloses the following substrate processing apparatus. That is, the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention comprises a chuck capable of fixing a substrate, A rotating mechanism for rotating the chuck, A cup is provided on the outer circumference of the chuck, is cylindrical, and has an upper opening, A lifting mechanism for moving the aforementioned cup up and down, A nozzle for supplying liquid to a substrate fixed to the chuck, A cover mechanism provided at the upper end of the cup, capable of closing the open upper opening, The system includes a control unit that controls the chuck, the rotating mechanism, the lifting mechanism, the nozzle, and the cover mechanism, The control unit, The chuck is controlled to fix the substrate in place. The lifting mechanism is controlled to raise the cup relative to the chuck, so that the upper opening is positioned on the upper part of the substrate. The rotation mechanism is controlled to start the rotation of the substrate. The nozzle is controlled to start supplying liquid to the substrate. The nozzle is controlled to terminate the supply of liquid to the substrate. The cover mechanism is controlled to close the upper opening. The rotation mechanism is controlled to rotate the substrate and dry it. It is characterized by the following:

[0013] [Effects] According to the above configuration, the same effects as those of the substrate processing method of the present invention are achieved.

[0014] Furthermore, in the substrate processing apparatus described above, The cover mechanism is A ring member attached to the upper opening, The ring member comprises a plurality of plate-shaped members arranged along the opening in the ring member, Preferably, the plate-shaped member moves synchronously, displacing between a separated state in which the plate-shaped member moves away from the center of the ring member, opening the upper opening, and a gathered state in which the plate-shaped member gathers towards the center of the ring member, closing the upper opening.

[0015] [Function and Effect] According to the above configuration, the cover mechanism includes a ring member attached to the upper opening, a plurality of plate-like members arranged along the opening in the ring member, and a drive mechanism that synchronously moves the plate-like members to displace between a separated state where the plate-like members are separated from the center of the ring member to open the upper opening and an assembled state where the plate-like members are assembled toward the center side of the ring member to close the upper opening. With this configuration, the structure of the cover mechanism can be miniaturized, and a substrate processing apparatus that allows various embodiments can be provided.

[0016] Also, in the substrate processing apparatus described above, it is provided with an air supply nozzle for supplying an inert gas to the substrate, and the control unit preferably controls the air supply nozzle to supply an inert gas to the substrate through a hole provided in the cover mechanism with the upper opening in a closed state.

[0017] [Function and Effect] According to the above configuration, it is provided with an air supply nozzle for supplying an inert gas to the substrate, and the control unit controls the air supply nozzle to supply an inert gas to the substrate through a hole provided in the cover mechanism with the upper opening in a closed state. With this configuration, the drying of the substrate in the spin drying process is promoted by the action of the inert gas.

[0018] Also, this specification is a substrate processing system including the substrate processing apparatus described above, including a plurality of the substrate processing apparatuses, and including a substrate transfer robot for loading and unloading a substrate in a horizontal posture with respect to the substrate processing apparatus. The invention regarding a substrate processing system characterized by this is also disclosed.

Effect of the Invention

[0019] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a substrate processing method and a substrate processing apparatus that can suppress the adverse effects of particles in substrate processing as much as possible.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0020] [Figure 1] This is a plan view illustrating the substrate processing system according to the embodiment. [Figure 2] This is a cross-sectional view illustrating a substrate processing apparatus according to an embodiment. [Figure 3] This is a perspective view illustrating a substrate processing apparatus according to an embodiment. [Figure 4] This is a plan view illustrating the cover according to the embodiment. [Figure 5] This is a plan view illustrating the cover according to the embodiment. [Figure 6] This is a flowchart illustrating the substrate processing flow according to the embodiment. [Figure 7] This is a cross-sectional view illustrating the substrate processing process according to the embodiment. [Figure 8] This is a cross-sectional view illustrating the substrate processing process according to the embodiment. [Figure 9] This is a cross-sectional view illustrating the substrate processing process according to the embodiment. [Figure 10] This is a cross-sectional view illustrating the substrate processing process according to the embodiment. [Figure 11] This is a cross-sectional view illustrating the substrate processing process according to the embodiment. [Figure 12] This is a plan view illustrating a cover according to one modified example of the present invention. [Figure 13] This is a cross-sectional view illustrating a substrate processing apparatus according to a modified example of the present invention. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0021] Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The substrate processing system of the present invention will be described as one that realizes a substrate cleaning process in which the substrate surface is cleaned with a brush, but the present invention can also be applied to substrate processing apparatus related to the removal of native oxide film using hydrofluoric acid, coater developer substrate processing apparatus, or other substrate processing systems. In other words, the present invention is characterized by a single-wafer processing chamber (substrate processing apparatus) in a substrate processing system. [Examples]

[0022] <1. Overall Structure> Figure 1 is a plan view showing the overall configuration of the substrate processing system in this example. The substrate processing system 1 in this example has an indexer block 3 and a processing block 4. The substrate processing system 1 has a block housing 1A that houses each block. The block housing 1A has a roughly rectangular shape in plan view. A load port 11 is provided protruding from the wall surface at one end of the block housing 1A.

[0023] In this example, for convenience, the direction in which the indexer block 3 and processing block 4 are arranged in the substrate processing system 1 is called the front-to-back direction (X direction). This X direction extends horizontally. The direction from the processing block 4 toward the indexer block 3 in the substrate processing system 1 is called the front. The direction opposite to the front is called the rear. The horizontal direction perpendicular to the X direction is called the left-to-right direction (Y direction). The Y direction is also the direction in which the multiple load ports 11 are arranged. For convenience, one side of the Y direction is called the right, and the opposite direction of the right is called the left. The height direction (Z direction) is perpendicular to both the X and Y directions and coincides with the vertical direction. In each figure, front, rear, right, left, up, and down are shown as reference as appropriate.

[0024] <2. Indexer Block> As shown in Figure 1, the indexer block 3 is equipped with a load port 11, which is the entry point for when a carrier C, which stores multiple substrates W in a horizontal position at predetermined intervals in the Z direction, is loaded into the block. The load port 11 can be used to place the carrier C.

[0025] Multiple substrates (for example, 25) are stacked and stored in a single carrier C. The carrier C containing the unprocessed substrates W to be delivered to the substrate processing system 1 is first placed on the load port 11.

[0026] The indexer block 3 houses an indexer robot IR capable of transporting horizontally positioned substrates W one at a time. The indexer robot IR can access any of the four load ports 11 and the path 34 located at the boundary between the indexer block 3 and the processing block 4, as shown in Figure 1. It performs the transfer of substrates W between the path 34 and the carrier C installed at the load port 11. The transfer of substrates W by the indexer robot IR is realized by the hand 50.

[0027] <3. Processing Block> Processing block 4 is configured to remove the native oxide film that has grown on the surface of the substrate W. Processing block 4 has a second row CL2 located at the rear of the pass 34, a first row CL1 located to the left of the second row CL2, and a third row CL3 located to the right of the second row CL2. Therefore, the second row CL2 is positioned between the first row CL1 and the third row CL3 from the left and right.

[0028] In the first row CL1, substrate processing devices 41, each having a mechanical chuck 8 for rotatably supporting a substrate W and a nozzle 10 for supplying cleaning fluid to the substrate W, are arranged in the X direction. The substrate processing device 41 is constructed by housing the mechanical chuck 8 and nozzle 10 in a rectangular parallelepiped housing 42. Figure 1 illustrates how two substrate processing devices 41 are arranged front to back in the first row CL1. The first row CL1 has a laminate in which substrate processing devices 41 are stacked. The laminate is constructed by stacking two or more substrate processing devices 41. The specific configuration of the substrate processing device 41 will be described later.

[0029] The second row CL2 is a passage through which the center robot CR, which transports substrates W in a horizontal position, moves back and forth. In addition to the path 34 described above, the center robot CR can access the substrate processing device 41 located in the first row CL1, or the substrate processing device 41 located in the third row CL3, which will be described later.

[0030] The central robot CR is capable of moving forward and backward in the X direction and up and down in the Z direction, enabling it to transport the substrate W to each accessible position. Furthermore, the central robot CR can orient the hand 46 that holds the substrate W in any direction: forward, left, or right.

[0031] The third column CL3 has a similar configuration to the first column CL1. Two substrate processing devices 41 are arranged in the X direction in the third column CL3. The third column CL3 has a laminate in which the substrate processing devices 41 are stacked. The laminate is constructed by stacking two or more layers of substrate processing devices 41.

[0032] <4. Substrate Processing Equipment> Figure 2 illustrates the configuration of the substrate processing apparatus 41 of the present invention. The substrate processing apparatus 41 corresponds to the processing unit of the present invention. The substrate processing apparatus 41 holds the substrate W in a horizontal position and performs predetermined processing. As shown in Figure 2, the substrate processing apparatus 41 of this example has a housing 42 that forms the outer shape, and a cylindrical cup 53 that extends vertically in the Z direction and surrounds a mechanical chuck 8 and a nozzle 10 housed inside the housing 42. The cup 53 is cylindrical and provided on the outer circumference of the mechanical chuck 8, and has an upper opening.

[0033] The cup lifting mechanism 54 corresponds to the lifting mechanism of the present invention. The cup lifting mechanism 54 is capable of moving the cup 53 up and down, and can move the cup 53 away from the mechanical chuck 8 when the substrate is being transported by the center robot CR. The cup 53 is provided so as to surround the chuck pins 84, which will be described later, that hold the substrate W. The cup lifting mechanism 54 is capable of moving the tip of the cup 53 up and down relative to the mechanical chuck 8.

[0034] A cover mechanism 61 is provided at the upper opening of the cup 53. The cover mechanism 61 also has an opening. The cover mechanism 61 is positioned so that its opening communicates with the upper opening of the cup 53. Details regarding the positional relationship between the cover mechanism 61 and the cup 53 can be understood by referring to Figure 3. Figure 3 is a perspective view, which allows for a three-dimensional understanding of the configuration in Figure 2. The cover mechanism 61 is an iris aperture, as will be described later.

[0035] Figure 2 also illustrates the cover control unit 62. The cover control unit 62 can control the drive mechanism of the cover mechanism 61 to open and close the cover mechanism 61. The opening and closing of the cover mechanism 61 will be described later.

[0036] The enclosure 42 is a box-shaped structure that defines the exterior of the circuit board processing device 41, and has a rectangular parallelepiped shape with a bottom plate 43, side plates and a top plate.

[0037] The mechanical chuck 8 is capable of fixing the substrate W and corresponds to the chuck of the present invention. The mechanical chuck 8 has a rotatable disc-shaped spin base 81, a rotating shaft 82 that rotates the spin base 81, and a motor 83 that drives the rotating shaft 82. The rotating shaft 82 and the motor 83 correspond to the rotation mechanism of the present invention. The spin base 81 is configured to rotate together with the horizontally positioned substrate W held by the mechanical chuck 8. The substrate processing apparatus 41 in this example is equipped with a mechanical chuck 8, but it can also be configured to have a vacuum chuck instead of the mechanical chuck 8.

[0038] The chuck pins 84 are provided on the periphery of the spin base 81 and can work together to grip the substrate W. For example, six chuck pins 84 are provided on the upper surface of the spin base 81 and are components that directly contact the substrate W held by the spin base 81. The chuck pins 84 can be opened and closed as described later. When the chuck pins 84 are closed, the substrate W is locked by the chuck pins 84. When the chuck pins 84 are open, the lock on the substrate W is released. In the closed state, the chuck pins 84 are configured to hold the substrate W in a horizontal position with a gap between it and the spin base 81.

[0039] When the spin base 81 rotates the substrate W, the chuck opening / closing mechanism 85, described later, needs to keep the chuck pins 84 in the closed position. The chuck opening / closing mechanism 85 can change between a closed state, where all six chuck pins 84 press against the edge of the substrate W, and an open state, where all six chuck pins 84 release pressure on the substrate W, by simultaneously driving the six chuck pins 84.

[0040] The nozzle 10 is configured to supply liquid to a substrate W fixed to a mechanical chuck 8. As shown in Figure 2, the nozzle 10 has a tip 101 extending in the vertical direction Z, and an L-shaped liquid supply pipe 102 that supplies cleaning liquid to the tip 101 and rotates the tip 101 relative to the substrate W. The base of the liquid supply pipe 102 is supported by a rotating mechanism 103 that rotates the liquid supply pipe 102 relative to the housing 42. The rotating mechanism 103 is located outside the cup 53.

[0041] The liquid supply control unit 104 controls the amount of cleaning liquid supplied to the liquid supply pipe 102, and controls whether or not to discharge the cleaning liquid from the tip 101. The cleaning liquid that the liquid supply control unit 104 can control is, for example, pure water for rinsing. The nozzle 10 is configured to supply cleaning liquid to the surface (top surface) of the substrate W in a horizontal position, which is rotating integrally with the spin base 81.

[0042] Thus, the nozzle 10 is positioned above the chuck pin 84, which supplies liquid to the upper surface of the substrate W held by the chuck pin 84.

[0043] In addition, the substrate processing apparatus 41 is equipped with a brush mechanism 70 for cleaning substrates. As shown in Figure 2, the brush mechanism 70 includes a brush 71 used for cleaning substrates and an arm 72 that holds the brush 71 from above. The brush 71 is connected to the tip of the arm 72. The base of the arm 72 is supported by a rotating mechanism 73 located in the cup 53.

[0044] The brush control unit 75 controls the rotation mechanism 73 and controls the movement of the brush 71 relative to the substrate W. When cleaning the substrate W, the brush 71 is rotated by the brush control unit 75 and moved to the upper surface of the substrate W. In this state, when the substrate W is rotated and cleaning fluid is supplied by the nozzle 10, the surface of the substrate W is cleaned by the brush 71.

[0045] The standby tank 74 is configured to hold the brush 71 when the substrate cleaning process is not being performed. The standby tank 74 holds cleaning fluid. The brush 71 is placed in the standby tank 74 before the substrate cleaning process and immersed in the cleaning fluid held therein. This helps to prevent the brush 71 from drying out.

[0046] <5. Cover mechanism> Figure 4 illustrates the cover mechanism 61 of this example. As shown in Figure 4, the cover mechanism 61 of this example has a disc-shaped ring member 63 with an opening in the center, and a plurality of plate-shaped members 64 (six in Figure 4) provided to close the opening of the ring-shaped member 63. Figure 4 shows the closed state in which the plate-shaped members 64 close the opening of the ring-shaped member 63. The cover mechanism 61 is provided at the upper end of the cup 53 and can close the upper opening of the cup 53 which is in an open state.

[0047] The ring-shaped member 63 is attached to the upper opening of the cup 53. Each of the plate-shaped members 64 is arranged along the opening of the ring-shaped member 63. The plate-shaped members 64 move synchronously, causing them to displace between a separated state in which the plate-shaped members 64 move away from the center of the ring-shaped member 63, opening the upper opening of the cup 53, and a gathered state in which the plate-shaped members 64 gather toward the center of the ring-shaped member 63, closing the upper opening of the cup 53.

[0048] Figure 5 shows the cover mechanism 61 in the open state. In the open state, each of the plate-shaped members 64 is positioned away from the center of the ring-shaped member 63. In this state, each of the plate-shaped members 64 is not exposed through the opening of the ring-shaped member 63.

[0049] In this way, the plate-shaped member 64 can be displaced by moving synchronously between a state where it is gathered at the center of the ring-shaped member 63 and a state where it is moved away from the center of the ring-shaped member 63. The cover mechanism 61 can take on two states in accordance with the movement of the plate-shaped member 64: the closed state shown in Figure 4 and the open state shown in Figure 5.

[0050] The diameter of the opening of the ring-shaped member 63 is the same as the diameter of the upper opening of the cup 53. Therefore, the diameter of the cover mechanism 61 is larger than the diameter of the spin base 81, and the spin base 81 does not collide with the cover mechanism 61 even when the cup 53 is moved up and down.

[0051] <6. Other Components> As shown in Figure 1, the substrate processing system 1 includes a control unit 131 for controlling substrate processing. The control unit 131 is composed of, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit). The specific configuration of the control unit 131 is not limited and may consist of, for example, a single processor or multiple processors.

[0052] Controls performed by the control unit 131 include, for example, control of the indexer robot IR and control of the center robot CR. The control unit 131 also performs controls on the substrate processing apparatus 41. Controls performed on the substrate processing apparatus 41 include, for example, control of the cup lifting mechanism 54, control of the cover control unit 62, control of the rotating mechanism 73, control of the motor 83, control of the chuck opening and closing mechanism 85, and control of the rotating mechanism 103. The control unit 131 also includes a brush control unit 75 and a fluid supply control unit 104.

[0053] In particular, the control unit 131 controls the mechanical chuck 8 to fix the substrate W to the mechanical chuck 8, controls the cup lifting mechanism 54 to raise the cup 53 relative to the mechanical chuck 8 so that the upper opening of the cup 53 is positioned on the top of the substrate W, controls the motor 83 to start the rotation of the substrate W, controls the nozzle 10 to start supplying liquid to the substrate W, controls the nozzle 10 to stop supplying liquid to the substrate W, controls the cover mechanism 61 to close the upper opening, and controls the mechanical chuck 8 to rotate the substrate W and dry it.

[0054] The memory unit 132 shown in Figure 1 stores control-related programs, parameters, and the like. The substrate processing apparatus in this example does not have any particular limitations on the configuration of the device that realizes the memory unit 132.

[0055] <7. Substrate Processing Flow> Hereafter, the flow of substrate processing using the substrate processing system 1 with this configuration will be explained with reference to the flowchart in Figure 6.

[0056] Step S11: The indexer robot IR acquires the horizontally oriented substrate W from the carrier C placed on the load port 11.

[0057] Step S12: The substrate W acquired by the indexer robot IR is placed on path 34 and received by the center robot CR. In this way, the substrate W is transferred between the indexer robot IR and the center robot CR. The center robot CR places the substrate W on the spin base 81 of the substrate processing apparatus 41. At this time, the chuck pin 84 is in the open state. Once the substrate W is placed on the spin base 81, the chuck pin 84 closes. In this way, the substrate processing apparatus 41 locks the substrate W on the spin base 81 and prepares to rotate the substrate W. This step is the process of loading the substrate W into the mechanical chuck 8 and corresponds to the loading process of the present invention.

[0058] Figure 7 illustrates the substrate processing apparatus 41 in this step. At this time, the cup 53 is in a lowered position and does not obstruct the transport of the substrate to the mechanical chuck 8 by the center robot CR. Also, the cover mechanism 61 is in an open position at this time and does not obstruct the transport of the substrate to the mechanical chuck 8 by the center robot CR.

[0059] Step S13: The cup lifting mechanism 54 raises the cup 53, moving the upper opening of the cup 53 above the mechanical chuck 8. Figure 8 illustrates the substrate processing apparatus 41 in this step. As the cup 53 rises, the periphery of the mechanical chuck 8 is covered by the cup 53. The cup 53 is ready to receive the liquid splashed as the mechanical chuck 8 rotates. This step is the process of raising the cup 53 relative to the mechanical chuck 8 so that the upper opening of the cup 53 is positioned above the substrate W, and corresponds to the cup raising process of the present invention.

[0060] Step S14: This step is the process of supplying liquid from the nozzle 10 to the rotating substrate W, and corresponds to the liquid supply process of the present invention. That is, the substrate cleaning process is performed in this step. The rotating mechanism 103 rotates the liquid supply pipe 102 to move the tip 101 to the center of the substrate W prior to the discharge of cleaning liquid from the nozzle 10. Then, the rotation of the mechanical chuck 8 is started. As a result, the substrate W gripped by the mechanical chuck 8 is rotated. Subsequently, the liquid supply control unit 104 starts supplying cleaning liquid to the nozzle 10, and the cleaning liquid is discharged from the tip 101. In this way, a pre-rinse process is performed to wash the substrate W with cleaning liquid beforehand.

[0061] Subsequently, while the nozzle 10 is discharging the cleaning fluid, the rotating mechanism 73 rotates the arm 72 so that the brush 71 rotates on the upper surface of the substrate W to evenly clean the surface of the substrate W, and the brush 71 performs a scanning operation. Figure 9 illustrates the substrate processing apparatus 41 in this step. The cleaning fluid discharged by the nozzle 10 may be, for example, pure water. The tip 101 may be a nozzle head that forms a column of cleaning fluid, or a spray-type nozzle head.

[0062] Subsequently, the rotating mechanism 73 is rotated under the control of the brush control unit 75, and the brush 71 returns to the standby tank 74. The nozzle 10 continues to discharge cleaning solution onto the substrate W even after the brush 71 has returned to the standby tank 74, performing a post-rinse treatment.

[0063] Step S15: When the nozzle 10 has finished discharging the cleaning solution and the cleaning process is complete, the rotation of the mechanical chuck 8 stops. Then, the nozzle 10 discharges pure water and applies the liquid to the substrate W held by the mechanical chuck 8. In this way, the substrate W becomes a paddle. Figure 10 illustrates the substrate processing apparatus 41 in this step. When liquid is applied to the substrate W, particles floating in the air cannot reach the top surface of the substrate W. This is because particles heading towards the substrate W are captured by the liquid L applied to the substrate W. When the application of liquid to the substrate W is complete, the tip 101 of the nozzle 10 is moved to a position away from the center of the substrate W. This step is the process of supplying liquid from the nozzle 10 to the substrate W after its rotation has stopped, making the substrate W a paddle, and corresponds to the paddle process of the present invention.

[0064] Step S16: The iris aperture constituting the cover mechanism 61 is driven, and the cover mechanism 61, which was in the open state as shown in Figure 5, closes as shown in Figure 4. This driving of the iris aperture is performed by the cover control unit 62 (see Figure 2).

[0065] Step S17: The rotation of the mechanical chuck 8 is started, and the substrate W is spin-dried. Figure 11 illustrates the substrate processing apparatus 41 in this step. During spin-drying, particles floating in the air cannot reach the top surface of the substrate W. This is because the closed cover mechanism 61 prevents particles from descending onto the substrate W. This step is a process in which the substrate W is rotated and dried with the upper opening of the cup 53 closed, and corresponds to the spin-drying process of the present invention.

[0066] Step S18: When the rotation of the mechanical chuck 8 stops and the spin-drying process is complete, the iris aperture constituting the cover mechanism 61 is driven, and the cover mechanism 61, which was in the closed state as shown in Figure 4, opens as shown in Figure 5. This driving of the iris aperture is performed by the cover control unit 62 (see Figure 2).

[0067] Step S19: The cup 53 is lowered. As a result, the cup 53, which was in the raised position, is moved to the lowered position as shown in Figure 7. This movement of the cup 53 is achieved by the cup lifting mechanism 54.

[0068] Step S20: The mechanical chuck 8 opens the chuck pins 84 and releases the lock on the substrate W. The center robot CR acquires the substrate W, which is now simply placed on the mechanical chuck 8, and transports it to path 34.

[0069] Step S21: The indexer robot IR retrieves the processed substrate W placed on path 34 and returns it to the carrier C placed on load port 11. In this way, the substrate processing in this example is completed.

[0070] <8. Effects of the present invention> According to the above configuration, the substrate processing apparatus 41, which is provided at the upper end of the cup 53 and has a cover mechanism 61 that can close the open upper opening, includes a loading process (step S12) for loading the substrate W into the mechanical chuck 8, a cup raising process (step S13) for raising the cup 53 relative to the mechanical chuck 8 so that the upper opening is positioned above the substrate W, a liquid supply process (step S14) for supplying liquid from the nozzle 10 to the rotating substrate W, and a spin drying process (step S17) for rotating the substrate W with the upper opening closed to dry it. With this configuration, during the drying process of the substrate W, particles floating in the apparatus will not enter the cup in which the substrate W is located during the drying process. Therefore, according to the present invention, a substrate processing method can be provided that can process the substrate while suppressing the adverse effects of particles.

[0071] According to the above configuration, after the liquid supply process (step S14) and before the spin-drying process (step S17), a paddle process (step S15) is provided in which liquid is supplied from the nozzle 10 to the substrate W after the rotation has stopped, thereby putting the substrate W into a paddle state. With this configuration, the substrate W is filled with liquid before the spin-drying process and while the cup 53 is open. When the substrate W is filled with liquid, particles entering the substrate W from outside the cup are captured on the paddle surface and cannot reach the substrate W. Therefore, this configuration provides a substrate processing method in which the adverse effects of particles are further suppressed.

[0072] According to the above configuration, the cover mechanism 61 comprises a ring-shaped member 63 attached to the upper opening, a plurality of plate-shaped members 64 arranged along the opening in the ring-shaped member 63, and a drive mechanism that moves the plate-shaped members 64 synchronously to displace them between a separated state, where the plate-shaped members 64 are separated from the center of the ring-shaped member 63 and the upper opening of the cup 53 is open, and a gathered state, where the plate-shaped members 64 are gathered toward the center of the ring-shaped member 63 and the upper opening of the cup 53 is closed. With this configuration, the structure of the cover mechanism 61 can be miniaturized, and a substrate processing apparatus 41 that allows for various embodiments can be provided.

[0073] <9. Variation> The present invention is not limited to the above-described configuration, and can be modified and implemented as follows.

[0074] <Example 1> In the above-described embodiment, when the cover mechanism 61 is closed, the opening of the ring-shaped member 63 is completely closed. However, the present invention is not limited to this configuration. The cover mechanism 61 may also have a hole H through which the air supply nozzle 10a passes. The air supply nozzle 10a is configured to supply an inert gas to the substrate W.

[0075] Figure 12 illustrates the configuration of the cover mechanism 61 of this modified example. Unlike the plate-shaped member 64 of the embodiment, the plate-shaped member 64 of this modified example has a configuration in which each part is partially missing. When the cover mechanism 61 is closed, the missing parts of the plate-shaped member 64 converge at the center of the cover member 61 to form a hole H.

[0076] Figure 13 illustrates the substrate drying process (step S17 in Figure 6) of the substrate processing apparatus 41 in this modified example. As shown in Figure 13, the air supply nozzle 10a has a tip 105 extending in the vertical direction Z and an L-shaped air supply pipe 106 that supplies an inert gas, such as nitrogen, to the tip 105 and rotates the tip 105 relative to the substrate W. The base of the air supply pipe 106 is supported by a rotating mechanism 107 that rotates the air supply pipe 106 relative to the housing 42.

[0077] The air supply control unit 108 controls the amount of inert gas supplied to the air supply pipe 106, and controls whether or not to discharge inert gas from the tip 105.

[0078] As shown in Figure 13, in this modified example, an inert gas for promoting drying is supplied to the substrate W during the spin-drying process. The inert gas is emitted from the tip 105 of the air supply nozzle 10a, passes through the hole H in the cover mechanism 61, and reaches the upper surface of the substrate W.

[0079] In this modified example, the control unit 131 also controls the rotation mechanism 107. Furthermore, the control unit 131 in this modified example also has the function of the air supply control unit 108. The control unit 131 is configured to supply inert gas to the substrate W through a hole H provided in the cover mechanism 61, which closes the upper opening of the cup 53, via the air supply nozzle 10a.

[0080] According to the above configuration, inert gas is supplied through the holes H provided in the cover mechanism 61 during the spin-drying process (step S17). With this configuration, the drying of the substrate W during the spin-drying process (step S17) is accelerated by the action of the inert gas.

[0081] According to the above configuration, the device is equipped with an air supply nozzle 10a that supplies inert gas to the substrate W. The control unit controls the air supply nozzle 10a to supply inert gas to the substrate W through a hole H provided in the cover mechanism 61, which has its upper opening closed. With this configuration, the drying of the substrate W during the spin-drying process is promoted by the action of the inert gas.

[0082] <Modification 2> In the substrate flow described in Figure 6, step S15 (paddle process) can be omitted. With this configuration, after the cleaning process, the rotation of the substrate W is not stopped, and each step from step S16 onward is executed. [Explanation of symbols]

[0083] 1. Substrate Processing System 1A Block enclosure 3 Indexer Block 4 Processing Blocks 8 Mechanical chuck 10 nozzles 10a Air intake nozzle 11 Load Ports 34 Pass 41 Substrate Processing Equipment 42 cabinets 43 Bottom plate 46 Hand 50 hands 53 cups 54 Cup Lifting Mechanism 61 Cover mechanism 62 Cover Control Unit 63 Ring-shaped member 64 Plate-shaped member 70 Brush mechanism 71 brushes 72 Arms 73 Rotation mechanism 74 Waiting tank 75 Brush control unit 81 Spin Base 82 Rotation axis 83 Motor 84 Chuck pins 85 Chuck opening and closing mechanism 101 Tip 102 Liquid supply pipe 103 Rotation mechanism 104 Liquid supply control unit 105 Tip 106 Air intake pipe 107 Rotation mechanism 108 Air supply control unit 131 Control Unit 132 Storage section C Career CL1 1st row CL2 2nd row CL3 3rd row CR Center Robot H Hall IR Indexer Robot L liquid W board

Claims

1. A substrate processing method using a substrate processing apparatus comprising: a chuck capable of fixing a substrate; a rotating mechanism for rotating the chuck; a cylindrical cup having an upper opening provided on the outer circumference of the chuck; a lifting mechanism for moving the cup up and down; a nozzle for supplying liquid to the substrate fixed to the chuck; and a cover mechanism provided at the upper end of the cup that can close the open upper opening, wherein The loading process involves loading the substrate into the chuck, A cup raising process in which the cup is raised relative to the chuck so that the upper opening is positioned on the upper part of the substrate, A liquid supply process in which liquid is supplied from the nozzle to a rotating substrate, The system includes a spin-drying process in which the upper opening is closed by the cover mechanism and the substrate is rotated to dry it. A substrate processing method characterized by the following:

2. In the substrate processing method described in claim 1, After the liquid supply process and before the spin-drying process, a paddle process is provided in which liquid is supplied from the nozzle to the substrate, which has stopped rotating, to put the substrate into a paddle state. A substrate processing method characterized by the following:

3. In the substrate processing method described in claim 1, The spin-drying process involves supplying an inert gas through a hole provided in the cover mechanism. A substrate processing method characterized by the following:

4. A chuck capable of securing the circuit board, A rotating mechanism for rotating the chuck, A cup is provided on the outer circumference of the chuck, is cylindrical, and has an upper opening, A lifting mechanism for moving the aforementioned cup up and down, A nozzle for supplying liquid to a substrate fixed to the chuck, A cover mechanism provided at the upper end of the cup, capable of closing the open upper opening, The system includes a control unit that controls the chuck, the rotating mechanism, the lifting mechanism, the nozzle, and the cover mechanism, The control unit, The chuck is controlled to fix the substrate in place. The lifting mechanism is controlled to raise the cup relative to the chuck, so that the upper opening is positioned on the upper part of the substrate. The rotation mechanism is controlled to start the rotation of the substrate. The nozzle is controlled to start supplying liquid to the substrate. The nozzle is controlled to terminate the supply of liquid to the substrate. The cover mechanism is controlled to close the upper opening. The rotation mechanism is controlled to rotate the substrate and dry it. A substrate processing apparatus characterized by the following:

5. In the substrate processing apparatus according to claim 4, The cover mechanism is A ring member attached to the upper opening, The ring member comprises a plurality of plate-shaped members arranged along the opening in the ring member, The plate-shaped members move synchronously, displacing between a separated state in which the plate-shaped members move away from the center of the ring member, opening the upper opening, and a gathered state in which the plate-shaped members gather toward the center of the ring member, closing the upper opening. A substrate processing apparatus characterized by the following:

6. In the substrate processing apparatus according to claim 4, It is equipped with an air supply nozzle that supplies an inert gas to the substrate, The control unit, The air supply nozzle is controlled to supply inert gas to the substrate through a hole provided in the cover mechanism, which closes the upper opening. A substrate processing apparatus characterized by the following:

7. A substrate processing system comprising the substrate processing apparatus described in claim 4, The substrate processing apparatus comprises multiple such apparatuses, The system includes a substrate transfer robot that loads and unloads substrates in a horizontal position to and from the substrate processing apparatus. A substrate processing system characterized by the following features.

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