Substrate processing apparatus and substrate processing method

Abstract

To process the periphery of a substrate well, in a substrate processing technology that covers and protects the top surface of the substrate with a barrier plate and heats the top surface of the substrate while supplying a processing solution to the periphery of the substrate to process the periphery.SOLUTION: The present invention has a gas supply section that supplies gas to a gas discharge nozzle on a barrier plate to discharge gas into the space sandwiched between the substrate and the barrier plate to form a gas flow from the center of the substrate toward the outside in the radial direction. The gas supply section is controlled so that the velocity of the gas flow into the discharge space at the periphery of the substrate is greater than zero.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 8

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a substrate processing technique for processing a substrate by supplying a processing liquid to the peripheral edge of the substrate. [Background technology]

[0002] There is known a substrate processing apparatus that supplies a processing liquid to a substrate such as a semiconductor wafer while rotating the substrate, thereby performing chemical processing, cleaning processing, etc. For example, in the apparatus described in Patent Document 1, a processing liquid is supplied to the peripheral portion of a substrate that is held and rotated by a spin chuck in a processing chamber. This apparatus uses a shielding unit with a built-in heating unit to perform good processing on the peripheral portion of the substrate. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 5437168 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] A first aspect of the present invention is a substrate processing apparatus comprising: a substrate holding unit that is rotatable about a rotation axis extending in a vertical direction while holding a substrate from below; a rotation mechanism that rotates the substrate holding unit; a processing unit that processes the substrate by supplying a processing liquid to a peripheral portion of the substrate held by the substrate holding unit; an upper surface protection and heating unit that heats the upper surface of the substrate while covering and protecting the upper surface of the substrate held by the substrate holding unit with a shielding plate that is arranged at a predetermined distance from the upper surface of the substrate; and a heating unit that surrounds the outer periphery of the rotating substrate and heats the upper surface of the substrate as the substrate holding unit rotates. The apparatus includes a scattering prevention mechanism that collects the processing liquid scattered from the substrate and then discharges it via a discharge space, and a control unit that controls the upper surface protection and heating mechanism, wherein the upper surface protection and heating mechanism has a gas supply unit that supplies gas to a gas discharge nozzle provided on the shielding plate to discharge the gas into a space sandwiched between the substrate and the shielding plate, and forms a flow of the gas from the center of the substrate toward the outside in the radial direction, and the control unit controls the gas supply unit so that the flow rate of the gas at the peripheral edge of the substrate toward the discharge space is greater than zero. The scattering prevention mechanism has an exhaust part that exhausts the exhaust space, and the control unit controls the gas supply part so that the discharge flow rate of the gas discharged from the gas discharge nozzle into the space sandwiched between the substrate and the blocking plate is equal to or greater than a minimum value required to make the flow rate of the gas at the peripheral edge of the substrate to the exhaust space greater than zero, and is equal to or less than 0.3 times the exhaust flow rate exhausted from the exhaust space. It is characterized by the following.

[0005] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned problems, and aims to provide a substrate processing technology that covers and protects the upper surface of the substrate with a shielding plate, heats the upper surface of the substrate, and supplies a processing liquid to the peripheral portion of the substrate to process the peripheral portion. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] a control unit for controlling the processing mechanism; a processing mechanism having a processing liquid discharge nozzle for discharging a processing liquid from a discharge port, the processing mechanism causing the processing liquid discharged from the discharge port to land on a peripheral portion of the substrate held in the substrate holding unit; an upper surface protection and heating mechanism for heating the upper surface of the substrate while covering and protecting the upper surface of the substrate with a blocking plate disposed at a predetermined distance from the upper surface of the substrate held in the substrate holding unit; and a control unit for controlling the processing mechanism; the processing liquid discharge nozzle is provided within the cutout portion so as to be movable in a radial direction of the blocking plate, and the control unit controls the nozzle movement portion so that the liquid landing position is changed by moving the processing liquid discharge nozzle in the radial direction of the blocking plate; and a cup portion is provided which surrounds the outer periphery of the rotating substrate and collects the processing liquid scattered from the substrate as the substrate holding portion rotates, and the control unit controls the nozzle movement portion so that the liquid landing position is switched between a bevel processing position which is a peripheral portion of the upper surface of the substrate, and a pre-dispense processing position which is the cup portion. It is characterized by the following. A fourth aspect of the present invention is a substrate processing apparatus comprising: a substrate holding unit rotatably disposed about a rotation axis extending in a vertical direction while holding a substrate; a rotation mechanism for rotating the substrate holding unit; a processing mechanism having a processing liquid discharge nozzle for discharging a processing liquid from a discharge port, the processing liquid discharged from the discharge port being applied to a peripheral edge portion of the substrate held in the substrate holding unit for processing; an upper surface protection and heating mechanism for heating the upper surface of the substrate while covering and protecting the upper surface of the substrate with a shielding plate disposed at a predetermined distance from the upper surface of the substrate held in the substrate holding unit; and a control unit for controlling the processing mechanism, The peripheral portion is provided with a notch that opens radially outward from the blocking plate, and the processing mechanism has a nozzle moving part that moves the processing liquid discharge nozzle within the notch, and the control unit controls the nozzle moving part so that, when changing the landing position of the processing liquid discharged from the discharge port, the discharge port faces the changed landing position, and the processing liquid discharge nozzle is provided within the notch so that it can rotate freely around a rotation axis parallel to the vertical direction, and the control unit controls the nozzle moving part so that the landing position is changed by moving the processing liquid discharge nozzle around the rotation axis.

[0007] The present invention 5 The embodiment is a substrate processing method, which includes the steps of: (a) processing the substrate by supplying a processing liquid to a peripheral portion of the substrate while rotating the substrate about a rotation axis extending in a vertical direction; (b) covering and protecting the upper surface of the substrate with a blocking plate disposed at a predetermined distance from the upper surface of the substrate and heating the upper surface of the substrate; and (c) collecting the processing liquid scattered from the substrate as the substrate rotates while surrounding the outer periphery of the rotating substrate and discharging the processing liquid via an exhaust space, wherein the step (b) includes the steps of: (b-1) discharging gas from a gas discharge nozzle provided in the blocking plate into a space sandwiched between the substrate and the blocking plate, thereby forming a flow of the gas in the space directed radially outward from the center of the substrate; and (b-2) controlling the discharge flow rate of the gas discharged from the gas discharge nozzle so that the flow velocity of the gas at the peripheral portion of the substrate into the exhaust space is greater than zero. In the step (b-2), the flow rate of the gas discharged from the gas discharge nozzle into the space sandwiched between the substrate and the blocking plate is controlled to be equal to or greater than the minimum value required to make the flow rate of the gas at the peripheral edge of the substrate toward the exhaust space greater than zero, and equal to or less than 0.3 times the exhaust flow rate of the gas exhausted from the exhaust space. It is characterized by the following.

[0008] The present invention 6 The embodiment is a substrate processing method, characterized in that: (a) a step of processing the substrate by supplying a processing liquid to the peripheral portion of the substrate while rotating the substrate around a rotation axis extending in the vertical direction; and (b) a step of covering and protecting the upper surface of the substrate with a shielding plate arranged at a predetermined distance from the upper surface of the substrate and heating the upper surface of the substrate are carried out in a processing space at room temperature, and the step (b) includes: (b-1) a step of discharging gas from a gas discharge nozzle provided in the shielding plate into the space sandwiched between the substrate and the shielding plate, thereby forming a gas flow in the space that flows radially outward from the center of the substrate; and (b-3) a step of adjusting the temperature of the gas discharged from the gas discharge nozzle so that the temperature of the gas discharged from the gas discharge nozzle is in the discharge temperature range of 65°C to 130°C.

[0009] The present invention 7 The embodiment is a substrate processing method, which includes the steps of: (a) processing the substrate by supplying a processing liquid discharged from a discharge port of a processing liquid discharge nozzle to a peripheral portion of the substrate while rotating the substrate around a rotation axis extending in a vertical direction; and (b) covering and protecting the upper surface of the substrate with a blocking plate disposed at a predetermined distance from the upper surface of the substrate and heating the upper surface of the substrate in parallel with the step (a), wherein the step (a) includes a step of moving the processing liquid discharge nozzle within a notch that opens radially outward in the blocking plate so that the discharge port faces the changed liquid landing position when changing the liquid landing position of the processing liquid discharged from the discharge port. The processing liquid discharge nozzle is provided within the notch so as to be movable in a radial direction of the blocking plate, and in the step (a), the processing liquid discharge nozzle moves in the radial direction of the blocking plate to change the liquid landing position, and a cup portion is provided which surrounds the outer periphery of the rotating substrate and collects the processing liquid scattered from the substrate as the substrate rotates, and in the step (a), the liquid landing position is switched between a bevel processing position which is the peripheral portion of the upper surface of the substrate, and a pre-dispense processing position where the liquid landing position is the cup portion. It is characterized by the following. An eighth aspect of the present invention is a substrate processing method comprising the steps of: (a) processing the substrate by supplying a processing liquid ejected from an outlet of a processing liquid ejection nozzle to a peripheral portion of the substrate while rotating the substrate around a rotation axis extending in a vertical direction; and (b) covering and protecting an upper surface of the substrate with a blocking plate arranged at a predetermined distance from the upper surface of the substrate and heating the upper surface of the substrate, in parallel with the step (a), wherein the step (a) includes a step of moving the processing liquid ejection nozzle within a notch that opens radially outward in the blocking plate so that the outlet faces the changed liquid landing position when changing the liquid landing position of the processing liquid ejected from the outlet, wherein the processing liquid ejection nozzle is rotatably disposed within the notch around a rotation axis parallel to the vertical direction, and in the step (a), the liquid landing position is changed by moving the processing liquid ejection nozzle around the rotation axis.

[0010] A fifth aspect of the present invention is a substrate processing method comprising the steps of: (a) processing the substrate by supplying a processing liquid to the peripheral portion of the substrate while rotating the substrate around a rotation axis extending vertically; and (b) covering and protecting the upper surface of the substrate with a shield plate arranged at a predetermined distance from the upper surface of the substrate and heating the upper surface of the substrate, which are carried out in a processing space at room temperature, wherein step (b) comprises: (b-1) forming a gas flow in the space sandwiched between the substrate and the shield plate by ejecting gas from a gas ejection nozzle provided in the shield plate into the space, the gas flow moving radially outward from the center of the substrate; and (b-3) adjusting the temperature of the gas ejected from the gas ejection nozzle so that the temperature of the gas ejected from the gas ejection nozzle is in the ejection temperature range of 65°C to 130°C.

[0011] A sixth aspect of the present invention is a substrate processing method comprising the steps of: (a) processing the substrate by supplying a processing liquid ejected from an outlet of a processing liquid ejection nozzle to a peripheral portion of the substrate while rotating the substrate around a rotation axis extending in a vertical direction; and (b) in parallel with step (a), covering and protecting the upper surface of the substrate with a shielding plate positioned at a predetermined distance from the upper surface of the substrate and heating the upper surface of the substrate, wherein step (a) includes a step of moving the processing liquid ejection nozzle within a cutout portion that opens radially outward in the shielding plate so that the outlet faces the changed landing position of the processing liquid ejected from the outlet. [Effects of the Invention]

[0012] According to the present invention, in a substrate processing technology in which a processing liquid is supplied to the peripheral portion of a substrate to process the peripheral portion while the upper surface of the substrate is covered and protected by a blocking plate and the upper surface of the substrate is heated, the peripheral portion of the substrate can be processed well. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0013] [Figure 1] 1 is a plan view showing a schematic configuration of a substrate processing system equipped with a first embodiment of a substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention. [Figure 2]1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a first embodiment of a substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention. [Figure 3] FIG. 3 is a plan view taken along the line AA in FIG. 2. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the configuration of a power transmission unit. [Figure 5] FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. 4. [Figure 6] FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing the structure of the rotary cup portion. [Figure 7] 10 is a diagram showing the dimensional relationship between a substrate held by a spin chuck and a rotating cup portion. FIG. [Figure 8] FIG. 2 is a view showing a portion of a rotating cup portion and a fixed cup portion. [Figure 9] FIG. 2 is an external perspective view showing the configuration of an upper surface protection and heating mechanism. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of the upper surface protection and heating mechanism shown in FIG. [Figure 11] FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a processing liquid discharge nozzle on the upper surface side that is equipped in the processing mechanism. [Figure 12] 10A and 10B are diagrams illustrating nozzle positions in a bevel processing mode and a pre-dispense mode. [Figure 13] 1 is a perspective view showing a processing liquid discharge nozzle on the lower surface side equipped in the processing mechanism and a nozzle support part that supports the nozzle. FIG. [Figure 14] FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional view showing the configuration of an atmosphere separation mechanism. [Figure 15] 3 is a flowchart showing a bevel process performed as an example of a substrate processing operation by the substrate processing apparatus shown in FIG. 2. [Figure 16A] 5A to 5C are schematic diagrams showing a substrate loading operation in the first embodiment. [Figure 16B] 5A to 5C are schematic diagrams illustrating a centering operation of a substrate in the first embodiment. [Figure 16C] 5A to 5C are schematic diagrams illustrating a bevel operation of a substrate in the first embodiment. [Figure 16D] 5A to 5C are schematic diagrams illustrating an inspection operation of a substrate in the first embodiment. [Figure 17A]FIG. 2 is a view showing a first modified example of the first embodiment of the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention. [Figure 17B] FIG. 10 is a view showing a second modified example of the first embodiment of the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention. [Figure 17C] FIG. 10 is a view showing a third modified example of the first embodiment of the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention. [Figure 18] FIG. 10 is a view showing a fourth modified example of the first embodiment of the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention. [Figure 19] FIG. 10 is a view showing a fifth modified example of the first embodiment of the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention. [Figure 20A] FIG. 10 is a view showing a sixth modified example of the first embodiment of the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention. [Figure 20B] FIG. 10 is a view showing a seventh modified example of the first embodiment of the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention. [Figure 21] 10 is a graph showing the airflow velocity at each position in the radial direction of the substrate relative to the discharge flow rate of nitrogen gas. [Figure 22] 10 is a graph showing the airflow velocity in the radial direction of the substrate relative to the discharge flow rate of nitrogen gas at the peripheral edge of the substrate. [Figure 23] 10 is a graph showing changes in surface temperature at each position in the radial direction of the substrate relative to the temperature of the heating gas. [Figure 24] 1 is a graph showing the change in surface temperature with respect to the temperature of the heating gas at the center and edge of the substrate. [Figure 25] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of a second embodiment of a substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention. [Figure 26] 10A and 10B are diagrams showing the configuration of a rotary cup part in a second embodiment. [Figure 27] 26 is a flowchart showing a bevel process performed as an example of a substrate processing operation by the substrate processing apparatus shown in FIG. 25. [Figure 28A] 10A and 10B are schematic diagrams showing a substrate loading operation in the second embodiment. [Figure 28B] 10A and 10B are schematic diagrams showing a substrate centering operation in the second embodiment. [Figure 28C]10A and 10B are schematic diagrams showing a bevel operation of a substrate in the second embodiment. [Figure 28D] 10A and 10B are schematic diagrams showing the operation of inspecting a substrate in the second embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0014] FIG. 1 is a plan view showing the schematic configuration of a substrate processing system equipped with a first embodiment of a substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention. This is not an external view of the substrate processing system 100, but a schematic view showing the internal structure of the substrate processing system 100 by excluding the outer wall panels and other components. The substrate processing system 100 is a single-wafer processing apparatus installed, for example, in a clean room, for processing substrates W, each of which has a circuit pattern or the like (hereinafter referred to as a "pattern") formed on only one main surface. A substrate processing method according to the present invention is performed in a processing unit 1 installed in the substrate processing system 100. In this specification, the pattern-formed surface (one main surface) of the two main surfaces of a substrate on which a pattern is formed is referred to as the "front surface," and the other main surface on which no pattern is formed is referred to as the "rear surface." The surface facing downward is referred to as the "lower surface," and the surface facing upward is referred to as the "upper surface." In this specification, the "pattern-formed surface" refers to the surface of a substrate on which a concave-convex pattern is formed in any region.

[0015] Here, the "substrate" in this embodiment can be any of various substrates such as semiconductor wafers, glass substrates for photomasks, glass substrates for liquid crystal displays, glass substrates for plasma displays, substrates for FEDs (Field Emission Displays), substrates for optical disks, substrates for magnetic disks, substrates for magneto-optical disks, etc. The following description will be given with reference to the drawings, taking as an example a substrate processing apparatus used primarily for processing semiconductor wafers, but the invention can also be applied to processing the various substrates exemplified above.

[0016] 1, the substrate processing system 100 includes a substrate processing unit 110 that processes substrates W, and an indexer unit 120 that is coupled to the substrate processing unit 110. The indexer unit 120 is configured to receive a container C for accommodating the substrates W (such as a FOUP (Front Opening Unified Pod) that accommodates a plurality of substrates W in a sealed state, an SMIF (Standard Insulated Fibre Channel), or the like). The indexer unit 120 has a container holder 121 capable of holding a plurality of substrates W (e.g., Open Cassettes (OCs) and Pods (Mechanical Interfaces)). The indexer unit 120 also has an indexer robot 122 that accesses the containers C held by the container holder 121 to remove unprocessed substrates W from the containers C and store processed substrates W in the containers C. Each container C contains a plurality of substrates W in a substantially horizontal position.

[0017] The indexer robot 122 comprises a base 122a fixed to the apparatus housing, an articulated arm 122b rotatable about a vertical axis relative to the base 122a, and a hand 122c attached to the tip of the articulated arm 122b. The hand 122c is structured so that a substrate W can be placed on its upper surface and held thereon. Indexer robots having such articulated arms and hands for holding substrates are well known, and therefore a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

[0018] The substrate processing section 110 includes a mounting table 112 on which an indexer robot 122 places a substrate W, a substrate transfer robot 111 disposed approximately in the center in a plan view, and a plurality of processing units 1 disposed to surround the substrate transfer robot 111. Specifically, the plurality of processing units 1 are disposed facing the space in which the substrate transfer robot 111 is disposed. The substrate transfer robot 111 randomly accesses the mounting tables 112 for these processing units 1 and transfers the substrate W between them. Meanwhile, each processing unit 1 performs a predetermined process on the substrate W and corresponds to a substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention. In this embodiment, these processing units (substrate processing apparatuses) 1 have the same function. This enables parallel processing of multiple substrates W. Note that the mounting table 112 is not necessarily required if the substrate transfer robot 111 can directly transfer the substrate W from the indexer robot 122 to the substrate transfer robot 111.

[0019] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of a first embodiment of a substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 3 is a plan view taken along line AA in FIG. 2. In FIGS. 2 and 3 and the other figures referred to below, the dimensions and number of components may be exaggerated or simplified for ease of understanding. The substrate processing apparatus (processing unit) 1 includes a rotation mechanism 2, a scattering prevention mechanism 3, an upper surface protection and heating mechanism 4, a processing mechanism 5, an atmosphere separation mechanism 6, a lifting mechanism 7, a centering mechanism 8, and a substrate observation mechanism 9. These components 2 to 9 are housed in an internal space 12 of a chamber 11 and are electrically connected to a control unit 10 that controls the entire apparatus. Each of the components 2 to 9 operates in response to instructions from the control unit 10.

[0020] The control unit 10 may be, for example, a device similar to a general computer. That is, in the control unit 10, a CPU serving as a main control unit performs arithmetic processing in accordance with procedures written in a program, thereby controlling each part of the substrate processing apparatus 1. The detailed configuration and operation of the control unit 10 will be described later. In this embodiment, a control unit 10 is provided for each substrate processing apparatus 1, but a configuration in which a single control unit controls a plurality of substrate processing apparatuses 1 may also be used. In addition, a configuration in which the substrate processing apparatuses 1 are controlled by a control unit (not shown) that controls the entire substrate processing system 100 may also be used.

[0021] As shown in FIG. 2, a fan filter unit (FFU) 13 is attached to the ceiling wall 11a of the chamber 11. This fan filter unit 13 further purifies the air in the clean room in which the substrate processing apparatus 1 is installed and supplies it to the processing space in the chamber 11. The fan filter unit 13 includes a fan and a filter (e.g., a HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Air) filter) for taking in air from the clean room and sending it into the chamber 11, and sends the clean air through an opening 11b provided in the ceiling wall 11a. This creates a downflow of clean air in the processing space in the chamber 11. In addition, to uniformly distribute the clean air supplied from the fan filter unit 13, a punched plate 14 having a large number of blow-out holes is provided directly below the ceiling wall 11a.

[0022] As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the substrate processing apparatus 1 has a shutter 15 provided on a side surface of the chamber 11. A shutter opening / closing mechanism (not shown) is connected to the shutter 15, and opens and closes the shutter 15 in response to an opening / closing command from the control unit 10. More specifically, in the substrate processing apparatus 1, when an unprocessed substrate W is loaded into the chamber 11, the shutter opening / closing mechanism opens the shutter 15, and the unprocessed substrate W is loaded face-up onto the spin chuck (substrate holder) 21 of the rotation mechanism 2 by a hand (reference symbol RH in FIG. 16A ) of the substrate transfer robot 111. That is, the substrate W is placed on the spin chuck 21 with its upper surface Wf facing upward. Then, when the hand of the substrate transfer robot 111 retracts from the chamber 11 after the substrate has been loaded, the shutter opening / closing mechanism closes the shutter 15. Then, bevel processing is performed on the peripheral edge portion Ws of the substrate W in the processing space of the chamber 11 (corresponding to the sealed space SPs, which will be described in detail later). After the beveling process is completed, the shutter opening / closing mechanism reopens the shutter 15, and the hand of the substrate transport robot 111 removes the processed substrate W from the spin chuck 21. In this manner, in this embodiment, the internal space 12 of the chamber 11 is maintained at room temperature. In this specification, "room temperature" means a temperature range of 5°C to 35°C.

[0023] The rotation mechanism 2 rotates the substrate W while holding it in a substantially horizontal position with its surface facing upward, and also rotates part of the shatter prevention mechanism 3 in the same direction as the substrate W. The rotation mechanism 2 rotates the substrate W and the rotating cup portion 31 of the shatter prevention mechanism 3 around a vertical rotation axis AX that passes through the center of the main surface. Note that in Figure 2, dots are added to the rotated parts to clearly indicate the members and parts that rotate integrally with the rotation mechanism 2.

[0024] The rotation mechanism 2 includes a spin chuck 21, which is a disk-shaped member smaller than the substrate W. The spin chuck 21 has an upper surface that is substantially horizontal and a central axis that coincides with the rotation axis AX. A cylindrical rotation shaft 22 is connected to the lower surface of the spin chuck 21. The rotation shaft 22 extends vertically with its axis coincident with the rotation axis AX. A rotation drive unit (e.g., a motor) 23 is connected to the rotation shaft 22. The rotation drive unit 23 drives the rotation shaft 22 to rotate around its axis in response to a rotation command from the control unit 10. Therefore, the spin chuck 21 can rotate together with the rotation shaft 22 around the rotation axis AX. The rotation drive unit 23 and the rotation shaft 22 function to rotate the spin chuck 21 around the rotation axis AX, and the lower end of the rotation shaft 22 and the rotation drive unit 23 are housed in a cylindrical casing 24.

[0025] A through-hole (not shown) is provided in the center of the spin chuck 21, and communicates with the internal space of the rotating shaft 22. A pump 26 is connected to the internal space via piping 25 equipped with a valve (not shown). The pump 26 and the valve are electrically connected to the control unit 10 and operate in response to commands from the control unit 10. This allows negative pressure and positive pressure to be selectively applied to the spin chuck 21. For example, when the pump 26 applies negative pressure to the spin chuck 21 with the substrate W placed on the upper surface of the spin chuck 21 in a substantially horizontal position, the spin chuck 21 suction-holds the substrate W from below. On the other hand, when the pump 26 applies positive pressure to the spin chuck 21, the substrate W can be removed from the upper surface of the spin chuck 21. When the suction of the pump 26 is stopped, the substrate W can be moved horizontally on the upper surface of the spin chuck 21.

[0026] A nitrogen gas supply unit 29 is connected to the spin chuck 21 via a pipe 28 provided in the center of the rotation shaft 22. The nitrogen gas supply unit 29 supplies room-temperature nitrogen gas, supplied from a utility or the like in a factory where the substrate processing system 100 is installed, to the spin chuck 21 at a flow rate and timing according to a nitrogen gas supply command from the control unit 10, and causes the nitrogen gas to flow radially outward from the center on the underside Wb of the substrate W. Although nitrogen gas is used in this embodiment, other inert gases may also be used. This also applies to the heating gas discharged from the central nozzle, which will be described later. The term "flow rate" refers to the amount of a fluid, such as nitrogen gas, moving per unit time.

[0027] The rotation mechanism 2 not only rotates the spin chuck 21 integrally with the substrate W, but also includes a power transmission unit 27 for rotating the rotating cup portion 31 in synchronization with the rotation. FIG. 4 is a plan view showing the configuration of the power transmission unit, and FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. 4. The power transmission unit 27 includes a circular member 27a made of a non-magnetic material or resin, a magnet 27b embedded in the circular member 27a, and a magnet 27c embedded in a lower cup 32, which is a component of the rotating cup portion 31. The circular member 27a is attached to the rotating shaft portion 22 and is rotatable together with the rotating shaft portion 22 about the rotation axis AX. More specifically, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 5, the rotating shaft portion 22 has a flange portion 22a extending radially outward directly below the spin chuck 21. The circular member 27a is concentrically disposed with the flange portion 22a and is connected and fixed to the flange portion 22a by bolts or the like (not shown).

[0028] 4 and 5, a plurality of magnets 27b (36 in this embodiment) are arranged radially around the rotation axis AX at equal angular intervals (10° in this embodiment) on the outer periphery of the annular member 27a. In this embodiment, as shown in the enlarged view of FIG. 4, one of two adjacent magnets 27b is arranged so that the outer and inner sides thereof are north and south poles, respectively, and the other is arranged so that the outer and inner sides thereof are south and north poles, respectively.

[0029] Similar to these magnets 27b, a plurality of magnets 27c (36 in this embodiment) are arranged radially around the rotation axis AX at equal angular intervals (10° in this embodiment). These magnets 27c are housed in the lower cup 32. The lower cup 32 is a component of the anti-scattering mechanism 3, which will be described next, and has a circular ring shape as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. That is, the lower cup 32 has an inner peripheral surface that can face the outer peripheral surface of the circular member 27a. The inner diameter of this inner peripheral surface is larger than the outer diameter of the circular member 27a. The lower cup 32 is arranged concentrically with the rotation shaft 22 and the circular member 27a, with the inner peripheral surface facing the outer peripheral surface of the circular member 27a at a predetermined distance (= (the inner diameter - the outer diameter) / 2). An engagement pin 35 and a connecting magnet 36 are provided on the upper surface of the outer periphery of the lower cup 32, which connect the upper cup 33 to the lower cup 32, and this connected body functions as the rotation cup portion 31. This point will be discussed in more detail later.

[0030] The lower cup 32 is supported by bearings (not shown) in the drawings so as to be rotatable about the rotation axis AX while remaining in the above-described position. On the inner peripheral edge of the lower cup 32, as shown in Figures 4 and 5, a plurality of magnets 27c (36 in this embodiment) are arranged radially around the rotation axis AX at equal angular intervals (10° in this embodiment). The arrangement of two adjacent magnets 27c is similar to that of the magnets 27b. In other words, one magnet is arranged so that the outer and inner sides are north and south poles, respectively, and the other magnet is arranged so that the outer and inner sides are south and north poles, respectively.

[0031] In the power transmission unit 27 configured in this manner, when the circular member 27a is rotated together with the rotating shaft 22 by the rotation drive unit 23, the magnetic force between the magnets 27b and 27c causes the lower cup 32 to rotate in the same direction as the circular member 27a while maintaining the air gap GPa (the gap between the circular member 27a and the lower cup 32). This causes the rotating cup unit 31 to rotate around the rotation axis AX. In other words, the rotating cup unit 31 rotates in the same direction as the substrate W and in synchronization with it.

[0032] The anti-scattering mechanism 3 has a rotating cup portion 31 that is rotatable about the rotation axis AX while surrounding the outer periphery of the substrate W held by the spin chuck 21, and a fixed cup portion 34 that is fixedly provided so as to surround the rotating cup portion 31. The rotating cup portion 31 is provided so as to be rotatable about the rotation axis AX while surrounding the outer periphery of the rotating substrate W by connecting an upper cup 33 to a lower cup 32.

[0033] FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view showing the structure of the rotating cup portion. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the dimensional relationship between the substrate held by the spin chuck and the rotating cup portion. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a portion of the rotating cup portion and the fixed cup portion. The lower cup 32 has an annular shape. Its outer diameter is larger than that of the substrate W, and the lower cup 32 is disposed so as to be rotatable about the rotation axis AX while protruding radially from the substrate W held by the spin chuck 21 in a plan view from vertically above. In this protruding region, i.e., the upper surface peripheral portion 321 of the lower cup 32, engagement pins 35 extending vertically upward along the circumferential direction and flat lower magnets 36 are alternately attached. There are three engagement pins 35 in total, and three lower magnets 36 in total. These engagement pins 35 and lower magnets 36 are disposed radially about the rotation axis AX at equal angular intervals (60° in this embodiment).

[0034] On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 2, 3, 6, and 7, the upper cup 33 has a lower annular portion 331, an upper annular portion 332, and an inclined portion 333 connecting them. The outer diameter D331 of the lower annular portion 331 is the same as the outer diameter D32 of the lower cup 32, and as shown in FIG. 6, the lower annular portion 331 is located vertically above the peripheral edge 321 of the lower cup 32. On the underside of the lower annular portion 331, in an area vertically above the engagement pin 35, a downwardly opening recess 335 is provided so as to be able to fit with the tip of the engagement pin 35. Furthermore, an upper magnet 37 is attached in an area vertically above the lower magnet 36. Therefore, when the recess 335 and the upper magnet 37 face the engagement pin 35 and the lower magnet 36, respectively, as shown in FIG. 6, the upper cup 33 can be engaged with and disengaged from the lower cup 32. Note that the relationship between the recess and the engagement pin may be reversed. In addition to the combination of the lower magnet 36 and the upper magnet 37, one may be a magnet and the other a ferromagnetic material.

[0035] The upper cup 33 can be raised and lowered in the vertical direction by the lifting mechanism 7. When the upper cup 33 is moved upward by the lifting mechanism 7, a transport space (symbol SPt in FIG. 16A) for loading and unloading the substrate W is formed between the upper cup 33 and the lower cup 32 in the vertical direction. On the other hand, when the upper cup 33 is moved downward by the lifting mechanism 7, the recess 335 fits over the tip of the engagement pin 35, and the upper cup 33 is positioned horizontally relative to the lower cup 32. In addition, the upper magnet 37 approaches the lower magnet 36, and the positioned upper cup 33 and lower cup 32 are coupled to each other by the attractive force generated between them. As a result, the upper cup 33 and the lower cup 32 are integrated in the vertical direction with a gap GPc extending horizontally formed, as shown in the partial enlarged view of FIG. 3 and FIG. 8. The rotating cup portion 31 is rotatable about the rotation axis AX while the gap GPc is formed.

[0036] 7, in the rotating cup part 31, the outer diameter D332 of the upper annular portion 332 is slightly smaller than the outer diameter D331 of the lower annular portion 331. Furthermore, when comparing the diameters d331, d332 of the inner peripheral surfaces of the lower annular portion 331 and the upper annular portion 332, the lower annular portion 331 is larger than the upper annular portion 332, and the inner peripheral surface of the upper annular portion 332 is located inside the inner peripheral surface of the lower annular portion 331 in a plan view from vertically above. The inner peripheral surfaces of the upper annular portion 332 and the lower annular portion 331 are connected by an inclined portion 333 around the entire circumference of the upper cup 33. Therefore, the inner peripheral surface of the inclined portion 333, i.e., the surface surrounding the substrate W, forms an inclined surface 334. That is, as shown in FIG. 8, the inclined portion 333 surrounds the outer periphery of the rotating substrate W and is capable of collecting droplets scattered from the substrate W, and the space surrounded by the upper cup 33 and the lower cup 32 functions as a collection space SPc.

[0037] Moreover, the inclined portion 333 facing the collection space SPc is inclined from the lower annular portion 331 upward toward the peripheral edge of the substrate W. Therefore, as shown in Fig. 8, droplets collected in the inclined portion 333 flow along the inclined surface 334 to the lower end of the upper cup 33, i.e., the lower annular portion 331, and can then be discharged to the outside of the rotating cup portion 31 through the gap GPc.

[0038] The fixed cup portion 34 is provided to surround the rotating cup portion 31 and forms a discharge space SPe. The fixed cup portion 34 has a liquid receiving portion 341 and an exhaust portion 342 provided inside the liquid receiving portion 341. The liquid receiving portion 341 has a cup structure that opens to face the opening of the gap GPc on the side opposite the substrate (the opening on the left side in FIG. 8). In other words, the internal space of the liquid receiving portion 341 functions as the discharge space SPe and is connected to the collection space SPc via the gap GPc. Therefore, the liquid droplets collected by the rotating cup portion 31 are guided to the discharge space SPe together with gas components via the gap GPc. The liquid droplets are then collected at the bottom of the liquid receiving portion 341 and are drained from the fixed cup portion 34.

[0039] Meanwhile, gas components are collected in the exhaust portion 342. This exhaust portion 342 is partitioned from the liquid receiving portion 341 by a partition wall 343. A gas guide portion 344 is disposed above the partition wall 343. The gas guide portion 344 extends from a position directly above the partition wall 343 into the exhaust space SPe and the exhaust portion 342, respectively, thereby covering the partition wall 343 from above and forming a gas component flow path having a labyrinth structure. Therefore, gas components of the fluid that has flowed into the liquid receiving portion 341 are collected in the exhaust portion 342 via the flow path. This exhaust portion 342 is connected to an exhaust mechanism 38. Therefore, the exhaust mechanism 38 operates in response to a command from the control unit 10 to adjust the pressure in the fixed cup portion 34, and the gas components in the exhaust portion 342 are efficiently exhausted. Furthermore, the pressure and flow rate of the exhaust space SPe are adjusted by precise control of the exhaust mechanism 38. For example, the pressure in the discharge space SPe becomes lower than the pressure in the collection space SPc, which results in the droplets in the collection space SPc being efficiently drawn into the discharge space SPe and promoting the movement of droplets from the collection space SPc.

[0040] FIG. 9 is an external perspective view showing the configuration of the upper surface protection and heating mechanism. FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of the upper surface protection and heating mechanism shown in FIG. 9. The upper surface protection and heating mechanism 4 has a shielding plate 41 disposed above the upper surface Wf of the substrate W held by the spin chuck 21. The shielding plate 41 has a circular plate portion 42 held in a horizontal position. The circular plate portion 42 incorporates a heater 421 whose drive is controlled by a heater drive unit 422. The circular plate portion 42 has a diameter slightly smaller than that of the substrate W. The circular plate portion 42 is supported by a support member 43 so that the lower surface of the circular plate portion 42 covers from above the surface region of the upper surface Wf of the substrate W, excluding the peripheral edge portion Ws. Note that reference numeral 44 in FIG. 9 denotes a notch provided in the peripheral edge portion of the circular plate portion 42 to prevent interference with a processing liquid discharge nozzle included in the processing mechanism 5. The notch portion 44 opens radially outward.

[0041] The lower end of the support member 43 is attached to the center of the disk portion 42. A cylindrical through-hole is formed so as to vertically penetrate the support member 43 and the disk portion 42. A central nozzle 45 is inserted vertically into the through-hole. As shown in FIG. 2 , the central nozzle 45 is connected to a nitrogen gas supply unit 47 via a pipe 46. The nitrogen gas supply unit 47 supplies room-temperature nitrogen gas, supplied from the utility power of the factory in which the substrate processing system 100 is installed, to the central nozzle 45 at a flow rate and timing according to a nitrogen gas supply command from the control unit 10. In this embodiment, a ribbon heater 48 is attached to a portion of the pipe 46. The ribbon heater 48 generates heat in response to a heating command from the control unit 10 to heat the nitrogen gas flowing through the pipe 46.

[0042] The heated nitrogen gas (hereinafter referred to as "heated gas") is pressure-fed toward the central nozzle 45 and discharged from the central nozzle 45. For example, as shown in FIG. 10, when the disk 42 is positioned at a processing position adjacent to the substrate W held by the spin chuck 21 and the heated gas is supplied, the heated gas flows from the center toward the periphery of the space SPa sandwiched between the upper surface Wf of the substrate W and the disk 42 incorporating the heater. This prevents the ambient atmosphere around the substrate W from penetrating the upper surface Wf of the substrate W. As a result, it is possible to effectively prevent droplets contained in the ambient atmosphere from being drawn into the space SPa sandwiched between the substrate W and the disk 42. Furthermore, the upper surface Wf is entirely heated by the heater 421 and the heated gas, thereby making the in-plane temperature of the substrate W uniform. This prevents the substrate W from warping and stabilizes the landing position of the processing liquid. To achieve these effects, it is desirable to control the temperature and flow rate of the heated gas supplied to the central nozzle 45. This point will be described in detail later based on the simulation results (FIGS. 21 to 24).

[0043] As shown in FIG. 2, the upper end of the support member 43 is fixed to a beam member 49 extending in a horizontal direction perpendicular to the substrate transport direction (the left-right direction in FIG. 3) in which the substrate W is loaded and unloaded. The beam member 49 is connected to the lifting mechanism 7 and is raised and lowered by the lifting mechanism 7 in response to commands from the control unit 10. For example, in FIG. 2, the beam member 49 is positioned downward, so that the disk portion 42 connected to the beam member 49 via the support member 43 is located at the processing position. On the other hand, when the lifting mechanism 7 raises the beam member 49 in response to a lift command from the control unit 10, the beam member 49, the support member 43, and the disk portion 42 rise together, and the upper cup 33 also rises in conjunction with the beam member 49, separating it from the lower cup 32. This widens the gap between the spin chuck 21 and the upper cup 33 and the disk portion 42, allowing the substrate W to be loaded and unloaded from the spin chuck 21 (see FIG. 16A).

[0044] FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing an upper-side processing liquid discharge nozzle equipped in the processing mechanism, as viewed obliquely from below. FIG. 12 shows the nozzle positions in the bevel processing mode and the pre-dispense mode. FIG. 13 is a perspective view showing a lower-side processing liquid discharge nozzle equipped in the processing mechanism and a nozzle support unit supporting the nozzle. The processing mechanism 5 has a processing liquid discharge nozzle 51F arranged on the upper surface side of the substrate W, a processing liquid discharge nozzle 51B arranged on the lower surface side of the substrate W, and a processing liquid supply unit 52 that supplies processing liquid to the processing liquid discharge nozzles 51F and 51B. Hereinafter, to distinguish between the upper-side processing liquid discharge nozzle 51F and the lower-side processing liquid discharge nozzle 51B, they will be referred to as the "upper surface nozzle 51F" and the "lower surface nozzle 51B," respectively. Although two processing liquid supply units 52 are shown in FIG. 2, they are identical.

[0045] In this embodiment, three upper surface nozzles 51F are provided, and are connected to the processing liquid supply unit 52. The processing liquid supply unit 52 is configured to be able to supply SC1, DHF, and functional water (CO2 water, etc.) as processing liquid, and SC1, DHF, and functional water can be independently ejected from the three upper surface nozzles 51F.

[0046] As shown in Fig. 11, each upper surface nozzle 51F is provided with a discharge port 511 that discharges the processing liquid from the lower surface of the tip. As shown in the enlarged view of Fig. 3, the lower portions of the plurality of (three in this embodiment) upper surface nozzles 51F are disposed in the notches 44 of the disk portion 42 with each discharge port 511 facing the peripheral edge of the upper surface Wf of the substrate W, and the upper portions of the upper surface nozzles 51F are attached to the nozzle holder 53 so as to be movable in the radial direction X of the substrate W. The nozzle holder 53 is supported by a support member 54, which is further fixed to the lower sealing cup member 61 of the atmosphere separation mechanism 6. In other words, the upper surface nozzles 51F and the nozzle holder 53 are integrated with the lower sealing cup member 61 via the support member 54, and are raised and lowered together with the lower sealing cup member 61 in the vertical direction Z by the lifting mechanism 7. Details of the lifting mechanism 7 will be described later.

[0047] 3 and 12, the nozzle holder 53 has a built-in nozzle moving unit 55 that moves the upper surface nozzles 51F collectively in the radial direction X. Therefore, in response to a position command from the control unit 10, the nozzle moving unit 55 drives the three upper surface nozzles 51F collectively in the direction X. This causes the upper surface nozzles 51F to reciprocate between the bevel processing position shown in FIG. 12(a) and the pre-dispense position shown in FIG. 12(b). The discharge port 511 of the nozzle moving unit 55 positioned at this bevel processing position faces the peripheral portion of the upper surface Wf of the substrate W. Then, in response to a supply command from the control unit 10, the processing liquid supply unit 52 supplies one of the three types of processing liquid corresponding to the supply command to the upper surface nozzle 51F for that processing liquid, and the processing liquid is discharged from the discharge port 511 of the upper surface nozzle 51F.

[0048] On the other hand, the discharge port 511 of the upper surface nozzle 51F positioned at the pre-dispensing position is located above the peripheral portion of the upper surface Wf and faces the inclined surface 334 of the upper cup 33. When the processing liquid supply unit 52 supplies all or part of the processing liquid to the corresponding upper surface nozzle 51F in response to a supply command from the control unit 10, the processing liquid is discharged from the discharge port 511 of the upper surface nozzle 51F onto the inclined surface 334 of the upper cup 33. This executes the pre-dispensing process. Note that, as shown in FIG. 12, droplets of the processing liquid used in the beveling process and the pre-dispensing process are collected by the upper cup 33 and discharged into the discharge space SPe via the gap GPc. Reference numeral 56 in FIG. 12 denotes a structure constituted by the upper surface nozzle 51F and the nozzle holder 53 incorporating the nozzle moving unit 55, and will be referred to as the "nozzle head 56" below. Furthermore, although only the upper surface nozzle 51F is attached to the nozzle head 56, a gas discharge nozzle that discharges an inert gas such as nitrogen gas may be additionally provided, and for example, the processing liquid remaining on the peripheral edge Ws of the substrate W during one rotation of the substrate W may be purged with the inert gas from the gas discharge nozzle.

[0049] In this embodiment, a lower surface nozzle 51B and a nozzle support 57 are provided below the substrate W held by the spin chuck 21 to eject a processing liquid toward the peripheral portion of the lower surface Wb of the substrate W. As shown in FIG. 13 , the nozzle support 57 has a thin-walled cylindrical portion 571 extending vertically and a flange portion 572 having a ring shape folded outward in the radial direction at the upper end of the cylindrical portion 571. The cylindrical portion 571 has a shape that allows it to be freely inserted into the air gap GPa formed between the annular member 27a and the lower cup 32. As shown in FIG. 2 , the nozzle support 57 is fixedly disposed so that the cylindrical portion 571 is loosely inserted into the air gap GPa and the flange portion 572 is positioned between the substrate W held by the spin chuck 21 and the lower cup 32. Three lower surface nozzles 51B are attached to the peripheral portion of the upper surface of the flange portion 572. Each lower surface nozzle 51B has a discharge port 511 that opens toward the peripheral edge of the lower surface Wb of the substrate W, and is capable of discharging the processing liquid supplied from the processing liquid supply unit 52 via the pipe 58.

[0050] The processing liquid discharged from these upper surface nozzle 51F and lower surface nozzle 51B performs bevel processing on the peripheral edge of the substrate W. Furthermore, on the lower surface side of the substrate W, a flange portion 572 is extended to the vicinity of the peripheral edge Ws. Therefore, nitrogen gas supplied to the lower surface side via the piping 28 flows along the flange portion 572 into the collection space SPc, as shown in FIG. 8. As a result, backflow of droplets from the collection space SPc onto the substrate W is effectively suppressed.

[0051] FIG. 14 is a partial cross-sectional view showing the configuration of the atmosphere separation mechanism. The atmosphere separation mechanism 6 includes a lower sealing cup member 61 and an upper sealing cup member 62. Both the lower sealing cup member 61 and the upper sealing cup member 62 have a cylindrical shape with openings at the top and bottom. The inner diameters of the members are larger than the outer diameter of the rotating cup unit 31. The atmosphere separation mechanism 6 is disposed so as to completely surround the spin chuck 21, the substrate W held by the spin chuck 21, the rotating cup unit 31, and the upper surface protection and heating mechanism 4 from above. More specifically, as shown in FIG. 2, the upper sealing cup member 62 is fixedly disposed directly below the punching plate 14 so that its upper opening covers the opening 11b in the ceiling wall 11a from below. Therefore, the downflow of clean air introduced into the chamber 11 is divided into two parts: one that passes through the interior of the upper sealing cup member 62 and one that passes through the exterior of the upper sealing cup member 62.

[0052] The lower end of the upper sealed cup member 62 has a flange portion 621 having an inwardly folded annular shape. An O-ring 63 is attached to the upper surface of this flange portion 621. Inside the upper sealed cup member 62, the lower sealed cup member 61 is disposed so as to be movable in the vertical direction.

[0053] The upper end of the lower sealing cup member 61 has a flange portion 611 having an annular shape that is folded outward. This flange portion 611 overlaps with a flange portion 621 in a plan view from vertically above. Therefore, when the lower sealing cup member 61 descends, the flange portion 611 of the lower sealing cup member 61 is locked with the flange portion 621 of the upper sealing cup member 62 via the O-ring 63, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 14 . This positions the lower sealing cup member 61 at its lowest position. At this lowest position, the upper sealing cup member 62 and the lower sealing cup member 61 are connected in the vertical direction, and the downflow introduced into the upper sealing cup member 62 is guided toward the substrate W held by the spin chuck 21.

[0054] The lower end of the lower sealing cup member 61 has a flange portion 612 having an outwardly folded annular shape. In a plan view from vertically above, this flange portion 612 overlaps the upper end of the fixed cup portion 34 (the upper end of the liquid receiving portion 341). Therefore, at the lowermost position, as shown in the enlarged view in FIG. 3 and FIG. 14 , the flange portion 612 of the lower sealing cup member 61 is engaged with the fixed cup portion 34 via the O-ring 64. This connects the lower sealing cup member 61 and the fixed cup portion 34 in the vertical direction, and a sealed space SPs is formed by the upper sealing cup member 62, the lower sealing cup member 61, and the fixed cup portion 34. A bevel process can be performed on the substrate W within this sealed space SPs. In other words, by positioning the lower sealing cup member 61 at the lowermost position, the sealed space SPs is separated from the outer space SPo of the sealed space SPs (atmosphere separation). Therefore, the bevel process can be stably performed without being affected by the outer atmosphere. Furthermore, the processing liquid used for the bevel processing can be reliably prevented from leaking from the sealed space SPs to the outer space SPo, which increases the degree of freedom in the selection and design of the components to be placed in the outer space SPo.

[0055] The lower sealing cup member 61 is configured to be movable vertically upward. Furthermore, as described above, the nozzle head 56 (= upper surface nozzle 51F + nozzle holder 53) is fixed to the middle portion of the lower sealing cup member 61 in the vertical direction via the support member 54. In addition to this, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the upper surface protection and heating mechanism 4 is fixed to the middle portion of the lower sealing cup member 61 via the beam member 49. That is, as shown in FIG. 3, the lower sealing cup member 61 is connected to one end of the beam member 49, the other end of the beam member 49, and the support member 54 at three different locations in the circumferential direction. When the lifting mechanism 7 lifts and lowers the one end of the beam member 49, the other end of the beam member 49, and the support member 54, the lower sealing cup member 61 also lifts and lowers accordingly.

[0056] 2, 3, and 14, a plurality of (four) protrusions 613 are provided on the inner peripheral surface of the lower sealing cup member 61 protruding inward as engagement portions that can engage with the upper cup 33. Each of the protrusions 613 extends to the space below the upper annular portion 332 of the upper cup 33. Each of the protrusions 613 is attached so as to move downward away from the upper annular portion 332 of the upper cup 33 when the lower sealing cup member 61 is positioned at the lowest position. When the lower sealing cup member 61 rises, each of the protrusions 613 can engage with the upper annular portion 332 from below. Even after this engagement, the upper cup 33 can be separated from the lower cup 32 by further rising the lower sealing cup member 61.

[0057] In this embodiment, after the lower sealing cup member 61 starts to rise together with the upper surface protection and heating mechanism 4 and the nozzle head 56 by the lifting mechanism 7, the upper cup 33 also rises. As a result, the upper cup 33, the upper surface protection and heating mechanism 4, and the nozzle head 56 move upward away from the spin chuck 21. By moving the lower sealing cup member 61 to the retracted position (the position in FIG. 16A described later), a transfer space (reference symbol SPt in FIG. 16A) is formed through which the hand (reference symbol RH in FIG. 16A) of the substrate transfer robot 111 can access the spin chuck 21. Then, loading and unloading of the substrate W onto and from the spin chuck 21 can be performed via this transfer space. As described above, in this embodiment, the substrate W can access the spin chuck 21 with minimal lifting of the lower sealing cup member 61 by the lifting mechanism 7.

[0058] The lifting mechanism 7 has two lifting drive units 71 and 72. As shown in FIG. 3 , the lifting drive unit 71 is provided with a first lifting motor 711. The first lifting motor 711 operates in response to a drive command from the control unit 10 to generate a rotational force. Two lifting units 712 and 713 are connected to the first lifting motor 711. The lifting units 712 and 713 simultaneously receive the rotational force from the first lifting motor 711. The lifting unit 712 raises and lowers the support member 491, which supports one end of the beam member 49, in the vertical direction Z in accordance with the amount of rotation of the first lifting motor 711. The lifting unit 713 raises and lowers the support member 54, which supports the nozzle head 56, in the vertical direction Z in accordance with the amount of rotation of the first lifting motor 711.

[0059] 3, the lift drive unit 72 has a second lift motor 721 and a lift unit 722. The second lift motor 721 operates in response to a drive command from the control unit 10 to generate a rotational force, which is applied to the lift unit 722. The lift unit 722 raises and lowers the support member 492, which supports the other end of the beam member 49, in the vertical direction in accordance with the amount of rotation of the second lift motor 721.

[0060] The lifting and lowering drivers 71 and 72 synchronously move the support members 491, 492, and 54, which are fixed to the side surface of the lower sealing cup member 61 at three different positions in the circumferential direction, in the vertical direction. This allows the upper surface protection and heating mechanism 4, the nozzle head 56, and the lower sealing cup member 61 to be stably raised and lowered. Furthermore, the upper cup 33 can also be stably raised and lowered in conjunction with the raising and lowering of the lower sealing cup member 61.

[0061] The centering mechanism 8 has a contact member 81 that can move toward and away from the edge of the substrate W loaded on the spin chuck 21, and a centering drive unit 82 for moving the contact member 81 horizontally. In this embodiment, three contact members 81 are arranged radially at equal angular intervals around the rotation axis AX, only one of which is shown in FIG. 2. In this centering mechanism 8, while suction by the pump 26 is stopped (i.e., while the substrate W is horizontally movable on the upper surface of the spin chuck 21), the centering drive unit 82 moves the contact member 81 toward the substrate W in response to a centering command from the control unit 10 (centering process). This centering process eliminates eccentricity of the substrate W with respect to the spin chuck 21, and the center of the substrate W coincides with the center of the spin chuck 21.

[0062] The substrate observing mechanism 9 has an observing head 91 for observing the peripheral edge of the substrate W. This observing head 91 is configured to be able to move towards and away from the peripheral edge of the substrate W. An observing head drive unit 92 is connected to the observing head 91. When observing the peripheral edge of the substrate W using the observing head 91, the observing head drive unit 92 brings the observing head 91 close to the substrate W in response to an observation command from the control unit 10 (observation process). Then, the peripheral edge of the substrate W is imaged using the observing head 91. The imaged image is sent to the control unit 10. Based on this image, the control unit 10 inspects whether the bevel processing has been performed satisfactorily.

[0063] The control unit 10 includes an arithmetic processing unit 10A, a memory unit 10B, a reader 10C, an image processor 10D, a drive controller 10E, a communication unit 10F, and an exhaust controller 10G. The memory unit 10B is configured with a hard disk drive or the like and stores a program for executing bevel processing using the substrate processing apparatus 1. The program is stored, for example, on a computer-readable recording medium RM (e.g., an optical disk, a magnetic disk, a magneto-optical disk, etc.). The reader 10C reads the program from the recording medium RM and stores it in the memory unit 10B. The program may be provided not only from the recording medium RM but also via a telecommunications line. The image processor 10D performs various processes on images captured by the substrate observation mechanism 9. The drive controller 10E controls the various drive units of the substrate processing apparatus 1. The communication unit 10F communicates with a control unit that controls the various units of the substrate processing system 100. The exhaust controller 10G controls the exhaust mechanism 38.

[0064] The control unit 10 is also connected to a display unit 10H (for example, a display) that displays various information, and an input unit 10J (for example, a keyboard and a mouse) that accepts input from an operator.

[0065] The arithmetic processing unit 10A includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and a RAM (Random Access Memory). The control unit 10B is configured by a computer having a memory (access memory) and the like, and controls each unit of the substrate processing apparatus 1 as follows according to a program stored in the memory unit 10B to perform bevel processing. The bevel processing performed by the substrate processing apparatus 1 will be described below with reference to Figures 15 and 16A to 16D.

[0066] Fig. 15 is a flowchart showing bevel processing performed as an example of a substrate processing operation by the substrate processing apparatus shown in Fig. 2. Figs. 16A to 16D are schematic diagrams showing various parts of the apparatus during bevel processing. Note that in Fig. 16A, components that rise together are indicated by dots for reference, and in Fig. 16C, components that rotate together are indicated by dots for reference, for reference.

[0067] When the substrate W is beveled using the substrate processing apparatus 1, the processor 10A controls the lifting and lowering drivers 71 and 72 to raise the lower sealed cup member 61, the nozzle head 56, the beam member 49, the support member 43, and the disk 42 together. During the raising of the lower sealed cup member 61, the protrusion 613 engages with the upper annular portion 332 of the upper cup 33. The upper cup 33 is then raised together with the lower sealed cup member 61, the nozzle head 56, the beam member 49, the support member 43, and the disk 42 until it is positioned at the retracted position. This creates a transfer space SPt above the spin chuck 21 large enough for the hand RH of the substrate transport robot 111 to enter. After confirming that the transfer space SPt has been formed, the processor 10A issues a loading request for the substrate W to the substrate transport robot 111 via the communication unit 10F. The processor 10A then waits for the unprocessed substrate W to be loaded into the substrate processing apparatus 1 and placed on the upper surface of the spin chuck 21, as shown in FIG. 16A . Then, the substrate W is placed on the spin chuck 21 (step S1). At this point, the pump 26 is stopped, and the substrate W is allowed to move horizontally on the upper surface of the spin chuck 21.

[0068] When the loading of the substrate W is complete, the substrate transport robot 111 retreats from the substrate processing apparatus 1. Subsequently, the processor 10A controls the centering drive unit 82 so that the three contact members 81 (only two are shown in FIG. 16B ) approach the substrate W. This eliminates the eccentricity of the substrate W relative to the spin chuck 21, and the center of the substrate W coincides with the center of the spin chuck 21 (step S2). When the centering process is thus completed, the processor 10A controls the centering drive unit 82 so that the three contact members 81 move away from the substrate W, and also activates the pump 26 to apply negative pressure to the spin chuck 21. As a result, the spin chuck 21 suction-holds the substrate W from below.

[0069] Next, the calculation processing unit 10A issues a descent command to the lifting / lowering drivers 71 and 72. In response to this, the lifting / lowering drivers 71 and 72 lower the lower sealed cup member 61, the nozzle head 56, the beam member 49, the support member 43, and the disk portion 42 as a unit. During this descent, the upper cup 33, which is supported from below by the protrusion 613 of the lower sealed cup member 61, is coupled to the lower cup 32. That is, as shown in FIG. 6 , the recess 335 fits over the tip of the engagement pin 35, positioning the upper cup 33 horizontally relative to the lower cup 32, and the attractive force generated between the upper magnet 37 and the lower magnet 36 couples the upper cup 33 and the lower cup 32 to form the rotating cup portion 31.

[0070] After the rotary cup portion 31 is formed, the lower sealing cup member 61, the nozzle head 56, the beam member 49, the support member 43, and the disk portion 42 are further lowered together, and the flange portions 611, 612 of the lower sealing cup member 61 are respectively locked with the flange portion 621 of the upper sealing cup member 62 and the fixed cup portion 34. As a result, the lower sealing cup member 61 is positioned at the lowest position (the position in FIGS. 2 and 16C) (step S3). After the above-mentioned locking, the flange portion 621 of the upper sealing cup member 62 and the flange portion 611 of the lower sealing cup member 61 are tightly attached via the O-ring 63, and the flange portion 612 of the lower sealing cup member 61 is tightly attached via the O-ring 63. As a result, as shown in Figure 2, the lower sealed cup member 61 and the fixed cup portion 34 are connected in the vertical direction, and a sealed space SPs is formed by the upper sealed cup member 62, the lower sealed cup member 61, and the fixed cup portion 34, and the sealed space SPs is separated from the outer atmosphere (outer space SPo) (atmosphere separation).

[0071] In this atmosphere separation state, the lower surface of the disk portion 42 covers the surface area of ​​the upper surface Wf of the substrate W from above, excluding the peripheral edge portion Ws. The upper surface nozzle 51F is positioned within the notch 44 of the disk portion 42 so that the outlet 511 faces the peripheral edge portion of the upper surface Wf of the substrate W. When preparations for supplying the processing liquid to the substrate W are thus completed, the processor 10A issues a rotation command to the rotary drive unit 23 to start rotating the spin chuck 21 and the rotating cup unit 31 that hold the substrate W (step S4). The rotation speed of the substrate W and the rotating cup unit 31 is set to, for example, 1800 rpm. The processor 10A also controls the heater drive unit 422 to heat the heater 421 to a desired temperature, for example, 185°C.

[0072] Next, the arithmetic processing unit 10A issues a nitrogen gas supply command to the nitrogen gas supply unit 47. As a result, as indicated by arrow F1 in FIG. 16C, nitrogen gas begins to be supplied from the nitrogen gas supply unit 47 toward the central nozzle 45 (step S5). This nitrogen gas is heated by the ribbon heater 48 while passing through the piping 46, and after being heated to a desired temperature (e.g., 100°C), is discharged from the central nozzle 45 toward the space SPa (FIG. 10) sandwiched between the substrate W and the disk unit 42. This heats the entire upper surface Wf of the substrate W. The heater 421 also heats the substrate W. Therefore, the temperature of the peripheral portion Ws of the substrate W increases over time, reaching a temperature suitable for bevel processing, e.g., 90°C. The temperatures of the portions other than the peripheral portion Ws also increase to a substantially uniform temperature. That is, in this embodiment, the in-plane temperature of the upper surface Wf of the substrate W is substantially uniform. Therefore, warping of the substrate W can be effectively suppressed.

[0073] Subsequently, the arithmetic processing unit 10A controls the processing liquid supply unit 52 to supply the processing liquid to the upper surface nozzle 51F and the lower surface nozzle 51B (arrows F2 and F3 in the figure). That is, a liquid flow of the processing liquid is ejected from the upper surface nozzle 51F so as to hit the peripheral portion of the upper surface of the substrate W, and a liquid flow of the processing liquid is ejected from the lower surface nozzle 51B so as to hit the peripheral portion of the lower surface of the substrate W. In this way, bevel processing is performed on the peripheral portion Ws of the substrate W (step S6). Then, when the arithmetic processing unit 10A detects that the processing time required for the bevel processing of the substrate W has elapsed, it issues a supply stop command to the processing liquid supply unit 52 to stop ejecting the processing liquid.

[0074] Subsequently, the arithmetic processing unit 10A issues a supply stop command to the nitrogen gas supply unit 47, thereby stopping the supply of nitrogen gas from the nitrogen gas supply unit 47 toward the central nozzle 45 (step S7). In addition, the arithmetic processing unit 10A issues a rotation stop command to the rotation drive unit 23, thereby stopping the rotation of the spin chuck 21 and the rotating cup unit 31 (step S8).

[0075] In the next step S9, the processing unit 10A observes the peripheral edge Ws of the substrate W to inspect the results of the bevel processing. More specifically, the processing unit 10A positions the upper cup 33 at the retracted position in the same way as when loading the substrate W, thereby forming the transfer space SPt. Then, the processing unit 10A controls the observation head driving unit 92 to bring the observation head 91 close to the substrate W. Then, after the observation head 91 has captured an image of the peripheral edge Ws, the processing unit 10A controls the observation head driving unit 92 to retract the observation head 91 from the substrate W. In parallel with this, the processing unit 10A inspects whether the bevel processing has been performed satisfactorily, based on the image of the captured peripheral edge Ws.

[0076] After the inspection, the arithmetic processing unit 10A issues an unloading request for the substrate W to the substrate transport robot 111 via the communication unit 10F, and the processed substrate W is unloaded from the substrate processing apparatus 1 (step S10). Note that this series of steps is repeatedly executed.

[0077] As described above, in this embodiment, the atmosphere separation mechanism 6 is provided above the splash prevention mechanism 3 to separate the sealed space SPs where bevel processing is performed with the processing liquid from the outer space SPo, i.e., perform so-called atmosphere separation. This limits the area processed by the processing liquid, reduces the number of locations where turbulence occurs, and stabilizes the bevel processing. Furthermore, although inside the chamber 11, components that are not chemically resistant can be used in the outer space SPo. To achieve these effects, in this embodiment, the atmosphere separation mechanism 6 is composed of an upper sealed cup member 62 fixed adjacent to the ceiling wall 11a and a lower sealed cup member 61 that can be raised and lowered between the upper sealed cup member 62 and the splash prevention mechanism 3. Therefore, the following effects can also be achieved.

[0078] In order to separate the atmosphere, a technique has been proposed in the past in which a cup member constituting a scattering prevention mechanism is brought into contact with the ceiling of the chamber (e.g., Japanese Patent No. 6282904). With this conventional technique, the entire cup member needs to be lowered when loading or unloading a substrate W. In contrast, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 16A, the lower sealed cup member 61 only needs to be raised the minimum distance required for loading or unloading the substrate W, thereby reducing the amount of movement of the lower sealed cup member 61. This can also be achieved by lifting the lower sealed cup member 61 when performing the centering process shown in FIG. 16B or the observation process shown in FIG. 16D. As a result, the takt time of the substrate processing apparatus 1 can be shortened compared to conventional apparatuses (function and effect A).

[0079] In the above embodiment, since only the lower sealing cup member 61 is raised and lowered, the load on the lifting mechanism can be reduced compared to conventional devices that raise and lower the entire cup member. As shown in FIG. 3, the lower sealing cup member 61 is raised and lowered while being supported at three different points in the circumferential direction. Therefore, the lower sealing cup member 61 can be raised and lowered stably. Furthermore, the upper cup 33, the upper surface protection and heating mechanism 4, the nozzle head 56, and the lower sealing cup member 61 are also raised and lowered via the lower sealing cup member 61, and these can also be raised and lowered stably and at low cost (effect B).

[0080] In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the upper opening of the upper sealing cup member 62 is positioned close to the punching plate 14 provided directly below the ceiling wall 11a, so that the clean air sent from the fan filter unit 13 is separated into a portion sent to the sealed space SPs and a portion sent to the outer space SPo. This controls the volume of the clean air sent to each space. Therefore, the sealed space SPs can be set to a desired pressure value, and the pressure difference with the outer space SPo can be adjusted with high precision. Furthermore, the volume of the sealed space SPs, which functions as a processing liquid atmosphere area, can be reduced, thereby reducing the power consumption of the factory in which the substrate processing apparatus 1 is installed (effect C).

[0081] Various methods can be used to control the volume of clean air. For example, as shown in FIG. 17A, the inner diameter of the outlet hole 141 facing the upper opening of the upper sealing cup member 62 may be made larger than the inner diameter of the other outlet holes 142, thereby controlling the volume of air flowing into the sealed space SPs to be greater than the volume of air flowing into the outer space SPo. To improve the pressure accuracy of the sealed space SPs and its outer space, as shown in FIG. 17B, a fan filter unit 13A for the sealed space SPs and a fan filter unit 13B for the outer space SPo may be provided separately. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 17C, instead of using a punched plate 14, clean air blown from the fan filter unit 13 may be supplied to the sealed space SPs via a first pipe 16a and to the outer space SPo via a second pipe 16b. The pressure may be controlled by adjusting the amount of supply to the sealed space SPs and the space outside it by installing dampers 17a, 17b in the first pipe 16a and the second pipe 16b, respectively, and having the damper control unit 18 independently control the opening of the dampers 17a, 17b in response to an opening command from the control unit 10.

[0082] In the above embodiment, as shown in FIG. 8 , droplets scattered from the substrate W are collected inside the rotating cup 31, i.e., in the collection space SPc. At this time, centrifugal force generated by the rotation of the cup acts on droplets adhering to the inclined surface 334 of the rotating cup 31. The droplets are also affected by airflows formed by nitrogen gas or the like supplied during bevel processing and flowing radially outward along the upper and lower surfaces of the substrate W. As a result, downward vector stress acts on the droplets along the inclined surface 334. The droplets subjected to this stress are moved along the inclined surface 334 to the gap GPc between the upper cup 33 and the lower cup 32. The droplets that reach the entrance of the gap GPc are then moved, together with gas components such as nitrogen gas, to the discharge space SPe of the fixed cup 34 via the gap GPc. Therefore, the droplets adhering to the rotating cup 31 are quickly discharged from the rotating cup 31 via the gap GPc. In particular, because the gap GPc is parallel to the direction of the centrifugal force and the flow of the airflow, droplets can be smoothly discharged from the collection space SPc to the discharge space SPe. This reduces collisions between droplets scattered from the substrate W and droplets adhering to the rotating cup portion 31, suppressing the occurrence of rebounding droplets. As a result, bevel processing can be performed satisfactorily (effect D). In this embodiment, the inclined surface 334 of the upper cup 33 is finished as a truncated cone with a constant inclination angle in the vertical cross section. However, it may also be finished as a surface that juts outward in the radial direction (toward the left hand side of the figure), as shown in FIG. 18 .

[0083] In this embodiment, the upper cup 33 is connected to the lower cup 32 by the engagement of the engagement pin 35 with the recess 335 and the attractive force generated between the upper magnet 37 and the lower magnet 36, as shown in Fig. 6. Therefore, even during rotation, the upper cup 33 and the lower cup 32 are firmly connected, allowing stable bevel processing (effect E). Of course, the connection between the upper cup 33 and the lower cup 32 is not limited to this, and the upper cup 33 and the lower cup 32 may be connected, for example, by engagement alone.

[0084] Furthermore, in this embodiment, part of the rotational driving force output from the rotational drive unit 23 to rotate the substrate W is applied as a cup driving force to the lower cup 32 via the power transmission unit 27. In this way, both the substrate W and the rotating cup unit 31 can be driven by a single rotational drive unit 23, simplifying the device configuration. Moreover, the substrate W and the rotating cup unit 31 can be rotated synchronously in the same direction. Therefore, when the rotating cup unit 31 is viewed from the periphery of the rotating substrate W, the rotating cup unit 31 appears relatively stationary, which further effectively suppresses the rebound of droplets of the processing liquid that splash from the substrate W and collide with the rotating cup unit 31 (effect F).

[0085] This power transmission unit 27 utilizes the magnetic force between the magnets 27b and 27c. Therefore, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the cup driving force can be transmitted to the lower cup 32 while maintaining an air gap GPa (the gap between the circular member 27a and the lower cup 32) between the circular member 27a and the lower cup 32. As shown in FIG. 2, the flange portion 572 of the nozzle support unit 57 is loosely inserted into the air gap GPa, and the nozzle support unit 57 is fixedly disposed. Furthermore, the air gap GPa is also used as a piping path. That is, the piping connected to the lower surface nozzle 51B supported by the nozzle support unit 57 is connected to the processing liquid supply unit 52 via the air gap GPa. Therefore, the length of the piping is significantly shortened, thereby increasing the flexibility and tolerance of the layout of each unit of the substrate processing apparatus 1 (effect G).

[0086] 7 and 8, the inclined portion 333 of the upper cup 33 extends above the peripheral edge Ws of the substrate W. That is, in a plan view from vertically above, the upper annular portion 332 and a part of the inclined portion 333 function as a canopy portion that covers the entire peripheral edge Ws of the substrate W held by the spin chuck 21. Moreover, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 12(a), the upper surface nozzle 51F discharges the processing liquid from its discharge port 511 while its discharge port 511 is positioned at a bevel processing position that is lower than the canopy portion in the vertical direction, and the processing liquid lands on the peripheral edge Ws of the substrate W. Therefore, the following advantageous effects can be obtained.

[0087] When droplets are collected by the rotating cup unit 31, the droplets may collide with the inclined surface 334 of the upper cup 33, and some of the droplets may fly upward. Furthermore, when the processing liquid is supplied to the peripheral portion of the substrate W, some of the droplets of the processing liquid may scatter upward. If droplets that have scattered upward in this manner re-adhere to the substrate W, watermarks will occur. However, in this embodiment, the above-mentioned overhanging portion collects the droplets that have scattered upward, effectively preventing them from re-adhering to the substrate W. Therefore, the substrate W can be beveled more satisfactorily. Furthermore, the same effect can be obtained in the pre-dispensing process shown in FIG. 12(b) (effect H).

[0088] This pre-dispense process can be performed by moving the upper surface nozzle 51F by a small distance in the radial direction X of the substrate W using the nozzle moving unit 55. Therefore, there is no need to move the upper surface nozzle 51F to a position away from the rotating cup unit 31 for the pre-dispense process, and the pre-dispense process can be performed within the rotating cup unit 31. As a result, the takt time of the substrate processing apparatus 1 can be shortened compared to conventional apparatuses (function and effect I).

[0089] Here, the movement direction of the upper surface nozzle 51F when performing the pre-dispensing process is not limited to the radial direction X, and is arbitrary. For example, as shown in Fig. 19, a rotation axis AX51 is provided at one end 513 of a nozzle body 512 constituting the upper surface nozzle 51F, which is remote from the discharge port 511. This rotation axis AX51 extends parallel to the vertical direction Z. Therefore, by having the nozzle moving unit 55 move the upper surface nozzle 51F about the rotation axis AX51, it is possible to change the landing position of the treatment liquid discharged from the discharge port 511. More specifically, a configuration may be adopted in which the beveling process position and the pre-dispensing process are switched by rotating the upper surface nozzle 51F about the rotation axis AX51.

[0090] Furthermore, in this embodiment, the nozzle movement unit 55 not only switches between the bevel processing position and the pre-dispensing process, but also changes the position of the discharge port 511 in the radial direction X of the substrate W, thereby changing the landing position of the processing liquid. In other words, the calculation processing unit 10A controls the nozzle movement unit 55 to cause the processing liquid to land on the desired peripheral edge Ws. Therefore, it is possible to change the width of the bevel processing at the peripheral edge Ws of the substrate W (the length from the edge of the substrate W in the radial direction X to the landing position). Note that this function is similar to that of the embodiment shown in FIG. 19.

[0091] In this embodiment, the disk portion 42 is provided so as to cover the upper surface Wf of the substrate W from above. Therefore, as shown in Fig. 9, a notch 44 is provided in the disk portion 42, and the upper surface nozzle 51F is movable over a relatively wide range, making it possible to effectively achieve the above-mentioned function of switching between the bevel processing position and the pre-dispense processing, and the mechanism for changing the bevel processing width (effect J).

[0092] Here, the notch 44 is one of the main causes of turbulence in the sealed space SPs. However, in this embodiment, as shown in Figures 3, 9, and 12, the lower end of the upper surface nozzle 51F enters and partially blocks the notch 44. This makes it possible to suppress the generation of turbulence in the notch 44 (effect K).

[0093] Furthermore, to more effectively suppress the generation of turbulence, as shown in FIG. 20A, attachments 514 may be attached to each upper surface nozzle 51F while maintaining the position of the outlet 511 and the attitude of the upper surface nozzle 51F. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 20B, a single attachment 515 may be attached to all upper surface nozzles 51F while maintaining the position of the outlet 511 and the attitude of the upper surface nozzle 51F. This increases the proportion of the notch 44 occupied by each attachment-equipped upper surface nozzle 51F, making it possible to almost completely block the notch 44. As a result, the generation of turbulence in the notch 44 can be more effectively suppressed.

[0094] In the above embodiment, the upper surface protection and heating mechanism 4 is provided to ensure uniformity of the in-plane temperature of the substrate W. More specifically, the flow rate and temperature of the heating gas supplied to the central nozzle 45 are controlled based on the simulation results described next.

[0095] 10, airflow analysis was performed on the case where nitrogen gas (heating gas) was discharged at various flow rates from the central nozzle 45 toward the rotating substrate W with the disk portion 42 positioned close to the substrate W held by the spin chuck 21 in the vertical direction. Here, the heater 421 and the ribbon heater 48 were stopped, and the specific analysis conditions were as follows: Distance between the substrate W and the disk portion 42: 2 mm Rotation speed of substrate W = 1800 rpm Nitrogen gas discharge flow rate: 0, 50, 75, 100, 130 L / min Diameter of central nozzle 45 = 60 mm FIG. 21 shows a graph plotting the airflow velocity at each position in the radial direction X of the substrate W under the analysis conditions. As can be seen from FIG. 21, the airflow velocity in the radial direction X of the substrate W varies depending on the flow rate of the nitrogen gas discharged from the central nozzle 45. In particular, if the airflow velocity at the peripheral portion Ws of the substrate W (here, 147 mm from the center of the substrate) falls below zero, that is, if an airflow occurs from the periphery of the substrate W (collection space SPc) toward the center of the substrate, droplet entrainment occurs. Therefore, FIG. 22 shows a graph plotting the airflow velocity at the peripheral portion Ws of the substrate W (here, 147 mm from the center of the substrate) for each gas flow rate. As can be seen from FIG. 22, in order to prevent droplet entrainment, it is necessary to discharge nitrogen gas from the central nozzle 45 at a rate of approximately 57 L / min or more.

[0096] On the other hand, as the flow rate of nitrogen gas discharged from the central nozzle 45 increases, the airflow velocity increases. Therefore, if nitrogen gas is supplied to the central nozzle 45 at an excessive flow rate, the airflow velocity along the upper surface Wf of the substrate W increases, which may adversely affect the pattern formed on the upper surface Wf of the substrate W. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 8 , droplets and gas components collected in the collection space SPc are discharged to the discharge space SPe through the gap GPc. Therefore, if the flow rate of nitrogen gas flowing from the substrate W into the collection space SPc exceeds the exhaust flow rate exhausted from the discharge space SPe by the exhaust mechanism 38, backflow vortices may occur. Increasing the flow rate of nitrogen gas reduces the exhaust air velocity flowing between the substrate W and the rotating cup 31. This has been determined by airflow analysis. One of the main reasons for this is that the gap GPc is narrow, and if the flow rate of nitrogen gas is increased, pressure loss occurs, causing the exhaust gas that cannot be exhausted to flow back, which may also cause backflow vortices at the edge of the upper surface of the substrate W. Therefore, it is desirable to set the maximum flow rate of the nitrogen gas discharged from the central nozzle 45 within a range in which these problems do not occur, and it is set to about 0.3 times the exhaust flow rate.

[0097] Next, the temperature of the heating gas will be described. As shown in Fig. 10, an airflow analysis was performed for the case where heating gases of various temperatures were discharged from the central nozzle 45 toward the rotating substrate W, which was held in the vertical direction by the spin chuck 21, with the disk portion 42 incorporating a heater being brought close to the substrate W. The specific analysis conditions here were as follows: Heater 421 temperature = 185℃ Heating gas temperature: 27℃, 80℃, 130℃ Distance between the substrate W and the disk portion 42: 2 mm Rotation speed of substrate W = 1800 rpm Heating gas discharge flow rate = 80 L / min Diameter of central nozzle 45 = 60 mm was set to.

[0098] FIG. 23 shows a graph plotting the surface temperature of the substrate W at each position in the radial direction X of the substrate W under the analysis conditions. As can be seen from FIG. 23, the in-plane temperature uniformity of the substrate W improves as the temperature of the heating gas increases, peaks, and then tends to decrease slightly with further temperature increases. Therefore, FIG. 24 shows a graph plotting the change in the surface temperature of the substrate W with the change in the discharge temperature of the heating gas at the center position (r = 0 mm) and edge position (r = 150 mm) of the substrate W. As can be seen from this graph, the surface temperature of the substrate W can be made uniform by setting the temperature of the heating gas discharged from the central nozzle 45 to approximately 100°C. Furthermore, in order to perform bevel processing effectively while suppressing warpage of the substrate W, it is desirable to keep the surface temperature difference within a range of 20°C. In view of this, in this embodiment, the upper limit of the discharge temperature of the heated gas is set to 130°C based on the dashed-dotted line (+20°C) and dotted line (r=0 mm) in Fig. 24, and the lower limit of the discharge temperature of the heated gas is set to 65°C based on the dashed-two dotted line (-20°C) and dotted line (r=0 mm). In other words, the calculation processing unit 10A sets the temperature of the heated gas within the discharge temperature range of 65°C to 130°C.

[0099] Fig. 25 is a diagram showing the configuration of a second embodiment of a substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention. Fig. 26 is a diagram showing the configuration of a rotating cup unit in the second embodiment. The second embodiment is significantly different from the first embodiment in that: (A) The atmosphere separation mechanism 6 is not provided. (B) Rotational driving units 23A and 23B are provided to rotate the spin chuck 21 and the rotary cup unit 31, respectively; is.

[0100] Due to the above difference (A), the nozzle head 56 is fixed to the beam member 49. Furthermore, a first lifting / lowering drive unit 71 is connected to one end of the beam member 49, and a second lifting / lowering drive unit 72 is connected to the other end of the beam member 49. Therefore, the calculation processing unit 10A synchronously controls the first lifting / lowering drive unit 71 and the second lifting / lowering drive unit 72, thereby causing the nozzle head 56, the beam member 49, the support member 43, and the disk portion 42 to move up and down integrally. Furthermore, the upper annular portion 332 of the upper cup 33 extends radially inward relative to the upper end of the inclined portion 333 so that its lower surface can engage with the upper peripheral edge of the disk portion 42 that moves up and down as described above. Therefore, depending on the elevation and lowering of the disc portion 42, the upper cup 33 is positioned at a position where it is connected to the lower cup 32 (Figure 25, Figure 28C described later) and at a position where it is spaced upward from the lower cup 32 (Figures 28A, 28B, and 28D described later).

[0101] In addition, in accordance with the above difference (B), a cylindrical portion 322 is attached to the lower surface of the lower cup 32. This cylindrical portion 322 is connected to the rotation drive unit 23B via a belt member. Therefore, when the arithmetic processing unit 10A issues a rotation command to the rotation drive unit 23B, the rotation drive unit 23B operates in response to the command to rotate the lower cup 32 around the rotation axis AX. The rotation drive unit 23A is the same as that in the first embodiment and rotates the spin chuck 21 around the rotation axis AX in response to a rotation command from the arithmetic processing unit 10A. As described above, in the second embodiment, the substrate W and the rotating cup unit 31 can be driven independently of each other by so-called two-axis drive. However, when performing bevel processing, the arithmetic processing unit 10A synchronously controls the rotation drive units 23A and 23B to rotate both the rotating cup unit 31 and the substrate W in the same direction and synchronously, as in the first embodiment.

[0102] The other configurations are basically the same as those in the first embodiment, and the same reference numerals are used to denote the same components, and the description of the configurations will be omitted.

[0103] FIG. 27 is a flowchart showing a bevel process performed as an example of a substrate processing operation by the substrate processing apparatus shown in FIG. 25. FIGS. 28A to 28D are schematic diagrams showing various components of the apparatus during the bevel process. In the second embodiment, the bevel process is performed essentially in the same manner as in the first embodiment, except that, due to the difference (A), the elevation of the lower sealed cup member 61 is replaced by the elevation of the beam member 49. That is, the processor 10A uses the elevation drivers 71 and 72 to integrally elevate the nozzle head 56, beam member 49, support member 43, and disk portion 42. During the elevation of the beam member 49, the upper peripheral edge of the disk portion 42 engages with the upper annular portion 332 of the upper cup 33. Thereafter, the upper cup 33 is elevated together with the nozzle head 56, beam member 49, support member 43, and disk portion 42 until it is positioned at the retracted position. This forms a transfer space SPt above the spin chuck 21 large enough for the hand RH of the substrate transfer robot 111 to enter. Then, upon confirming that the formation of the transfer space SPt has been completed, the processing unit 10A makes a loading request for the substrate W to the substrate transfer robot 111 via the communication unit 10F, and waits until the unprocessed substrate W is carried into the substrate processing apparatus 1 and placed on the upper surface of the spin chuck 21, as shown in Fig. 28A. Then, the substrate W is placed on the spin chuck 21 (step S21). At this point, the pump 26 is stopped, and the substrate W can move horizontally on the upper surface of the spin chuck 21.

[0104] When the loading of the substrate W is complete, the substrate transport robot 111 retreats from the substrate processing apparatus 1. Subsequently, the processor 10A controls the centering drive unit 82 so that the three contact members 81 (only two are shown in FIG. 28B) approach the substrate W. This eliminates the eccentricity of the substrate W relative to the spin chuck 21, and the center of the substrate W coincides with the center of the spin chuck 21 (step S22). When the centering process is thus completed, the processor 10A controls the centering drive unit 82 so that the three contact members 81 move away from the substrate W, and also activates the pump 26 to apply negative pressure to the spin chuck 21. As a result, the spin chuck 21 suction-holds the substrate W from below.

[0105] Next, the calculation processing unit 10A issues a lowering command to the lifting / lowering drive units 71 and 72. In response to this, the lifting / lowering drive units 71 and 72 lower the nozzle head 56, the beam member 49, the support member 43, and the disk portion 42 as a unit. During this lowering, the upper cup 33, which is supported from below by the upper peripheral edge of the disk portion 42, is connected to the lower cup 32. This forms the rotating cup portion 31.

[0106] After the rotating cup 31 is formed, the nozzle head 56, beam member 49, support member 43, and disk 42 are lowered together until the disk 42 is positioned at its lowest position. At this lowest position, the disk 42 is spaced a predetermined distance, e.g., 2 mm, above the upper surface Wf of the substrate W. The upper surface nozzle 51F is positioned within the notch 44 of the disk 42 so that the outlet 511 faces the peripheral edge of the upper surface Wf of the substrate W. When preparations for supplying the processing liquid to the substrate W are thus completed, the processor 10A issues a rotation command to the rotary drivers 23A and 23B to start rotating the spin chuck 21 and the rotating cup 31 that hold the substrate W (step S24). The rotational speed of the substrate W and the rotating cup 31 is set to, e.g., 1,800 rpm. Moreover, the arithmetic processing unit 10A controls the driving of the heater driving unit 422 to raise the temperature of the heater 421 to a desired temperature, for example, 185°C.

[0107] Next, the arithmetic processing unit 10A issues a nitrogen gas supply command to the nitrogen gas supply unit 47. As a result, as indicated by arrow F1 in FIG. 28C, nitrogen gas begins to be supplied from the nitrogen gas supply unit 47 toward the central nozzle 45 (step S25). This nitrogen gas is heated by the ribbon heater 48 while passing through the piping 46, and after being heated to a desired temperature (e.g., 100°C), is discharged from the central nozzle 45 toward the space between the substrate W and the disk unit 42. This heats the entire upper surface Wf of the substrate W. The heater 421 also heats the substrate W. Therefore, the temperature of the peripheral portion Ws of the substrate W increases over time, reaching a temperature suitable for bevel processing, e.g., 90°C. The temperatures of the portions other than the peripheral portion Ws also increase to a substantially uniform temperature. That is, in this embodiment, the in-plane temperature of the upper surface Wf of the substrate W is substantially uniform. Therefore, warping of the substrate W can be effectively suppressed.

[0108] Subsequently, the arithmetic processing unit 10A controls the processing liquid supply unit 52 to supply the processing liquid to the upper surface nozzle 51F and the lower surface nozzle 51B (arrows F2 and F3 in the figure). That is, a liquid flow of the processing liquid is ejected from the upper surface nozzle 51F so as to hit the peripheral portion of the upper surface of the substrate W, and a liquid flow of the processing liquid is ejected from the lower surface nozzle 51B so as to hit the peripheral portion of the lower surface of the substrate W. In this way, bevel processing is performed on the peripheral portion Ws of the substrate W (step S26). Then, when the arithmetic processing unit 10A detects that the processing time required for the bevel processing of the substrate W has elapsed, it issues a supply stop command to the processing liquid supply unit 52 to stop ejecting the processing liquid.

[0109] Subsequently, the arithmetic processing unit 10A issues a supply stop command to the nitrogen gas supply unit 47, thereby stopping the supply of nitrogen gas from the nitrogen gas supply unit 47 toward the central nozzle 45 (step S27). In addition, the arithmetic processing unit 10A issues a rotation stop command to the rotation drive units 23A and 23B, thereby stopping the rotation of the spin chuck 21 and the rotating cup unit 31 (step S28).

[0110] In the next step S29, the processing unit 10A observes the peripheral edge Ws of the substrate W to inspect the results of the bevel processing. Similar to when loading the substrate W, the processing unit 10A positions the upper cup 33 at the retracted position to form the transfer space SPt. Then, the processing unit 10A controls the observation head driving unit 92 to bring the observation head 91 close to the substrate W. Then, after the observation head 91 captures an image of the peripheral edge Ws, the processing unit 10A controls the observation head driving unit 92 to retract the observation head 91 from the substrate W. In parallel with this, the processing unit 10A inspects whether the bevel processing has been performed satisfactorily, based on the captured image of the peripheral edge Ws (step S29).

[0111] After the inspection, the arithmetic processing unit 10A issues an unloading request for the substrate W to the substrate transport robot 111 via the communication unit 10F, and the processed substrate W is unloaded from the substrate processing apparatus 1 (step S30). Note that this series of steps is repeatedly executed.

[0112] As described above, according to the second embodiment, the above-mentioned action effects A to C cannot be obtained due to the difference (A), and the above-mentioned action effect F cannot be obtained due to the difference (B), but the other action effects can be obtained in the same way as in the first embodiment.

[0113] In the above-described embodiment, the spin chuck 21 corresponds to an example of the "substrate holder" of the present invention. The space SPa corresponds to the "space sandwiched between the substrate and the shield plate" of the present invention, and the central nozzle 45 corresponds to an example of the "gas discharge nozzle" of the present invention. The airflow velocity at the peripheral edge Ws corresponds to the "gas flow velocity to the exhaust space" of the present invention. A flow velocity greater than zero indicates that the gas is flowing to the exhaust space, while a flow velocity less than zero, i.e., a negative value, indicates that the gas is returning to the space sandwiched between the substrate and the shield plate. Furthermore, Figure 22 shows approximately 57 L / min as the minimum value required to increase the flow velocity above zero. The piping 46 and ribbon heater 48 correspond to an example of the "piping" and "first heating unit" of the present invention, respectively. The heater 421 corresponds to an example of the "second heating unit" of the present invention. The rotating cup 31 corresponds to an example of the "cup unit" of the present invention. The ratio of the upper surface nozzle with attachment 51F to the cutout portion 44 corresponds to an example of the "occupancy ratio" of the present invention. The upper surface protection and heating mechanism 4 corresponds to an example of the "upper surface protection mechanism" of the present invention. The nitrogen gas supply unit 47 corresponds to an example of the "gas supply unit" of the present invention.

[0114] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made to the above-described embodiment without departing from the spirit of the present invention. For example, in the above-described embodiment, three types of processing liquids are used to perform bevel processing on the peripheral edge Ws of the substrate W, but the types of processing liquids are not limited to this.

[0115] In the above embodiment, the present invention is applied to a substrate processing apparatus 1 that collects droplets using a rotating cup portion 31 with a split structure in which upper cup 33 and lower cup 32, which are separable from each other, are connected to each other during processing to integrate upper cup 33 and lower cup 32. However, the scope of application of the present invention is not limited to this, and the present invention can also be applied to a substrate processing apparatus that collects droplets using a rotating cup portion in which an upper cup and a lower cup are integrated in advance.

[0116] In the above embodiment, the present invention is applied to the substrate processing apparatus 1 in which the anti-scattering mechanism 3 has the rotating cup portion 31 and the fixed cup portion 34, but the scope of application of the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the present invention can also be applied to a substrate processing apparatus in which the anti-scattering mechanism 3 is configured to collect droplets from the substrate W with a cup portion fixedly disposed so as to surround the outer periphery of the substrate W held by the spin chuck 21. [Industrial Applicability]

[0117] The present invention is applicable to the general substrate processing technology in which a processing liquid is supplied to a substrate to process the substrate. [Explanation of symbols]

[0118] 1...Substrate processing equipment 2...Rotation mechanism 3…Scatter prevention mechanism 4…Top surface protection heating mechanism 5...Processing mechanism 21...Spin chuck (substrate holder) 31...Rotating cup part (cup part) 44...Notch 45...Central nozzle (gas discharge nozzle) 46...Plumbing 48... Ribbon heater (first heating section) 51F...Top nozzle (processing liquid discharge nozzle) 421...Heater (second heating section) AX...rotation axis W...Substrate Ws: Periphery X: Radial direction Z: Vertical direction

Claims

1. a substrate holder that is rotatable about a rotation axis extending in a vertical direction while holding the substrate from below; a rotation mechanism that rotates the substrate holder; a processing mechanism for supplying a processing liquid to a peripheral portion of the substrate held by the substrate holder to process the substrate; an upper surface protection and heating mechanism that heats the upper surface of the substrate while covering and protecting the upper surface of the substrate with a shielding plate that is disposed at a predetermined distance from the upper surface of the substrate held by the substrate holding unit; a scattering prevention mechanism that surrounds the outer periphery of the rotating substrate, collects the processing liquid that splashes from the substrate as the substrate holder rotates, and then discharges the processing liquid via a discharge space; a control unit for controlling the upper surface protection and heating mechanism, the upper surface protection and heating mechanism has a gas supply unit that supplies gas to a gas discharge nozzle provided in the shielding plate, thereby discharging the gas into a space sandwiched between the substrate and the shielding plate and forming a flow of the gas that flows radially outward from a center of the substrate; the control unit controls the gas supply unit so that a flow rate of the gas at the peripheral edge of the substrate into the exhaust space is greater than zero; the anti-scattering mechanism has an exhaust section that exhausts the exhaust space, The control unit controls the gas supply unit so that the discharge flow rate of the gas discharged from the gas discharge nozzle into the space sandwiched between the substrate and the blocking plate is equal to or greater than the minimum value required to increase the flow rate of the gas at the peripheral portion of the substrate to the discharge space above zero, and is equal to or less than 0.3 times the exhaust flow rate exhausted from the discharge space.

2. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1 , The control unit controls the gas supply unit so that the flow rate of the gas supplied to the gas discharge nozzle is equal to or less than the exhaust flow rate of the gas exhausted from the exhaust space.

3. a substrate holder that is rotatable about a rotation axis extending in a vertical direction while holding the substrate from below; a rotation mechanism that rotates the substrate holder; a processing mechanism that processes the substrate by supplying a processing liquid to a peripheral portion of the substrate held by the substrate holder in a processing space at room temperature; an upper surface protection and heating mechanism that heats the upper surface of the substrate while covering and protecting the upper surface of the substrate with a shielding plate that is disposed at a predetermined distance from the upper surface of the substrate held by the substrate holding unit; a control unit for controlling the upper surface protection and heating mechanism, the upper surface protection and heating mechanism has a gas supply unit that supplies gas to a gas discharge nozzle provided in the shielding plate, thereby discharging the gas into a space sandwiched between the substrate and the shielding plate and forming a flow of the gas that flows radially outward from a center of the substrate; The control unit controls the upper surface protection and heating mechanism so that the temperature of the gas discharged from the gas discharge nozzle is in a discharge temperature range of 65°C to 130°C.

4. 4. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 3, the upper surface protection and heating mechanism includes a pipe that allows the gas to flow from the gas supply unit to the gas discharge nozzle, and a first heating unit that heats the gas flowing through the pipe; The control unit controls the first heating section so that the temperature of the gas supplied to the gas discharge nozzle is within the discharge temperature range.

5. 5. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 3, the upper surface protection and heating mechanism further includes a second heating unit provided on the shielding plate, The control unit controls the second heating section so that the upper surface of the substrate is further heated by the second heating section.

6. a substrate holder that is rotatable about a rotation axis that extends in a vertical direction while holding a substrate; a rotation mechanism that rotates the substrate holder; a processing mechanism having a processing liquid discharge nozzle that discharges a processing liquid from a discharge port, and causing the processing liquid discharged from the discharge port to land on a peripheral edge portion of the substrate held by the substrate holder; an upper surface protection and heating mechanism that heats the upper surface of the substrate while covering and protecting the upper surface of the substrate with a shielding plate that is disposed at a predetermined distance from the upper surface of the substrate held by the substrate holding unit; a control unit for controlling the processing mechanism, A notch opening radially outward from the blocking plate is provided on a peripheral edge of the blocking plate, the processing mechanism has a nozzle moving unit that moves the processing liquid discharge nozzle within the cutout, the control unit controls the nozzle moving part when changing a landing position of the treatment liquid discharged from the discharge port so that the discharge port faces the changed landing position; the processing liquid discharge nozzle is provided in the cutout portion so as to be movable in a radial direction of the blocking plate, the control unit controls the nozzle movement unit so that the treatment liquid discharge nozzle moves in a radial direction of the blocking plate to change the liquid landing position; a cup portion surrounding the outer periphery of the rotating substrate and collecting the processing liquid splashed from the substrate as the substrate holder rotates; The control unit controls the nozzle movement unit so that the liquid landing position can be switched between a bevel processing position where the liquid landing position is the peripheral edge of the top surface of the substrate and a pre-dispense processing position where the liquid landing position is the cup portion.

7. a substrate holder that is rotatable about a rotation axis that extends in a vertical direction while holding a substrate; a rotation mechanism that rotates the substrate holder; a processing mechanism having a processing liquid discharge nozzle that discharges a processing liquid from a discharge port, and causing the processing liquid discharged from the discharge port to land on a peripheral edge portion of the substrate held by the substrate holder; an upper surface protection and heating mechanism that heats the upper surface of the substrate while covering and protecting the upper surface of the substrate with a shielding plate that is disposed at a predetermined distance from the upper surface of the substrate held by the substrate holding unit; a control unit for controlling the processing mechanism, A notch opening radially outward from the blocking plate is provided on a peripheral edge of the blocking plate, the processing mechanism has a nozzle moving unit that moves the processing liquid discharge nozzle within the cutout, the control unit controls the nozzle moving part when changing a landing position of the treatment liquid discharged from the discharge port so that the discharge port faces the changed landing position; the processing liquid discharge nozzle is provided in the cutout portion so as to be rotatable about a rotation axis parallel to a vertical direction, The control unit controls the nozzle moving part so that the processing liquid discharge nozzle moves around the rotation axis to change the liquid landing position.

8. 8. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 7, a cup portion surrounding the outer periphery of the rotating substrate and collecting the processing liquid splashed from the substrate as the substrate holder rotates; The control unit controls the nozzle movement unit so that the liquid landing position can be switched between a bevel processing position where the liquid landing position is the peripheral edge of the top surface of the substrate and a pre-dispense processing position where the liquid landing position is the cup portion.

9. (a) processing the substrate by supplying a processing liquid to a peripheral portion of the substrate while rotating the substrate around a rotation axis extending in a vertical direction; (b) covering and protecting the upper surface of the substrate with a shielding plate disposed at a predetermined distance from the upper surface of the substrate, and heating the upper surface of the substrate; (c) collecting the processing liquid scattered from the substrate as the substrate rotates while surrounding the outer periphery of the rotating substrate and discharging the processing liquid through a discharge space; are executed in parallel, The step (b) (b-1) discharging gas from a gas discharge nozzle provided in the shielding plate into a space sandwiched between the substrate and the shielding plate, thereby forming a flow of the gas in the space from the center of the substrate toward the outside in the radial direction; (b-2) controlling the discharge flow rate of the gas discharged from the gas discharge nozzle so that the flow velocity of the gas at the peripheral edge of the substrate into the discharge space is greater than zero; and In the step (b-2), the discharge flow rate of the gas discharged from the gas discharge nozzle into the space sandwiched between the substrate and the blocking plate is controlled to be equal to or greater than the minimum value required to make the flow rate of the gas at the peripheral portion of the substrate into the discharge space greater than zero, and equal to or less than 0.3 times the exhaust flow rate exhausted from the discharge space.

10. (a) processing the substrate by supplying a processing liquid to a peripheral portion of the substrate while rotating the substrate around a rotation axis extending in a vertical direction; (b) covering and protecting the upper surface of the substrate with a shielding plate disposed at a predetermined distance from the upper surface of the substrate, and heating the upper surface of the substrate; are performed in parallel in a room temperature processing space, The step (b) (b-1) discharging gas from a gas discharge nozzle provided in the shielding plate into a space sandwiched between the substrate and the shielding plate, thereby forming a flow of the gas in the space from the center of the substrate toward the outside in the radial direction; (b-3) adjusting the temperature of the gas discharged from the gas discharge nozzle so that the temperature of the gas is in a discharge temperature range of 65°C to 130°C; A substrate processing method comprising:

11. (a) processing the substrate by supplying a processing liquid discharged from a discharge port of a processing liquid discharge nozzle to a peripheral portion of the substrate while rotating the substrate around a rotation axis extending in a vertical direction; (b) in parallel with the step (a), a step of covering and protecting the upper surface of the substrate with a shielding plate disposed at a predetermined distance from the upper surface of the substrate, and heating the upper surface of the substrate; are executed in parallel, the step (a) includes a step of moving the treatment liquid discharge nozzle within a notch that opens radially outward of the blocking plate so that the discharge port faces the changed liquid landing position when changing the liquid landing position of the treatment liquid discharged from the discharge port, the processing liquid discharge nozzle is provided in the cutout portion so as to be movable in a radial direction of the blocking plate, In the step (a), the treatment liquid discharge nozzle moves in a radial direction of the blocking plate to change the liquid landing position, a cup portion surrounding the outer periphery of the rotating substrate and collecting the processing liquid splashed from the substrate as the substrate rotates; In the step (a), the liquid landing position is switched between a bevel processing position at the peripheral edge of the upper surface of the substrate and a pre-dispense processing position at the cup portion.

12. (a) processing the substrate by supplying a processing liquid discharged from a discharge port of a processing liquid discharge nozzle to a peripheral portion of the substrate while rotating the substrate around a rotation axis extending in a vertical direction; (b) in parallel with the step (a), a step of covering and protecting the upper surface of the substrate with a shielding plate disposed at a predetermined distance from the upper surface of the substrate, and heating the upper surface of the substrate; are executed in parallel, the step (a) includes a step of moving the treatment liquid discharge nozzle within a notch that opens radially outward of the blocking plate so that the discharge port faces the changed liquid landing position when changing the liquid landing position of the treatment liquid discharged from the discharge port, the processing liquid discharge nozzle is provided in the cutout portion so as to be rotatable about a rotation axis parallel to a vertical direction, In the step (a), the processing liquid discharge nozzle moves around the rotation axis to change the liquid landing position.

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