Substrate processing apparatus and substrate processing method

Abstract

To prevent liquid from re-adhering to a substrate when the liquid is removed from the substrate by the processing fluid.SOLUTION: A substrate processing device according to the present invention includes: a support tray; a chamber which has an internal space that can accommodate the support tray that supports a substrate; and a fluid supply part that flows processing fluid from one end side to the other end side of the internal space along the upper surface of the substrate. The support tray includes: a tray member which has a substrate-opposing surface opposite to a lower surface of the substrate; and multiple support members which are attached to the tray member so as to surround the substrate-opposing surface. The substrate is supported in such a state that the substrate is separated upwards from the substrate-opposing surface by the support member. The tray member has a downstream standing portion that is provided in a standing manner on the downstream side of the substrate that is supported by the multiple support members and above the substrate-opposing surface while being close to the peripheral surface on the other end side of the internal space. The upper surface of the downstream standing portion is lower than the upper surface of the substrate supported by the multiple support members in the vertical direction.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2C

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus and a substrate processing method for processing a substrate with a liquid adhering thereto by a processing fluid in a supercritical state.

Background Art

[0002] When a substrate is wet-processed with a liquid, the liquid adheres to the surface of the substrate. As a substrate processing apparatus for drying the substrate after this wet processing, for example, the apparatus described in Patent Document 1 is known. In this apparatus, a shallow depression is provided in a flat support tray. And in that depression, the substrate is horizontally supported while having a minute gap between the upper surface of the support tray with its face-up posture with the surface facing upward. In this state, the support tray is carried into the processing chamber, and the substrate is processed (supercritical processing) by filling the chamber with a processing fluid in a supercritical state.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] The liquid constituting the liquid film covering the substrate at the time of loading is assumed to be replaced by the processing fluid and removed from the substrate surface. However, a part of the liquid may enter the narrow gap between the lower surface of the substrate and the upper surface of the support tray. The liquid remaining in the gap, that is, the residual liquid, may flow back to the surface of the substrate. As a result, a problem may occur that the residual liquid re-adheres to the upper surface of the substrate.

[0005] Therefore, in supercritical processing, it is required to prevent the residual liquid from flowing back to the upper surface of the substrate. In this regard, it can be said that there is room for improvement in the above conventional technology.

[0006] This invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and aims to provide a substrate processing apparatus and a substrate processing method that can prevent the liquid from re-adhering to the substrate when the liquid is removed from the substrate by the processing fluid. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] One aspect of the present invention is a substrate processing apparatus for processing a substrate on which liquid adheres to its upper surface with a supercritical processing fluid, comprising: a tray member having a substrate-facing surface facing the lower surface of the substrate; a plurality of support members attached to the tray member so as to surround the substrate-facing surface, and a support tray supporting the substrate in a state where the substrate is separated upward from the substrate-facing surface by the support members; a chamber having an internal space capable of housing the support tray that supports the substrate; and a fluid supply unit that supplies the processing fluid into the internal space from one end of the internal space to form a laminar flow of the processing fluid flowing along the upper surface of the substrate supported by the support tray to the other end of the internal space, wherein, with respect to a first imaginary line that passes through the center of the substrate-facing surface and extends in a horizontal direction perpendicular to the laminar flow direction, the other end of the internal space is considered downstream, the tray member has a downstream-side upright portion that is close to the downstream circumferential surface of the substrate supported by the plurality of support members and is erected above the substrate-facing surface, and the upper surface of the downstream-side upright portion is lower in the vertical direction than the upper surface of the substrate supported by the plurality of support members.

[0008] Another aspect of the present invention is a substrate processing method for processing a substrate on which liquid adheres to its upper surface with a supercritical processing fluid, comprising: a housing step of housing a support tray in the internal space of a chamber, wherein the substrate is supported spaced upward from the substrate-facing surface by a plurality of support members attached to a tray member having a substrate-facing surface facing the lower surface of the substrate, so as to surround the substrate-facing surface; and a supply step of supplying the processing fluid from one end of the internal space to the internal space, thereby forming a laminar flow of the processing fluid that flows along the upper surface of the substrate supported by the support tray to the other end of the internal space. The apparatus comprises a process and a discharge process for discharging the liquid along with the processing fluid from the upper surface of the substrate to the other end of the internal space by laminar flow. With respect to a first imaginary line that passes through the center of the substrate-facing surface and extends in a horizontal direction perpendicular to the laminar flow direction, and with the other end of the internal space being considered downstream, the discharge process is carried out via a downstream erected portion that is erected above the substrate-facing surface while being close to the downstream circumferential surface of the substrate supported by a plurality of support members, and whose upper surface is lower in the vertical direction than the upper surface of the substrate supported by the plurality of support members.

[0009] In this configuration, the support tray supports the substrate while maintaining an upward distance from its surface facing the substrate. Furthermore, the support tray has a downstream upright portion located close to the downstream circumferential surface of the substrate. In this invention, the upper surface of the downstream upright portion is lower than the upper surface of the substrate supported by the support tray. Therefore, when some of the liquid that has entered between the lower surface of the substrate and the surface facing the substrate, so-called residual liquid, flows back, this residual liquid flows to the upper surface of the downstream upright portion. As a result, re-adhesion of the residual liquid to the upper surface of the substrate is prevented. [Effects of the Invention]

[0010] As described above, in the present invention, the support tray is configured such that the upper surface of the downstream upright portion is lower than the upper surface of the substrate in the vertical direction. Therefore, when the liquid is removed from the substrate by the processing fluid, it is possible to effectively prevent the liquid from re-adhering to the substrate. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0011] [Figure 1] This figure shows the overall configuration of a substrate processing apparatus to which the present invention can be applied. [Figure 2A] This is a perspective view showing a first embodiment of the support tray. [Figure 2B] Figure 2A is a plan view of the support tray. [Figure 2C] Figure 2B is a cross-sectional view along the CC line. [Figure 2D] Figure 2B is a cross-sectional view along the DD line. [Figure 3] This diagram schematically shows the structure of a support tray in the conventional technology. [Figure 4] This is a perspective view showing a second embodiment of the support tray. [Figure 5A] This is a plan view showing a third embodiment of the support tray. [Figure 5B] Figure 5A is a cross-sectional view along line BB. [Figure 6] This is a perspective view showing a fourth embodiment of the support tray. [Figure 7A] This is a plan view showing a fifth embodiment of the support tray. [Figure 7B] Figure 7A is a cross-sectional view along line BB. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0012] The following describes several embodiments of the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention. Although the structure of the support tray, which will be described later, differs slightly between each embodiment, the basic apparatus configuration is common. Therefore, the overall configuration of the substrate processing apparatus will be described first, and then the characteristic parts of each embodiment will be explained separately.

[0013] <Overall configuration of the device> FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of a substrate processing apparatus to which the present invention is applicable. This substrate processing apparatus 1 is an apparatus for processing the upper surface of various substrates such as, for example, a semiconductor substrate with a supercritical fluid. For example, this substrate processing apparatus 1 can perform a supercritical drying process for replacing a liquid (reference numeral L in FIGS. 2, 4, and 6) adhering to the substrate with a supercritical processing fluid to dry the substrate. In order to uniformly indicate the directions in the following figures, an XYZ orthogonal coordinate system is set as shown in FIG. 1. Here, the XY plane is a horizontal plane, and the Z direction represents the vertical direction. More specifically, the (-Z) direction represents downward.

[0014] Here, as the "substrate" in the present embodiment, various substrates such as a semiconductor wafer, a glass substrate for a photomask, a glass substrate for a liquid crystal display, a glass substrate for a plasma display, a substrate for a FED (Field Emission Display), a substrate for an optical disk, a substrate for a magnetic disk, and a substrate for a magneto-optical disk can be applied. Hereinafter, a substrate processing apparatus mainly used for processing a semiconductor wafer will be taken as an example and described with reference to the drawings, but it can be similarly applied to the processing of the various substrates exemplified above. In the following description, a substrate S on which a circuit pattern or the like is formed only on one main surface is used as an example. Here, the side of the main surface on which the circuit pattern or the like is formed is referred to as the "front surface", and the main surface on the opposite side on which the circuit pattern or the like is not formed is referred to as the "back surface". Also, the surface of the substrate S facing downward is referred to as the "lower surface", and the surface of the substrate S facing upward is referred to as the "upper surface". In the following, a case where the substrate S is processed in a posture in which the front surface of the substrate S is directed upward, that is, a posture in which the front surface is used as the upper surface, will be exemplified and described.

[0015] The substrate processing apparatus 1 includes a processing unit 10, a transfer unit 30, a supply unit 50, and a control unit 90. The processing unit 10 is the main body for executing the supercritical drying process. The transfer unit 30 receives an unprocessed substrate conveyed by an external conveying device (not shown) and carries it into the processing unit

[0016] The control unit 90 controls each part of these devices to realize a predetermined process. For this purpose, the control unit 90 includes a CPU 91 that executes various control programs, a memory 92 that temporarily stores processing data, a storage 93 that stores the control programs executed by the CPU 91, and an interface 94 for exchanging information with users and external devices. The operations of the devices described later are realized by the CPU 91 executing the control programs written in advance in the storage 93 and causing each part of the device to perform a predetermined operation.

[0017] The processing unit 10 has a structure in which a processing chamber 12 is attached on a pedestal 11. The processing chamber 12 is composed of a combination of several metal blocks, and its interior is hollow to form an internal space SP. The substrate S to be processed is carried into the internal space SP for processing. A slit-shaped opening 121 extending elongated in the X direction is formed on the (-Y) side surface of the processing chamber 12, and the internal space SP and the external space communicate with each other through the opening 121.

[0018] A lid member 13 is provided on the (-Y) side surface of the processing chamber 12 so as to close the opening 121. A flat support tray 15 is horizontally attached to the (+Y) side surface of the lid member 13, and the upper surface of the support tray 15 is a support surface on which the substrate S can be placed. The lid member 13 is horizontally movably supported in the Y direction by a support mechanism (not shown).

[0019] The lid member 13 can move forward and backward with respect to the processing chamber 12 by an advancing and retreating mechanism 53 provided in the supply unit 50. Specifically, the advancing and retreating mechanism 53 has a linear motion mechanism such as a linear motor, a linear guide, a ball screw mechanism, a solenoid, an air cylinder, etc., and such a linear motion mechanism moves the lid member 13 in the Y direction. The advancing and retreating mechanism 53 operates in response to a control command from the control unit 90.

[0020] As shown by the dotted line in Figure 1, when the lid member 13 moves in the (-Y) direction, the support tray 15 is pulled out from the internal space SP through the opening 121, making the support tray 15 accessible. That is, it becomes possible to place the substrate S on the support tray 15 and to remove the substrate S that is placed on the support tray 15. On the other hand, when the lid member 13 moves in the (+Y) direction, as shown by the solid line in Figure 1, the support tray 15 is housed in the internal space SP. If a substrate S is placed on the support tray 15, the substrate S is carried into the internal space SP together with the support tray 15.

[0021] The lid member 13 moves in the (+Y) direction and closes the opening 121, thereby sealing the internal space SP. Although not shown in the illustration, a sealing member is provided between the (+Y) side surface of the lid member 13 and the (-Y) side surface of the processing chamber 12 to maintain the airtight state of the internal space SP. Furthermore, the lid member 13 is fixed to the processing chamber 12 by a locking mechanism (not shown). With the internal space SP thus airtight, processing of the substrate S is performed within the internal space SP.

[0022] In supercritical drying, which primarily aims to dry a substrate while preventing pattern collapse due to the surface tension of the liquid, the substrate S is brought in with its upper surface Sa covered by a liquid film to prevent the upper surface Sa from being exposed and causing pattern collapse. Suitable liquids for the liquid film include organic solvents with relatively low surface tension, such as isopropyl alcohol (IPA) and acetone.

[0023] In this embodiment, a fluid of a substance usable for supercritical processing, such as carbon dioxide, is supplied to the processing unit 10 in gaseous or liquid form from a fluid supply unit 57 provided in the supply unit 50. Carbon dioxide is a suitable chemical substance for supercritical drying processing because it becomes supercritical at relatively low temperatures and pressures, and also has the property of readily dissolving organic solvents that are frequently used in substrate processing.

[0024] The fluid fills the internal space SP, and when the internal space SP reaches an appropriate temperature and pressure, the fluid becomes supercritical. In this way, the substrate S is processed by the supercritical fluid in the processing chamber 12. The supply unit 50 is equipped with a fluid recovery unit 55, and the processed fluid is recovered by the fluid recovery unit 55. The fluid supply unit 57 and the fluid recovery unit 55 are controlled by the control unit 90.

[0025] The transfer unit 30 is responsible for transferring the substrate S between the external transport device and the support tray 15. For this purpose, the transfer unit 30 comprises a main body 31, a lifting member 33, a base member 35, and multiple lift pins 37, each of which are provided. The lifting member 33 is a columnar member extending in the Z direction and is supported by the main body 31 so as to be movable in the Z direction.

[0026] A base member 35 having a substantially horizontal upper surface is attached to the upper part of the lifting member 33, and a plurality of lift pins 37 are erected upward from the upper surface of the base member 35. Each of the lift pins 37 supports the substrate S in a horizontal position from below by its upper end contacting the lower surface of the substrate S. To stably support the substrate S, it is desirable to provide three or more lift pins 37 whose upper end heights are equal to each other.

[0027] The lifting member 33 is controlled by a lifting control unit 51 located in the supply unit 50, allowing it to move up and down. Specifically, the main body 31 of the transfer unit 30 is equipped with linear motion mechanisms (not shown), such as a linear motor, linear guide, ball screw mechanism, solenoid, or air cylinder. These linear motion mechanisms are controlled by the lifting control unit 51 to move the lifting member 33 in the Z direction. The lifting control unit 51 operates in response to control commands from the control unit 90.

[0028] The base member 35 moves up and down as the lifting member 33 moves up and down, and multiple lift pins 37 move up and down in conjunction with it. This enables the transfer of the substrate S between the transfer unit 30 and the support tray 15. Specifically, it is as follows.

[0029] As will be described later, the support tray 15 is provided with through holes corresponding to the lift pins 37 of the transfer unit 30. That is, when the support tray 15 is pulled out of the processing chamber 12, a through hole is formed at a position corresponding to directly above each lift pin 37. When the base member 35 rises due to the raising and lowering of the lifting member 33, the lift pins 37 pass through the through holes in the support tray 15 and reach a position where their tips are higher than the upper surface of the support tray 15. In this state, an unprocessed substrate S, transported by an external transport means, such as a transport robot with a hand capable of holding substrates, is handed over to the lift pins 37.

[0030] As the lift pins 37 supporting the substrate S descend, the substrate S also descends. Once the substrate S is in contact with the upper surface of the support tray 15, the lift pins 37 descend further, transferring the substrate S from the lift pins 37 to the support tray 15, where it is supported. In this way, the substrate S is loaded into the substrate processing apparatus 1. Finally, the lift pins 37 descend to a position where they do not interfere with the opening and closing operation of the lid member 13.

[0031] The unloading of the processed substrate S from the substrate processing apparatus 1 is achieved by the reverse operation described above. That is, with the substrate S supported on the support tray 15, the lift pin 37 rises, lifting the substrate S. The hand of the transport robot is then inserted between the bottom surface of the substrate S and the top surface of the support tray 15, allowing the substrate S to be transferred from the lift pin 37 to the transport robot.

[0032] As described above, the substrate processing apparatus 1 performs supercritical drying on the substrate S. The sequence of this process is as follows: First, the substrate S, whose upper surface Sa is covered with a liquid film, is brought in from the outside and placed on the support tray 15. The support tray 15 enters the internal space SP of the processing chamber 12, and the substrate S is housed in the internal space SP (housed step). Then, with the internal space SP closed by the lid member 13, a gaseous or liquid processing fluid is supplied to the internal space SP from the fluid supply unit 57 (supply step). The processing fluid flows along the upper surface Sa of the substrate S supported by the support tray 15 from the (+Y) direction to the (-Y) direction. This laminar flow processing fluid is pressurized in the internal space SP and becomes supercritical, thereby replacing the liquid on the substrate S with the supercritical processing fluid. By continuing the supply of processing fluid from the fluid supply unit 57 and discharge by the fluid recovery unit 55 for a certain period of time, the liquid separated from the substrate S is discharged (discharge step). Ultimately, the processing fluid undergoes a phase transition from a supercritical state to a gaseous phase without passing through a liquid phase and is discharged, resulting in a dry state for the substrate S.

[0033] Next, several embodiments (support trays 15A to 15E) of the support tray 1 in the substrate processing apparatus 1 described above will be explained. Although the structure of the support tray 15 differs in part between each embodiment, they are common in other respects, and their operation is as described above. In the following descriptions of each embodiment, common or similar reference numerals will be used for components with common or similar structures and functions, and their descriptions will not be repeated. In addition, reference numerals may be omitted in some drawings for components where the correspondence between them is clear.

[0034] <First Embodiment> Figure 2A is a perspective view showing a first embodiment of the support tray. Figure 2B is a plan view of the support tray shown in Figure 2A. Figures 2C and 2D are cross-sectional views along lines CC and DD of Figure 2B, respectively. The support tray 15A of the first embodiment has a tray member 151 and a plurality of support pins 152. The tray member 151 has a structure in which, for example, a flat plate-shaped structure has a horizontal and flat upper surface with a recess 153 that corresponds to the planar size of the substrate S, more specifically a recess with a diameter slightly larger than the diameter of the circular substrate S. The bottom surface 153a of the recess 153 is a horizontal plane and corresponds to an example of the "substrate-facing surface" of the present invention.

[0035] The recess 153 partially extends to the side surface 154 of the tray member 151. In other words, the side wall surface of the recess 153 is not circular, but partially cut out. Therefore, in this cut-out portion 153b, a part of the bottom surface 153a of the recess 153 is directly connected to the side surface 154. In this example, such cut-out portions 153b are provided at both ends on the X side and the (+Y) side of the support tray 15A, and in these portions, the bottom surface 153a is directly connected to the side surface 154. In addition, the provision of the cut-out portion 153b results in three upright portions 155 to 157 on the tray member 151. The tray member 151 is a flat base plate, and the upright portions 155 to 157 are flat plates installed on or integrally formed on the tray member (base plate) 151, but their detailed structure and function will be described in detail later.

[0036] Furthermore, a through hole 158 is drilled in the bottom surface 153a at a position corresponding to the lift pin 37 of the transfer unit 30 for inserting the lift pin 37. As the lift pin 37 moves up and down through the through hole 158, the substrate S can be positioned in the recess 153 and lifted above it.

[0037] Multiple support pins 152 are arranged around the periphery of the recess 153. The number of support pins 152 is arbitrary, but it is desirable to have three or more in order to stably support the substrate S. In this embodiment, three support pins 152 are attached to the upright portions 155 to 157, respectively, so as to surround the bottom surface 153a when viewed from above. As shown in the partially enlarged view in Figure 2A, the support pins 152 have a height-restricting portion 152a and a horizontal position-restricting portion 152b.

[0038] The height-restricting portion 152a has a flat upper surface and supports the substrate S by contacting the peripheral edge of the lower surface Sb of the substrate S, thereby restricting its position in the vertical direction Z (hereinafter referred to as "height position"). On the other hand, the horizontal position-restricting portion 152b extends above the upper end of the height-restricting portion 152a and restricts the position of the substrate S in the horizontal direction (XY direction) by contacting the side surface of the substrate S. With these support pins 152, as shown in Figures 2C and 2D, the substrate S is supported in a horizontal position facing the bottom surface 153a of the recess 153, while being spaced upward from the bottom surface 153a. The upper surface Sa of the substrate S, thus supported, is located at the height position H1, as shown in Figures 2C and 2D.

[0039] Next, the configuration and function of the upright sections 155 to 157 will be explained with reference to Figures 2A to 2D. Here, in order to clarify the positional relationship of the upright sections 155 to 157, as shown in Figure 2B, the first virtual line VL1 and the second virtual line VL2 are defined in this specification. That is, the first virtual line VL1 means a line that passes through the center 153c of the bottom surface 153a and extends in the horizontal direction X perpendicular to the laminar flow direction Y of the processing liquid. The second virtual line VL2 means a line that passes through the center 153c of the bottom surface 153a and extends parallel to the flow direction Y.

[0040] The upright portions 155 and 156 are both located on the (+Y) side of the internal space SP with respect to the first virtual line VL1, and are distributed to the (+X) and (-X) sides, respectively, with respect to the second virtual line VL2. Furthermore, the upright portions 155 and 156 are provided close to the circumferential surface of the substrate S such that their upper surfaces 155a and 156a coincide with the height position H1 of the upper surface Sa of the substrate S, which is supported by the support pins 152, in the vertical direction Z. Therefore, when the processing fluid flows from the upper surfaces 155a and 156a of the upright portions 155 and 156 to the upper surface Sa of the substrate S, turbulence does not occur in the laminar flow formed by the processing fluid, and the liquid L on the substrate S is efficiently replaced by the supercritical processing fluid. In this specification, in the flow direction Y of the processing fluid, the (+Y) side and the (-Y) side of the internal space SP with respect to the first virtual line VL1 are referred to as "upstream" and "downstream," respectively.

[0041] In contrast, the upright portion 157 is located on the (-Y) side of the internal space SP with respect to the first virtual line VL1, i.e., on the downstream side. Furthermore, the upright portion 157 is provided close to the circumferential surface of the substrate S such that, in the vertical direction Z, its upper surface 157a is located at a position H2 lower than the height position H1 of the upper surface Sa of the substrate S supported by the support pin 152. That is, as shown in Figures 2C and 2D, the upper surface 157a of the upright portion 157 is lower than the upper surface Sa of the substrate S by a gap GP. As a result, the following effects can be obtained. Here, as a conventional example, Figure 3 shows a configuration in which the upper surface 157a of the upright portion 157 coincides with the upper surface Sa of the substrate S, as in the prior art, and the effects will be explained in comparison with the conventional example.

[0042] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram showing the structure of a support tray in the prior art. In the prior art shown in Figure 3, the upright portion 159, which corresponds to the upright portion 157 of the first embodiment, is provided close to the circumferential surface of the substrate S so as to coincide with the height position H1 of the upper surface Sa of the substrate S supported by the support pin 152. Therefore, if residual liquid La that has entered and remained in the narrow gap between the lower surface Sb of the substrate S and the bottom surface 153a of the support tray 15 flows back, some of the residual liquid La may reattach to the upper surface Sa of the substrate S because the upper surface Sa of the substrate S and the upper surface 159a of the upright portion 159 are at the same height in the vertical direction Z.

[0043] In contrast, in the first embodiment, as shown in Figures 2C and 2D, the upper surface 157a of the upright portion 157 is lower than the upper surface Sa of the substrate S. Therefore, any residual liquid La that has flowed back flows onto the upper surface 157a of the upright portion 157, effectively preventing the backflow of residual liquid La into the substrate S. As a result, the substrate S can be dried well by the substrate processing apparatus 1.

[0044] In order to effectively achieve the above-mentioned backflow prevention effect, as shown in Figures 2C and 2D, it is preferable that the gap GP (=H1-H2) in the vertical Z direction between the upper surface 157a of the upright portion 157 and the upper surface Sa of the substrate S, in the adjacent region R between the upright portion 157 and the substrate S supported by the support pin 152, be 0.5 mm or more. However, in the inventor's knowledge, if the gap GP exceeds 1.0 mm, the possibility of turbulence in the processing fluid occurring in the adjacent region R increases, which may reduce the replacement efficiency of the liquid L by the supercritical processing fluid in the adjacent region R. Therefore, it is preferable to set the gap GP to 0.5 mm or more and 1.0 mm or less.

[0045] Thus, in the first embodiment, the support pin 152 corresponds to an example of the "support member" of the present invention. Also, the (+Y) direction side and the (-Y) direction side of the internal space SP correspond to the "one end side of the internal space" and the "other end side of the internal space" of the present invention, respectively. The erected parts 155 and 156 correspond to an example of the "upstream erected part" of the present invention, while the erected part 157 corresponds to an example of the "downstream erected part" of the present invention.

[0046] <Second Embodiment> Figure 4 is a perspective view showing a second embodiment of the support tray. The main difference between the second embodiment and the first embodiment is the shape of the upper surface 157a of the upright portion 157. In other words, in the support tray 15A of the first embodiment, the upper surface 157a is a single horizontal plane with a height position H2 in all regions. In contrast, in the support tray 15B of the second embodiment, the upper surface 157a is composed of an inclined surface. This inclined surface has a height position H2 in adjacent regions R, similar to the first embodiment, but it becomes lower as it moves in the flow direction Y of the processed fluid, i.e., from the (+Y) direction to the (-Y) direction. Furthermore, when the (+X) and (-X) directions of the first virtual line VL1 are considered to be the left and right sides, respectively, with respect to the second virtual line VL2, the upper surface 157a of the upright portion 157 has a left-side sloping region 157a1 that becomes lower as it moves to the left from the second virtual line VL2, and a right-side sloping region 157a2 that becomes lower as it moves to the right from the second virtual line VL2. As a result, not only the processing fluid that has passed through the upper surface Sa of the substrate S, but also the residual liquid La (see Figures 2C and 2D) that has flowed back can be efficiently discharged from the (+X) side end face and the (-X) side end face of the support tray 15 while being distributed to the left and right, as shown by the dashed lines in Figure 4. As a result, backflow of residual liquid La into the substrate S can be prevented even more effectively than in the first embodiment.

[0047] <Third Embodiment> Figure 5A is a plan view showing a third embodiment of the support tray. Figure 5B is a cross-sectional view taken along line BB of Figure 5A. The main difference between the support tray 15C of the third embodiment and the support tray 15A of the first embodiment is the addition of through holes 157b and 157c that penetrate the (-Y) side end of the upright portion 157 in the vertical direction Z. One through hole 157b is located to the left of the second imaginary line VL2, i.e., on the (+X) side, while the other through hole 157c is located to the right of the second imaginary line VL2, i.e., on the (-X) side. As a result, not only the processing fluid that has passed over the upper surface Sa of the substrate S, but also the residual liquid La (see Figures 2C and 2D) that has flowed back can be efficiently discharged from the through hole 157b, as shown in Figure 5B. Also, similar to the through hole 157b, the processing fluid and residual liquid La are discharged from the through hole 157c as well. As a result, backflow of residual liquid La into the substrate S can be prevented even more effectively than in the first embodiment.

[0048] In this third embodiment, the through holes 157b and 157c correspond to examples of the "downstream through holes" of the present invention, with the through hole 157b on the (+X) side relative to the second virtual line VL2 corresponding to the "left-side through hole," and the through hole 157c on the (-X) side corresponding to the "right-side through hole."

[0049] <Fourth Embodiment> Figure 6 is a perspective view showing a fourth embodiment of the support tray. The support tray 15D of the fourth embodiment adds the inclined surface configuration adopted in the second embodiment and the downstream through hole adopted in the third embodiment to the support tray 15A of the first embodiment. In this support tray 15D of the fourth embodiment, as shown in Figure 6, the portion of the left inclined region 157a1 located on the (+X) and (-Y) sides (hereinafter referred to as the "left low portion") is the lowest in the vertical direction Z, and the left through hole 157b is provided in this portion. In addition, the portion of the right inclined region 157a2 located on the (-X) and (-Y) sides (hereinafter referred to as the "right low portion") is the lowest in the vertical direction Z, and the right through hole 157c is provided in this portion. The processing fluid and residual liquid La that have flowed into the adjacent region R are collected along the upper surface 157a of the upright portion 157 at the lower left portion and the lower right portion, and then discharged downwards to the support tray 15 through the through holes 157b and 157c. As a result, backflow of residual liquid La into the substrate S can be prevented more effectively than in the first to third embodiments.

[0050] <Fifth Embodiment> Figure 7A is a plan view showing the fifth embodiment of the support tray. Figure 7B is a cross-sectional view taken along line BB of Figure 7A. The main difference between the support tray 15E of the fifth embodiment and the support tray 15A of the first embodiment is the addition of a through-hole 153d that penetrates the bottom surface 153a vertically in the adjacent region R. The bottom surface 153a corresponds to the "substrate-facing surface" of the present invention, and a through-hole 158 (Figure 7A) for inserting the lift pin 37 is provided in a part of it. Therefore, a portion of the residual liquid La is discharged downwards to the support tray 15E through the through-hole 158. While this drainage mechanism is similar to that of the prior art (Figure 3), in the fifth embodiment, in addition to the through-hole 158, the through-hole 153d also functions as a drainage mechanism. Therefore, the amount of residual liquid La that flows back is reduced compared to the prior art by the amount of the added through-hole 153d. As a result, it is possible to prevent the backflow of residual liquid La to the substrate S more effectively than in the first embodiment. To enhance this effect, it is preferable to provide the through-hole 153d, which corresponds to an example of the "substrate-facing through-hole" of the present invention, at a position closer to the erected portion 157 than the through-hole 158.

[0051] It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and various modifications can be made to those described above without departing from the spirit of the invention. For example, the substrate-facing through hole 153d adopted in the fifth embodiment may also be applied to the second to fourth embodiments.

[0052] Furthermore, in each of the above embodiments, the substrate S is supported by the support pins 152 in a state where it is spaced apart from the bottom surface 153a of the support tray 15. However, instead of installing the support pins 152, the substrate may be supported by a projection on the bottom surface 153a. In this case, the projection would correspond to the "support member" of the present invention.

[0053] Furthermore, in the above embodiment, a through hole 158 is provided in the support tray 15 for inserting the lift pin 37, but the present invention may also be applied to a substrate processing apparatus that does not have such a through hole for raising and lowering the lift pin.

[0054] Furthermore, the various chemical substances in the above embodiments, such as IPA and carbon dioxide, are listed as representative examples of substances that may be used, and this does not mean that the application of the present invention is limited to technologies using these substances. [Industrial applicability]

[0055] This invention can be applied to all substrate processing technologies that involve processing a substrate with liquid adhering to its surface using a supercritical processing fluid. [Explanation of symbols]

[0056] 1…Substrate processing equipment 12… Processing Chamber 15, 15A, 15B, 15C, 15D, 15E… Support trays 57...Fluid supply section 151...Tray component 152...Support pin (support member) 153a...Bottom surface (surface opposite the circuit board) 153c… (center of the base) 153d...Through hole on the opposite side of the board 155, 156… (Upstream side) Elevated sections 157…(downstream side) erection point 157a…Upper surface of (downstream erection section) 157a1…Left slope area 157a2…Right side slope area 157b…Left side through hole 157c…Right side through hole GP...Gap H1… (Height position on the top surface of the circuit board) H2… (Height position of the upper surface of the downstream erected part) L…liquid La... remaining liquid R...Adjacent region S... Circuit board Sa... (Top surface of the circuit board) Sb... (Underside of the circuit board) SP…Internal space VL1…First virtual line VL2...Second virtual line X…Horizontal direction Y...Direction of flow Z…Vertical direction

Claims

1. A substrate processing apparatus that processes a substrate on which liquid adheres to its upper surface using a supercritical processing fluid, A support tray comprising a tray member having a substrate-facing surface that faces the lower surface of the substrate, and a plurality of support members attached to the tray member so as to surround the substrate-facing surface, wherein the support members support the substrate in a state where the substrate is separated upward from the substrate-facing surface, A chamber having an internal space capable of housing the support tray that supports the substrate, The fluid supply unit provides the processing fluid to the internal space from one end to the internal space, thereby forming a laminar flow of the processing fluid along the upper surface of the substrate supported by the support tray to the other end of the internal space. With respect to a first virtual line that passes through the center of the substrate-facing surface and extends in a horizontal direction perpendicular to the laminar flow direction, when the other end of the internal space is considered the downstream side, The tray member has a downstream upright portion that is erected above the surface facing the substrate while being close to the downstream circumferential surface of the substrate supported by the plurality of support members, A substrate processing apparatus characterized in that the upper surface of the downstream erected portion is lower in the vertical direction than the upper surface of the substrate supported by the plurality of support members.

2. A substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, The upper surface of the downstream erected portion is an inclined surface that becomes lower as it progresses in the flow direction, in a substrate processing apparatus.

3. A substrate processing apparatus according to claim 2, When a second virtual line passes through the center of the substrate-facing surface and extends parallel to the flow direction, and one side of the first virtual line is designated as the left and the other side as the right, respectively, The substrate processing apparatus has a sloping surface having a left-side sloping region that becomes lower as it moves to the left from the second virtual line, and a right-side sloping region that becomes lower as it moves to the right from the second virtual line.

4. A substrate processing apparatus according to claim 3, A substrate processing apparatus is provided with a left-side through-hole that penetrates vertically through the lowest part of the left-side inclined region, and a right-side through-hole that penetrates vertically through the lowest part of the right-side inclined region.

5. A substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, A substrate processing apparatus is provided with a downstream through-hole that penetrates vertically through the downstream upright portion.

6. A substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, A substrate processing apparatus is provided in which a substrate-facing through hole is provided in the tray member in the region having the substrate-facing surface, and is located close to the downstream upright portion and penetrates in the vertical direction.

7. A substrate processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6, A substrate processing apparatus in which the vertical gap between the upper surface of the downstream erected portion and the upper surface of the substrate supported by the plurality of support members is 0.5 mm or more.

8. A substrate processing apparatus according to claim 7, In the region adjacent to the downstream upright portion and the substrate supported by the plurality of support members, the vertical gap between the upper surface of the downstream upright portion and the upper surface of the substrate supported by the plurality of support members is 1.0 mm or less, in a substrate processing apparatus.

9. A substrate processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6, With respect to the first virtual line, when one end of the internal space is considered the upstream side, The tray member has an upstream erecting portion that is erected above the surface facing the substrate while being close to the upstream circumferential surface of the substrate supported by the plurality of support members, A substrate processing apparatus in which the upper surface of the upstream erected portion is at the same height in the vertical direction as the upper surface of the substrate supported by the plurality of support members.

10. A substrate processing method in which a substrate with liquid adhering to its upper surface is processed with a supercritical processing fluid, A housing step of housing a support tray into the internal space of a chamber, wherein the substrate is supported by a plurality of support members attached to a tray member having a substrate-facing surface that faces the lower surface of the substrate, so as to surround the substrate-facing surface, and the substrate is supported so as to be spaced upward from the substrate-facing surface. A supply step of supplying the processing fluid to the internal space from one end to the internal space, thereby forming a laminar flow of the processing fluid along the upper surface of the substrate supported by the support tray to the other end of the internal space, The system includes a discharge step in which the liquid, along with the processing fluid, is discharged from the upper surface of the substrate to the other end of the internal space by laminar flow, With respect to a first virtual line that passes through the center of the substrate-facing surface and extends in a horizontal direction perpendicular to the laminar flow direction, when the other end of the internal space is considered the downstream side, The discharge process is carried out via a downstream erected portion that is positioned close to the downstream circumferential surface of the substrate supported by the plurality of support members, and is erected above the surface facing the substrate, with its upper surface being lower in the vertical direction than the upper surface of the substrate supported by the plurality of support members. A substrate processing method characterized by the following:

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