Substrate processing apparatus and substrate processing method

Abstract

To reduce environmental load by reducing the consumption of a cup-rinsing liquid required for cup rinse treatment.SOLUTION: The invention pertains to a substrate treatment technology for performing a prescribed substrate treatment on a substrate by supplying a treatment liquid to the substrate held by a rotating substrate holding unit, and collecting droplets of the treatment liquid flung out from the substrate during the substrate treatment. In this device, a cup-rinsing liquid is directly supplied to a rotary cup part from inside the rotary cup part while the rotary cup part rotates about the rotation axis. Accordingly, the rotary cup part can be kept clean by removing the treatment liquid from the rotary cup part while reducing the consumption of the cup-rinsing liquid.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus and a substrate processing method for performing predetermined substrate processing on a substrate with a processing liquid. Here, the substrate includes semiconductor wafers, glass substrates for liquid crystal display devices, glass substrates for plasma display panels, substrates for optical disks, substrates for magnetic disks, substrates for magneto-optical disks, glass substrates for photomasks, substrates for solar cells, etc. (hereinafter simply referred to as "substrate"). Further, the processing includes bevel processing.

Background Art

[0002] As a substrate processing apparatus for supplying a processing liquid to a substrate while rotating the substrate such as a semiconductor wafer to perform substrate processing such as chemical solution processing and cleaning processing, for example, the apparatus described in Patent Document 1 is known. In this substrate processing apparatus, an outer cup is provided as a scattering prevention member in order to receive the processing liquid scattered from the substrate rotated during substrate processing. The outer cup is arranged so as to surround the outer periphery of the substrate that is rotated while the inner peripheral surface thereof faces the outer periphery of the substrate. For this reason, the outer cup collects the droplets of the processing liquid shaken off from the rotated substrate.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] In this conventional device, multiple cup cleaning nozzles are provided on the base to clean the inner surface of the outer cup. A cup cleaning member is also positioned above the base. When cleaning the cup, cleaning fluid (corresponding to an example of the "cup rinsing fluid" of the present invention) is supplied from the cup cleaning nozzles to the inner surface of the outer cup through guides provided on the cup cleaning member. Therefore, in order to clean the entire inner surface of the outer cup, it is necessary to provide a large number of cup cleaning nozzles. Moreover, it is difficult to supply all of the cleaning fluid discharged from each cup cleaning nozzle towards the guide to the outer cup, and some of the cleaning fluid may overflow from the guide. For these reasons, a relatively large amount of cleaning fluid was required to clean the outer cup (corresponding to an example of the "cup rinsing process" of the present invention). In other words, conventional substrate processing devices place a significant burden on the environment by using large amounts of cleaning fluid, and there was room for improvement in reducing the environmental burden.

[0005] 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 reduce the environmental burden by reducing the amount of cup rinsing liquid used in the cup rinsing process. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] One aspect of this invention is a substrate processing apparatus comprising: a substrate holding portion rotatably mounted around a vertically extending rotation axis while holding a substrate; a rotating cup portion rotatably mounted around the rotation axis while surrounding the outer circumference of the substrate held by the substrate holding portion; a rotation mechanism for rotating the substrate holding portion and the rotating cup portion; a processing mechanism for performing a predetermined substrate processing on the substrate by supplying a processing liquid from a processing liquid discharge nozzle to the substrate held by the rotating substrate holding portion; a cup rinsing mechanism for performing a cup rinsing process to remove the processing liquid from the rotating cup portion by directly supplying a cup rinsing liquid from the rotation axis side to the rotating cup portion which has collected the processing liquid scattered from the substrate; and a control unit for controlling the rotation mechanism and the cup rinsing mechanism so as to supply the cup rinsing liquid to the rotating cup portion while rotating the rotating cup portion after the substrate processing has been performed. The rotating cup section has a lower cup that rotates around a rotation axis by receiving rotational driving force from the rotation mechanism, and an upper cup that is connected to the lower cup and rotates integrally with the lower cup around the rotation axis to collect droplets of processing liquid scattered from the substrate. The upper cup has a connecting portion located above the lower cup and connected to the lower cup, and an inclined portion that slopes upward from the connecting portion toward the peripheral edge of the substrate, and the inclined portion collects droplets. The cup rinsing mechanism has a rinsing liquid discharge nozzle that discharges cup rinsing liquid toward the inclined portion, and the discharge point of the cup rinsing liquid from the rinsing liquid discharge nozzle is at a cup rinsing position that is higher in the vertical direction than the height position of the upper surface of the substrate held by the substrate holding section. It is characterized by the following.

[0007] Another aspect of this invention is a substrate processing method, wherein a processing liquid is supplied to a substrate while the outer circumference of the substrate, which rotates around a rotation axis extending vertically, is surrounded by a rotating cup portion, thereby performing a predetermined substrate processing on the substrate with the processing liquid, and collecting the processing liquid that splashes from the substrate with the rotating cup portion. collection The process involves rotating the rotating cup section, which collects the processing liquid, around the rotation axis, while directly supplying cup rinsing liquid to the rotating cup section from the rotation axis side, thereby removing the processing liquid from the rotating cup section. process And, equipped with, The rotating cup section comprises a lower cup that rotates around a rotation axis and an upper cup connected to the lower cup, which rotates integrally with the lower cup around the rotation axis to collect droplets of processing liquid scattered from the substrate. The upper cup has a connecting portion located above the lower cup and connected to the lower cup, and an inclined portion that slopes upward from the connecting portion toward the peripheral edge of the substrate. In the collection process, droplets are collected at the inclined portion, and in the cup rinsing process, cup rinsing liquid is discharged from the rinsing liquid discharge nozzle toward the inclined portion, with the discharge point of the cup rinsing liquid from the rinsing liquid discharge nozzle being at a cup rinsing position higher in the vertical direction than the height of the upper surface of the substrate held by the substrate holding section. It is characterized by the following.

[0008] In this configuration, the rotating cup portion that collects the processing liquid rotates around the rotation axis, and the cup rinsing liquid is supplied directly to the rotating cup portion from the inside of the rotating cup portion. Therefore, the amount of cup rinsing liquid used can be significantly reduced compared to the amount used in the substrate processing apparatus described in Patent Document 1. [Effects of the Invention]

[0009] As described above, according to the present invention, the environmental burden can be reduced by reducing the amount of cup rinsing liquid required for cup rinsing in the rotating cup section that collects the processing liquid scattered from the substrate. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0010] [Figure 1] This is a plan view showing the schematic configuration of a substrate processing system equipped with a first embodiment of the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention. [Figure 2] This figure shows the configuration of the first embodiment of the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention. [Figure 3] This diagram schematically shows the configuration of the chamber and the components that are mounted within it. [Figure 4] This is a schematic plan view showing the configuration of the substrate processing unit installed on the base member. [Figure 5]This diagram shows the dimensional relationship between the substrate held in the spin chuck and the rotating cup. [Figure 6] This diagram shows a portion of the rotating cup section and the fixed cup section. [Figure 7] This is an external perspective view showing the configuration of the top protective heating mechanism. [Figure 8] Figure 7 is a cross-sectional view of the top protective heating mechanism. [Figure 9] This is a perspective view showing the upper processing liquid discharge nozzle equipped on the processing mechanism and the upper cup rinse liquid discharge nozzle equipped on the cup rinse mechanism. [Figure 10] This diagram schematically shows the configuration of the nozzle movement section. [Figure 11A] This is a schematic diagram showing the nozzle position when performing bevel processing. [Figure 11B] This is a schematic diagram showing the nozzle position when performing a cup rinse treatment. [Figure 12] This is a perspective view showing the lower processing liquid discharge nozzle and the nozzle support section that support the nozzle, which are equipped in the processing mechanism. [Figure 13] Figure 2 is a flowchart showing a beveling process as an example of a substrate processing operation performed by the substrate processing apparatus shown in Figure 2. [Figure 14] This figure schematically shows the configuration and operation of a second embodiment of the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0011] FIG. 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. This is not a view showing the appearance of the substrate processing system 100, but a schematic view showing the internal structure thereof in an easy-to-understand manner by excluding the outer wall panel and some other components of the substrate processing system 100. This substrate processing system 100 is, for example, installed in a clean room and is a single wafer type apparatus that processes one substrate W at a time on which a circuit pattern or the like (hereinafter referred to as "pattern") is formed only on one main surface. In the processing unit 1 equipped in the substrate processing system 100, substrate processing with a processing liquid is executed. In this specification, the pattern formation surface (one main surface) on which the pattern is formed out of both main surfaces of the substrate is referred to as the "front surface", and the other main surface on which the pattern is not formed on the opposite side is referred to as the "back surface". Also, the surface directed downward is referred to as the "lower surface", and the surface directed upward is referred to as the "upper surface". In this specification, the "pattern formation surface" means a surface on which a concavo-convex pattern is formed in an arbitrary region on the substrate.

[0012] 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 various substrates exemplified above.

[0013] As shown in FIG. 1, the substrate processing system 100 has a substrate processing area 110 for processing a substrate W. An indexer unit 120 is provided adjacent to this substrate processing area 110. The indexer unit 120 has a container holding portion 121 that can hold a plurality of containers C (such as a FOUP (Front Opening Unified Pod), a SMIF (Standard Mechanical Interface) pod, an OC (Open Cassette), etc., that house a plurality of substrates W in a sealed state). Further, the indexer unit 120 includes an indexer robot 122 for accessing the container C held by the container holding portion 121 to take out an unprocessed substrate W from the container C or store a processed substrate W in the container C. A plurality of substrates W are accommodated in each container C in a substantially horizontal posture.

[0014] The indexer robot 122 includes a base portion 122a fixed to the apparatus housing, an articulated arm 122b provided rotatable about a vertical axis with respect to the base portion 122a, and a hand 122c attached to the tip of the articulated arm 122b. The hand 122c has a structure capable of placing and holding the substrate W on its upper surface. Since an indexer robot having such an articulated arm and a hand for holding a substrate is well-known, a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

[0015] In the substrate processing area 110, a mounting table 112 is provided so that substrates W from the indexer robot 122 can be placed on it. In a plan view, a substrate transfer robot 111 is positioned approximately in the center of the substrate processing area 110. Furthermore, multiple processing units 1 are arranged so as to surround this substrate transfer robot 111. Specifically, multiple processing units 1 are positioned facing the space in which the substrate transfer robot 111 is located. The substrate transfer robot 111 randomly accesses the mounting table 112 for these processing units 1 and transfers substrates W between the mounting table 112 and the processing unit 1. On the other hand, 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 apparatus) 1 have the same function. Therefore, parallel processing of multiple substrates W is possible. Note that if the substrate transfer robot 111 can directly receive substrates W from the indexer robot 122, the mounting table 112 is not necessarily required.

[0016] Figure 2 shows the configuration of a first embodiment of the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention. Figure 3 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of the chamber and the configuration mounted in the chamber. In Figures 2, 3 and the following diagrams, the dimensions and number of parts may be exaggerated or simplified for ease of understanding. The chamber 11 used in the substrate processing apparatus (processing unit) 1 has, as shown in Figure 3, a rectangular bottom wall 11a in a plan view from vertically above, four side walls 11b to 11e erected around the bottom wall 11a, and a ceiling wall 11f covering the upper ends of the side walls 11b to 11e. By combining these bottom wall 11a, side walls 11b to 11e and ceiling wall 11f, a roughly rectangular parallelepiped internal space 12 is formed.

[0017] Base support members 16, 16 are fixed to the upper surface of the bottom wall 11a with fasteners such as bolts, spaced apart from each other. In other words, the base support members 16 are erected from the bottom wall 11a. A base member 17 is fixed to the upper ends of these base support members 16, 16 with fasteners such as bolts. This base member 17 has a smaller planar size than the bottom wall 11a and is made of a plate material that is thicker and has higher rigidity than the bottom wall 11a. As shown in Figure 2, the base member 17 is lifted vertically upward from the bottom wall 11a by the base support members 16, 16. In other words, a so-called raised floor structure is formed at the bottom of the internal space 12 of the chamber 11. The upper surface of this base member 17 is finished so that a substrate processing unit SP for performing substrate processing on a substrate W can be installed, as will be described in detail later, and the substrate processing unit SP is installed on this upper surface. Each part constituting this substrate processing unit SP is electrically connected to a control unit 10 that controls the entire device and operates in accordance with instructions from the control unit 10. The shape of the base component 17, and the configuration and operation of the circuit board processing unit SP will be described in detail later.

[0018] As shown in Figures 2 and 3, a fan filter unit (FFU) 13 is mounted on the ceiling wall 11f of the chamber 11. This fan filter unit 13 further purifies the air in the cleanroom where the substrate processing device 1 is installed and supplies it to the internal space 12 of the chamber 11. The fan filter unit 13 is equipped with a fan and filter (e.g., a HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Air) filter) for taking in air from the cleanroom and sending it into the chamber 11, and supplies the clean air through an opening 11f1 provided in the ceiling wall 11f. This creates a downflow of clean air into the internal space 12 of the chamber 11. In addition, a perforated plate 14 with numerous outlet holes is provided directly below the ceiling wall 11f to uniformly disperse the clean air supplied from the fan filter unit 13.

[0019] As shown in Figure 3, in the substrate processing apparatus 1, a transport opening 11b1 is provided in the side wall 11b facing the substrate transport robot 111, one of the four side walls 11b to 11e, thereby connecting the internal space 12 with the outside of the chamber 11. As a result, the hand (not shown) of the substrate transport robot 111 can access the substrate processing apparatus SP through the transport opening 11b1. In other words, the provision of the transport opening 11b1 allows for the loading and unloading of substrates W into and out of the internal space 12. A shutter 15 for opening and closing this transport opening 11b1 is attached to the side wall 11b.

[0020] A shutter opening / closing mechanism (not shown) is connected to the shutter 15, which 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 into the substrate processing apparatus SP in a face-up position by the hand of the substrate transport robot 111. In other words, the substrate W is placed on the spin chuck 21 of the substrate processing apparatus SP with its upper surface Wf facing upwards. After the substrate is loaded, when the hand of the substrate transport robot 111 moves away from the chamber 11, the shutter opening / closing mechanism closes the shutter 15. Then, within the processing space of the chamber 11 (corresponding to the sealed space 12a which will be described in detail later), beveling of the peripheral Ws of the substrate W is performed by the substrate processing apparatus SP as an example of the "substrate processing" of the present invention. After the beveling is completed, the shutter opening / closing mechanism opens the shutter 15 again, and the hand of the substrate transport robot 111 carries out the processed substrate W from the substrate processing apparatus SP. Thus, in this embodiment, the internal space 12 of the chamber 11 is maintained at a normal temperature. In this specification, "normal temperature" means a temperature range of 5°C to 35°C.

[0021] As shown in Figure 3, the side wall 11d is located on the opposite side of the side wall 11b, with the substrate processing unit SP (Figure 2) installed on the base member 17 in between. A maintenance opening 11d1 is provided in this side wall 11d. During maintenance, the maintenance opening 11d1 is opened, as shown in the figure. This allows the operator to access the substrate processing unit SP from outside the device through the maintenance opening 11d1. On the other hand, during substrate processing, a cover member 19 is attached to close the maintenance opening 11d1. Thus, in this embodiment, the cover member 19 is detachably attached to the side wall 11d.

[0022] Furthermore, a heating gas supply unit 47 is attached to the outer surface of the side wall 11e for supplying heated inert gas (nitrogen gas in this embodiment) to the substrate processing unit SP. This heating gas supply unit 47 incorporates a heater 471.

[0023] As described above, the shutter 15, lid member 19, and heating gas supply unit 47 are arranged on the outer wall side of the chamber 11. In contrast, the substrate processing unit SP is installed on the upper surface of the raised base member 17 inside the chamber 11, i.e., the internal space 12. The configuration of the substrate processing unit SP will be described below with reference to Figures 2 to 13.

[0024] Figure 4 is a schematic plan view showing the configuration of the substrate processing unit installed on the base member. Hereafter, in order to clarify the arrangement and operation of each part of the device, a coordinate system in which the Z direction is the vertical direction and the XY plane is the horizontal plane is used as appropriate. In the coordinate system in Figure 4, the horizontal direction parallel to the transport path TP of the substrate W is called the "X direction", and the horizontal direction perpendicular to it is called the "Y direction". More specifically, the directions from the internal space 12 of the chamber 11 toward the transport opening 11b1 and the maintenance opening 11d1 are called the "+X direction" and "-X direction", respectively, the directions from the internal space 12 of the chamber 11 toward the side walls 11c and 11e are called the "-Y direction" and "+Y direction", respectively, and the directions toward the vertically upward and vertically downward are called the "+Z direction" and "-Z direction", respectively. In addition, "CR liquid" in the figure refers to the cup rinse liquid.

[0025] The substrate processing unit SP is equipped with a holding and rotating mechanism 2, a scattering prevention mechanism 3, an upper surface protection heating mechanism 4, a processing mechanism 5, an atmosphere separation mechanism 6, a lifting mechanism 7, a centering mechanism 8, a substrate observation mechanism 9, and a cup rinsing mechanism 200. These mechanisms are mounted on a base member 17. In other words, the holding and rotating mechanism 2, the scattering prevention mechanism 3, the upper surface protection heating mechanism 4, the processing mechanism 5, the atmosphere separation mechanism 6, the lifting mechanism 7, the centering mechanism 8, the substrate observation mechanism 9, and the cup rinsing mechanism 200 are arranged relative to each other in predetermined positions, with the base member 17 having higher rigidity than the chamber 11 as the reference point.

[0026] As shown in Figure 2, the holding and rotating mechanism 2 includes a substrate holding section 2A that holds the substrate W in a substantially horizontal position with its surface facing upward, and a rotating mechanism 2B that synchronously rotates the substrate holding section 2A holding the substrate W and a part of the anti-scattering mechanism 3. Therefore, when the rotating mechanism 2B is activated in response to a rotation command from the control unit 10, the substrate W and the rotating cup section 31 of the anti-scattering mechanism 3 are rotated around a rotation axis AX that extends parallel to the vertical direction Z.

[0027] The substrate holding section 2A is equipped with a spin chuck 21, which is a disc-shaped member smaller than the substrate W. The spin chuck 21 is positioned so that its upper surface is approximately horizontal and its central axis coincides with the rotation axis AX. In particular, in this embodiment, as shown in Figure 4, the center of the substrate holding section 2A (corresponding to the central axis of the spin chuck 21) is offset in the (+X) direction from the center 11g of the chamber 11. That is, in a plan view from above the chamber 11, the substrate holding section 2A is positioned such that the central axis of the spin chuck 21 (rotation axis AX) is located at a processing position shifted by a distance Lof from the center 11g of the internal space 12 toward the transport opening 11b1. In order to clarify the arrangement of the various parts of the apparatus described later, in this specification, the virtual lines that pass through the center (rotation axis AX) of the offset substrate holding section 2A and are perpendicular to the transport path TP, and the virtual lines that are parallel to the transport path TP, are referred to as the "first virtual horizontal line VL1" and the "second virtual horizontal line VL2," respectively.

[0028] A cylindrical rotating shaft portion 22 is connected to the lower surface of the spin chuck 21. The rotating shaft portion 22 extends vertically in the Z direction with its axis aligned with the rotation axis AX. A rotating mechanism 2B is also connected to the rotating shaft portion 22.

[0029] The rotating mechanism 2B includes a motor 23 that generates rotational driving force to rotate the substrate holding portion 2A and the rotating cup portion 31 of the anti-scattering mechanism 3, and a power transmission portion 24 for transmitting the rotational driving force. The motor 23 has a rotating shaft 231 that rotates in conjunction with the generation of rotational driving force. The motor 23 is mounted on the motor mounting portion 171 of the base member 17 in a position where the rotating shaft 231 extends vertically downward. More specifically, as shown in Figure 3, the motor mounting portion 171 is a portion cut out in the (+X) direction, facing the maintenance opening 11d1. The width of this motor mounting portion 171 (Y-direction size) is approximately the same as the Y-direction width of the motor 23. Therefore, the motor 23 is movable in the X direction while its side surface is engaged with the motor mounting portion 171.

[0030] At the motor mounting portion 171, the motor 23 is fixed to the base member 17 while being positioned in the X direction. A first pulley 241 is attached to the tip of the rotating shaft 231 that protrudes downward from the base member 17. A second pulley 242 is attached to the lower end of the substrate holding portion 2A. More specifically, the lower end of the substrate holding portion 2A is inserted through a through hole provided in the spin chuck mounting portion 172 of the base member 17 and protrudes downward from the base member 17. The second pulley 242 is provided on this protruding portion. An endless belt 243 is then stretched between the first pulley 241 and the second pulley 242. Thus, in this embodiment, the power transmission portion 24 is composed of the first pulley 241, the second pulley 242, and the endless belt 243.

[0031] A through-hole (not shown) is provided in the center of the spin chuck 21, communicating with the internal space of the rotating shaft 22. A pump 26 is connected to the internal space via piping 25 with a valve (not shown) interposed therein. The pump 26 and 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 substrate W is placed on the upper surface of the spin chuck 21 in a substantially horizontal position and the pump 26 applies negative pressure to the spin chuck 21, the spin chuck 21 attracts and 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 becomes removable from the upper surface of the spin chuck 21. Also, when the suction of the pump 26 is stopped, the substrate W becomes able to move horizontally on the upper surface of the spin chuck 21.

[0032] A nitrogen gas supply unit 29 is connected to the spin chuck 21 via a pipe 28 located in the center of the rotating shaft 22. The nitrogen gas supply unit 29 supplies ambient temperature nitrogen gas, supplied from a utility in the factory where the substrate processing system 100 is installed, to the spin chuck 21 at a flow rate and timing corresponding to the gas supply command from the control unit 10, causing the nitrogen gas to circulate radially outward from the center on the lower surface Wb side of the substrate W. In this embodiment, nitrogen gas is used, but other inert gases may also be used. The same applies to the heated gas discharged from the central nozzle, which will be described later. Also, "flow rate" refers to the amount of fluid, such as nitrogen gas, that moves per unit time.

[0033] The rotating mechanism 2B not only rotates the spin chuck 21 integrally with the substrate W, but also has a power transmission unit 27 (Figure 2) to rotate the rotating cup portion 31 in synchronization with the rotation. The power transmission unit 27 has an annular member 27a (Figure 2) made of a non-magnetic material or resin, a spin chuck-side magnet (not shown) built into the annular member, and a cup-side magnet (not shown) built into the lower cup 32, which is a component of the rotating cup portion 31. As shown in Figure 2, the annular member 27a is attached to the rotating shaft portion 22 and is rotatable around the rotating shaft AX together with the rotating shaft portion 22. More specifically, as shown in Figure 2, the rotating shaft portion 22 has a flange portion (not shown) that protrudes radially outward at a position directly below the spin chuck 21. The annular member 27a is arranged concentrically with respect to the flange portion and is connected and fixed by bolts (not shown).

[0034] On the outer edge of the annular member 27a, multiple spin chuck-side magnets are arranged radially around the rotation axis AX and at equal angular intervals. In this embodiment, in one pair of adjacent spin chuck-side magnets, the outer and inner poles are arranged to be the north and south poles, respectively, while in the other pair, the outer and inner poles are arranged to be the south and north poles, respectively.

[0035] Similar to these spin chuck-side magnets, multiple cup-side magnets are arranged radially around the rotation axis AX at equal angular intervals. These cup-side magnets are housed in the lower cup 32. The lower cup 32 is a component of the splash prevention mechanism 3, which will be described next, and has an annular shape. That is, the lower cup 32 has an inner circumferential surface that can face the outer circumferential surface of the annular member 27a. The inner diameter of this inner circumferential surface is larger than the outer diameter of the annular member 27a. The lower cup 32 is positioned concentrically with the rotation axis 22 and the annular member 27a, with the inner circumferential surface facing the outer circumferential surface of the annular member 27a at a predetermined distance (=(inner diameter - outer diameter) / 2). Engagement pins and connecting magnets are provided on the upper surface of the outer circumferential edge of the lower cup 32, and these connect the upper cup 33 to the lower cup 32, and this connected body functions as the rotation cup portion 31.

[0036] The lower cup 32 is supported on the upper surface of the base member 17 by bearings (not shown in the drawing) so that it can rotate around the rotation axis AX in the above-described configuration. On the inner peripheral edge of the lower cup 32, as described above, the cup-side magnets are arranged radially around the rotation axis AX and at equal angular intervals. The arrangement of two adjacent cup-side magnets is the same as that of the spin chuck-side magnets. That is, on one side, the outer and inner sides are arranged so that they are the north pole and south pole, respectively, and on the other side, the outer and inner sides are arranged so that they are the south pole and north pole, respectively.

[0037] In the power transmission unit 27 configured in this way, when the annular member 27a rotates together with the rotating shaft 22 by the motor 23, the lower cup 32 rotates in the same direction as the annular member 27a while maintaining an air gap (the gap between the annular member 27a and the lower cup 32) due to the magnetic force between the spin chuck-side magnet and the cup-side magnet. As a result, the rotating cup portion 31 rotates around the rotation axis AX. In other words, the rotating cup portion 31 rotates in the same direction as the substrate W and in sync with it.

[0038] The splash prevention mechanism 3 includes a rotating cup portion 31 that can rotate around the rotation axis AX while surrounding the outer circumference of the substrate W held by the spin chuck 21, and a fixed cup portion 34 that is fixedly provided to surround the rotating cup portion 31. The rotating cup portion 31 is provided so as to be rotatable around the rotation axis AX while surrounding the outer circumference of the rotating substrate W, by connecting the upper cup 33 to the lower cup 32.

[0039] Figure 5 shows the dimensional relationship between the substrate held by the spin chuck and the rotating cup portion. Figure 6 shows a part of the rotating cup portion and the fixed cup portion. The lower cup 32 has an annular shape. Its outer diameter is larger than the outer diameter of the substrate W, and in a plan view from vertically above, the lower cup 32 is rotatably positioned around the rotation axis AX, protruding radially from the substrate W held by the spin chuck 21. In this protruding region, that is, the upper peripheral edge of the lower cup 32, engaging pins (not shown) and flat lower magnets (not shown) are alternately attached vertically upward along the circumferential direction.

[0040] On the other hand, as shown in Figures 2, 3, and 5, 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 the lower annular portion 331 is located vertically above the peripheral edge 321 of the lower cup 32. On the lower surface of the lower annular portion 331, in the region corresponding to vertically above the engagement pin, a recess opening downward is provided so as to be able to fit with the tip of the engagement pin. Also, the upper magnet is attached in the region corresponding to vertically above the lower magnet. Therefore, with the recess and the upper magnet facing the engagement pin and the lower magnet, respectively, the upper cup 33 can engage with and disengage from the lower cup 32.

[0041] The upper cup 33 is vertically movable by the lifting mechanism 7. When the upper cup 33 is moved upward by the lifting mechanism 7, a transport space for loading and unloading the substrate W is formed vertically between the upper cup 33 and the lower cup 32. On the other hand, when the upper cup 33 is moved downward by the lifting mechanism 7, the recess fits over the tip of the engagement pin, and the upper cup 33 is positioned horizontally relative to the lower cup 32. Also, the upper magnet approaches the lower magnet, and the attractive force generated between them connects the positioned upper cup 33 and lower cup 32 to each other. As a result, as shown in the partially enlarged view of Figure 4 and Figure 6, the upper cup 33 and lower cup 32 are vertically integrated while forming a horizontally extending gap GPc. The rotating cup portion 31 is then rotatable around the rotation axis AX while maintaining the gap GPc.

[0042] In the rotating cup portion 31, as shown in Figure 5, the outer diameter D332 of the upper annular portion 332 is slightly smaller than the outer diameter D331 of the lower annular portion 331. Comparing the inner diameters d331 and d332 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 in a plan view from vertically above, the inner surface of the upper annular portion 332 is located inside the inner surface of the lower annular portion 331. The inner surfaces of the upper annular portion 332 and the lower annular portion 331 are connected by the inclined portion 333 around the entire circumference of the upper cup 33. For this reason, the inner surface of the inclined portion 333, that is, the surface surrounding the substrate W, is an inclined surface 334. In other words, as shown in Figure 6, the inclined portion 333 surrounds the outer circumference of the rotating substrate W and is capable of collecting droplets scattered from the substrate W, and the space enclosed by the upper cup 33 and the lower cup 32 functions as a collection space SPc. In this embodiment, the height positions of each part in the vertical direction Z are referred to as follows. That is, as shown in Figure 6, the position of the upper surface (surface) of the substrate W held by the spin chuck 21 is referred to as "height position Zw", and the position of the upper surface of the disc portion 42 of the upper surface protection heating mechanism 4, which will be described in detail later, is referred to as "height position Z42".

[0043] Furthermore, the inclined portion 333 facing the collection space SPc is inclined upward from the lower annular portion 331, which is connected to the lower cup 32 and forms a connecting portion, toward the periphery of the substrate W. Therefore, as shown in Figure 6, droplets of the processing liquid scattered from the rotating substrate W are collected on the inclined surface 334 of the inclined portion 333 at height Zw. These droplets then flow along the inclined surface 334 toward the lower end of the upper cup 33, that is, toward the lower annular portion 331, and can be discharged to the outside of the rotating cup portion 31 through the gap GPc.

[0044] The fixed cup portion 34 is provided so as 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 so as to face the opening of the gap GPc on the opposite side of the substrate (the left-hand side opening in Figure 6). In other words, the internal space of the liquid receiving portion 341 functions as a discharge space SPe and is in communication with the collection space SPc via the gap GPc. Therefore, the droplets collected by the rotating cup portion 31 are guided to the discharge space SPe along with the gaseous components via the gap GPc. The droplets are then collected at the bottom of the liquid receiving portion 341 and discharged from the fixed cup portion 34.

[0045] Meanwhile, the gaseous components are collected in the exhaust section 342. This exhaust section 342 is separated from the liquid receiving section 341 via a partition wall 343. A gas guide section 344 is positioned above the partition wall 343. The gas guide section 344 extends from directly above the partition wall 343 into the discharge space SPe and the exhaust section 342, respectively, covering the partition wall 343 from above and forming a labyrinthine flow path for the gaseous components. Therefore, the gaseous components of the fluid flowing into the liquid receiving section 341 are collected in the exhaust section 342 via the above flow path. This exhaust section 342 is connected to an exhaust unit 38. As a result, the exhaust unit 38 operates in response to commands from the control unit 10, adjusting the pressure in the fixed cup section 34, and efficiently exhausting the gaseous components in the exhaust section 342. Furthermore, the pressure and flow rate of the discharge space SPe are adjusted by precise control of the exhaust unit 38. For example, the pressure in the discharge space SPe becomes lower than the pressure in the collection space SPc. As a result, droplets in the collection space SPc are efficiently drawn into the discharge space SPe, and the movement of droplets from the collection space SPc can be promoted.

[0046] Figure 7 is an external perspective view showing the configuration of the top surface protection heating mechanism. Figure 8 is a cross-sectional view of the top surface protection heating mechanism shown in Figure 7. The top surface protection heating mechanism 4 has a shut-off plate 41 positioned above the upper surface Wf of the substrate W held by the spin chuck 21. This shut-off plate 41 has a disc portion 42 held in a horizontal position. The disc portion 42 incorporates a heater 421 that is driven and controlled by a heater drive unit 422. This disc portion 42 has a diameter slightly shorter than that of the substrate W. The disc portion 42 is supported by a support member 43 such that its lower surface covers the surface area of ​​the upper surface Wf of the substrate W, excluding the peripheral edge Ws, from above. Reference numeral 44 in Figure 7 indicates a notch provided on the peripheral edge of the disc portion 42, which is provided to prevent interference with the processing liquid discharge nozzle included in the processing mechanism 5. The notch 44 opens radially outward.

[0047] The lower end of the support member 43 is attached to the center of the disc portion 42. A cylindrical through-hole is formed so as to penetrate vertically through the support member 43 and the disc portion 42. A central nozzle 45 is inserted vertically through this through-hole. As shown in Figure 2, this central nozzle 45 is connected to a heating gas supply unit 47 via piping 46. The heating gas supply unit 47 heats ambient temperature nitrogen gas supplied from the factory where the substrate processing system 100 is installed using a heater 471 and supplies it to the substrate processing unit SP at a flow rate and timing corresponding to the heating gas supply command from the control unit 10.

[0048] If the heater 471 is placed in the internal space 12 of the chamber 11, the heat radiated from the heater 471 may adversely affect the substrate processing unit SP, particularly the processing mechanism 5 and the substrate observation mechanism 9, as will be described later. Therefore, in this embodiment, the heating gas supply unit 47 having the heater 471 is placed outside the chamber 11, as shown in Figure 4. In this embodiment, a ribbon heater 48 is attached to a part of the piping 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 piping 46.

[0049] The heated nitrogen gas (hereinafter referred to as "heated gas") is then pumped towards the central nozzle 45 and discharged from the central nozzle 45. For example, as shown in Figure 8, when the heated gas is supplied with the disc portion 42 positioned in a processing position close to the substrate W held by the spin chuck 21, the heated gas flows from the center to the periphery of the space SPa sandwiched between the upper surface Wf of the substrate W and the disc portion 42 with the heater built in. This prevents the surrounding atmosphere from entering the upper surface Wf of the substrate W. As a result, it is possible to effectively prevent droplets contained in the atmosphere from being trapped in the space SPa sandwiched between the substrate W and the disc portion 42. In addition, the upper surface Wf is heated overall by the heating by the heater 421 and the heated gas, making the in-plane temperature of the substrate W uniform. This suppresses warping of the substrate W and stabilizes the contact position of the processing liquid.

[0050] As shown in Figure 2, the upper end of the support member 43 is fixed to a beam member 49 that extends along the first virtual horizontal line VL1. This beam member 49 is connected to a lifting mechanism 7 attached to the upper surface of the base member 17, and is raised and lowered by the lifting mechanism 7 in response to a command from the control unit 10. For example, in Figure 2, when the beam member 49 is positioned downward, the disc portion 42 connected to the beam member 49 via the support member 43 is in the processing position. On the other hand, when the lifting mechanism 7 raises the beam member 49 in response to a lifting command from the control unit 10, the beam member 49, support member 43, and disc portion 42 rise together, and the upper cup 33 also rises in conjunction, separating from the lower cup 32. This widens the space between the spin chuck 21 and the upper cup 33 and disc portion 42, making it possible to load and unload the substrate W into and out of the spin chuck 21.

[0051] The processing mechanism 5 includes a processing liquid discharge nozzle 51F (Figure 4) located on the upper side of the substrate W, a processing liquid discharge nozzle 51B (Figure 2) located on the lower 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, in order to distinguish between the upper processing liquid discharge nozzle 51F and the lower processing liquid discharge nozzle 51B, they will be referred to as "upper processing nozzle 51F" and "lower processing nozzle 51B," respectively. Also, although two processing liquid supply units 52 are shown in Figure 2, they are identical.

[0052] Figure 9 is a perspective view showing the upper processing liquid discharge nozzle equipped on the processing mechanism and the upper cup rinse liquid discharge nozzle equipped on the cup rinse mechanism, with each nozzle viewed from a diagonal downward direction. In this embodiment, three upper processing nozzles 51F are provided as upper processing liquid discharge nozzles that discharge processing liquid from above the substrate W held by the spin chuck 21 toward the peripheral edge Ws of the upper surface Wf of the substrate W, and a processing liquid supply unit 52 is connected to them. The processing liquid supply unit 52 is configured to supply SC1, DHF, and functional water (such as CO2 water) as processing liquids, and SC1, DHF, and functional water can be discharged independently from the three upper processing nozzles 51F.

[0053] Each top surface treatment nozzle 51F is provided with a discharge port 511 for discharging processing liquid on the lower surface of its tip, as shown in column (a) of Figure 9. As shown in the enlarged view in Figure 4, the lower parts of multiple (three in this embodiment) top surface treatment nozzles 51F are positioned in the notch 44 of the disc portion 42 together with the rinse liquid discharge nozzle 201 shown in the partially enlarged plan view of Figure 7, with each discharge port facing the peripheral edge of the upper surface Wf of the substrate W. The upper part of the top surface treatment nozzle 51F is integrally attached to the nozzle holder 53 so as to be movable in the radial direction D1 (a direction in which the nozzle discharge elevation angle is tilted by approximately 45° and the rotation angle by approximately 65° with respect to the first virtual horizontal line VL1). This nozzle holder 53 is connected to the nozzle moving part 54.

[0054] Figure 10 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of the nozzle movement section. Figure 11A is a schematic diagram showing the nozzle position when performing bevel processing, and Figure 11B is a schematic diagram showing the nozzle position when performing cup rinse processing. In Figures 11A and 11B, column (a) is a side view of the nozzle that discharges the processing liquid or cup rinse liquid, and column (b) is a top view of the nozzle. The symbol AR indicates the radial direction from the rotation axis AX toward the nozzle that discharges the processing liquid or cup rinse liquid.

[0055] As shown in Figure 10, the nozzle moving unit 54 is attached to the upper end of the lifter 713a of the lifting unit 713, which will be described later, while holding the nozzle head 56 (= top surface treatment nozzle 51F + rinse liquid discharge nozzle 201 + nozzle holder 53). Therefore, when the lifter 713a extends or retracts vertically in response to a lifting command from the control unit 10, the nozzle moving unit 54 and the nozzle head 56 move vertically in the Z direction accordingly.

[0056] Furthermore, in the nozzle moving section 54, a base member 541 is fixed to the upper end of the lifter 713a. A linear actuator 542 is attached to this base member 541. The linear actuator 542 has a motor (hereinafter referred to as the "nozzle drive motor") 543 that functions as a drive source for nozzle movement in the radial direction X, and a motion conversion mechanism 545 that converts the rotational motion of a rotating body such as a ball screw connected to the rotation axis of the nozzle drive motor 543 into linear motion to move the slider 544 back and forth in the radial direction D1. In addition, the motion conversion mechanism 545 uses a guide such as an LM guide (registered trademark) to stabilize the movement of the slider 544 in the radial direction D1.

[0057] A head support member 547 is connected to a slider 544, which is driven to reciprocate in the radial direction X, via a connecting member 546. This head support member 547 has a rod shape that extends in the radial direction X. The (+D1) end of the head support member 547 is fixed to the slider 544. On the other hand, the (-D1) end of the head support member 547 extends horizontally toward the spin chuck 21, and a nozzle head 56 is attached to its tip. Therefore, when the nozzle drive motor 543 rotates in response to a nozzle movement command from the control unit 10, the slider 544, head support member 547, and nozzle head 56 move together in the (+D1) or (-D1) direction, and by a distance corresponding to the amount of rotation. As a result, the top surface treatment nozzle 51F mounted on the nozzle head 56 is positioned in the radial direction D1. For example, as shown in Figure 10, when the top surface treatment nozzle 51F is positioned at a preset home position, the spring member 548 provided in the motion conversion mechanism 545 is compressed by the slider 544, applying a biasing force to the slider 544 in the (-D1) direction. This allows control of the backlash included in the motion conversion mechanism 545. In other words, since the motion conversion mechanism 545 has mechanical parts such as guides, it is practically difficult to eliminate the backlash along the radial direction D1, and if this is not given sufficient consideration, the positioning accuracy of the top surface treatment nozzle 51F in the radial direction D1 will decrease. Therefore, in this embodiment, by providing the spring member 548, when the top surface treatment nozzle 51F is stationary at the home position, the backlash is always biased towards the (-D1) direction. This provides the following effects.

[0058] In response to a nozzle movement command from the control unit 10, the nozzle movement unit 54 drives the three top surface treatment nozzles 51F and the rinse liquid discharge nozzle 201 together in the radial direction D1. This nozzle movement command includes information regarding the nozzle movement distance. Based on this information, the top surface treatment nozzles 51F and the rinse liquid discharge nozzle 201 are moved by the specified nozzle movement distance in the radial direction D1. When the above information corresponds to the beveling position, the top surface treatment nozzle 51F is precisely positioned at the beveling position (corresponding to an example of the "substrate processing position" in the present invention), as shown in Figure 11A. On the other hand, when the above information corresponds to the cup rinse position, the rinse liquid discharge nozzle 201 is precisely positioned at the cup rinse position, as shown in Figure 11B.

[0059] The discharge port 511 of the top surface treatment nozzle 51F, positioned at the beveling position, is directed toward the peripheral edge of the top surface Wf of the substrate W. Then, in response to a supply command from the control unit 10, the treatment liquid supply unit 52 supplies the treatment liquid corresponding to the supply command from among three types of treatment liquids to the top surface treatment nozzle 51F for that treatment liquid, and the treatment liquid is supplied from the top surface treatment nozzle 51F to a preset position from the end face of the substrate W. Note that while the beveling process is being performed, the supply of cup rinse liquid to the rinse liquid discharge nozzle 201 is stopped.

[0060] On the other hand, the discharge port 202 of the rinse liquid discharge nozzle 201 positioned at the cup rinse position is directed toward the inclined portion 333 of the upper cup 33. This discharge port 202 is provided on the rinse liquid discharge nozzle 201 such that its diameter is larger than the diameter of the discharge port 511 of the upper surface treatment nozzle 51F. Then, when the cup rinse liquid supply unit 203 (Figure 2) supplies cup rinse liquid such as room temperature DIW (deionized water) to the rinse liquid discharge nozzle 201 in response to a supply command from the control unit 10, the cup rinse liquid is supplied from the rinse liquid discharge nozzle 201 to the inclined portion 333, as shown in Figure 11B. In this embodiment, as shown in Figure 11B, the discharge direction D33 of the cup rinse liquid is inclined by an angle θ with respect to the rotation direction Dr of the upper cup 33 with respect to the radial direction AR from the rotation axis AX toward the rinse liquid discharge nozzle 201 in the horizontal plane (XY plane). Therefore, it is possible to effectively prevent the cup rinse liquid from splashing back to the rinse liquid discharge nozzle 201 when it collides with the inclined portion 333 of the cup rinse liquid. In this embodiment, as shown in Figure 11A, the discharge of the processing liquid is also inclined at an angle θ in the rotational direction Dr relative to the radial direction AR with respect to the upper cup 33, but the angle θ is arbitrary, and for example, θ may be set to zero. In addition, the supply of processing liquid to the upper surface processing nozzle 51F is stopped while the cup rinse process is being performed.

[0061] Furthermore, the lower sealing cup member 61 of the atmosphere separation mechanism 6 is detachably fixed to some of the components of the nozzle moving section 54. In other words, when beveling is performed, the upper surface treatment nozzle 51F and the nozzle holder 53 are integrated with the lower sealing cup member 61 via the nozzle moving section 54 and are raised and lowered vertically in the Z direction together with the lower sealing cup member 61 by the lifting mechanism 7.

[0062] Figure 12 is a perspective view showing the lower processing liquid discharge nozzle and nozzle support portion that support the nozzle, which are equipped in the processing mechanism. In this embodiment, the lower processing nozzle 51B and nozzle support portion 57 are provided below the substrate W held by the spin chuck 21 in order to discharge the processing liquid toward the peripheral edge of the lower surface Wb of the substrate W. The nozzle support portion 57 has a thin-walled cylindrical portion 571 that extends vertically and a flange portion 572 that has an annular shape and is folded radially outward at the upper end of the cylindrical portion 571. The cylindrical portion 571 has a shape that allows it to be loosely inserted into the air gap formed between the annular member 27a and the lower cup 32. As shown in Figure 2, the nozzle support portion 57 is fixedly positioned so that the cylindrical portion 571 is loosely inserted into the air gap and the flange portion 572 is positioned between the substrate W held by the spin chuck 21 and the lower cup 32. Three lower processing nozzles 51B are attached to the upper peripheral edge of the flange portion 572. Each bottom surface treatment nozzle 51B has a discharge port (not shown) that opens toward the peripheral edge of the bottom surface Wb of the substrate W, and is capable of discharging the treatment liquid supplied from the treatment liquid supply unit 52 via the piping 58.

[0063] The processing liquid discharged from the upper processing nozzle 51F and the lower processing nozzle 51B performs beveling on the peripheral edge of the substrate W. Furthermore, on the lower side of the substrate W, a flange portion 572 extends to the vicinity of the peripheral edge Ws. Therefore, nitrogen gas supplied to the lower side via the piping 28 flows along the flange portion 572 into the collection space SPc. As a result, backflow of droplets from the collection space SPc back onto the substrate W is effectively suppressed.

[0064] The atmosphere separation mechanism 6 includes a lower sealed cup member 61 and an upper sealed cup member 62. Both the lower sealed cup member 61 and the upper sealed cup member 62 have a cylindrical shape with openings at the top and bottom. Their inner diameters are larger than the outer diameter of the rotating cup portion 31, and the atmosphere separation mechanism 6 is positioned to completely surround the spin chuck 21, the substrate W held by the spin chuck 21, the rotating cup portion 31, and the upper surface protection heating mechanism 4 from above. More specifically, as shown in Figure 2, the upper sealed cup member 62 is fixedly positioned directly below the punching plate 14 such that its upper opening covers the opening 11f1 in the ceiling wall 11f from below. Therefore, the downflow of clean air introduced into the chamber 11 is divided into air that passes inside the upper sealed cup member 62 and air that passes outside the upper sealed cup member 62.

[0065] Furthermore, the lower end of the upper sealing cup member 62 has a flange portion 621 that is folded inward into an annular shape. An O-ring 63 is attached to the upper surface of this flange portion 621. Inside the upper sealing cup member 62, the lower sealing cup member 61 is arranged to be movable in the vertical direction.

[0066] The upper end of the lower sealing cup member 61 has a flange portion 611 that is folded outward and has an annular shape. This flange portion 611 overlaps with the flange portion 621 when viewed from a vertically upward plane. Therefore, when the lower sealing cup member 61 descends, as shown in the partially enlarged view in Figure 4, the flange portion 611 of the lower sealing cup member 61 is locked to the flange portion 621 of the upper sealing cup member 62 via the O-ring 63. This positions the lower sealing cup member 61 at its lower limit. At this lower limit, 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.

[0067] The lower end of the lower sealing cup member 61 has a flange portion 612 that is folded outward into an annular shape. In a plan view from vertically above, this flange portion 612 overlaps with the upper end of the fixed cup portion 34 (the upper end of the liquid receiving portion 341). Therefore, at the lower limit position, as shown in the partially enlarged view in Figure 3, the flange portion 612 of the lower sealing cup member 61 is locked to the fixed cup portion 34 via the O-ring 64. As a result, the lower sealing cup member 61 and the fixed cup portion 34 are connected in the vertical direction, and a sealed space 12a is formed by the upper sealing cup member 62, the lower sealing cup member 61, and the fixed cup portion 34. Beveling of the substrate W can be performed within this sealed space 12a. In other words, by positioning the lower sealing cup member 61 at the lower limit position, the sealed space 12a is separated from the outer space 12b (atmosphere separation). Therefore, beveling can be performed stably without being affected by the outside atmosphere. Furthermore, although a processing liquid is used for beveling, it is possible to reliably prevent the processing liquid from leaking from the sealed space 12a to the outer space 12b. Therefore, the degree of freedom in selecting and designing the components to be placed in the outer space 12b is increased.

[0068] The lower sealing cup member 61 is configured to be movable vertically upward. Furthermore, as described above, the nozzle head 56 (= upper surface treatment nozzle 51F + rinse liquid discharge nozzle 201 + nozzle holder 53) is fixed to the middle part of the lower sealing cup member 61 in the vertical direction via the head support member 547 of the nozzle movement unit 54. In addition, as shown in Figures 2 and 4, the upper surface protection heating mechanism 4 is fixed to the middle part of the lower sealing cup member 61 via the beam member 49. In other words, as shown in Figure 4, 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 head support member 547 at three different locations in the circumferential direction. The lifting mechanism 7 raises and lowers one end of the beam member 49, the other end of the beam member 49, and the head support member 547, and the lower sealing cup member 61 moves up and down accordingly.

[0069] As shown in Figures 2 and 4, multiple (four) projections 613 are provided on the inner circumferential surface of the lower sealing cup member 61, facing inward as engaging portions that can engage with the upper cup 33. Each projection 613 extends to the space below the upper annular portion 332 of the upper cup 33. Furthermore, each projection 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 its lower limit. Then, as the lower sealing cup member 61 rises, each projection 613 can engage with the upper annular portion 332 from below. Even after this engagement, the lower sealing cup member 61 can rise further to detach the upper cup 33 from the lower cup 32.

[0070] In this embodiment, the lower sealing cup member 61 begins to rise together with the upper surface protection heating mechanism 4 and nozzle head 56 by the lifting mechanism 7, and then the upper cup 33 also rises together. As a result, the upper cup 33, the upper surface protection heating mechanism 4 and nozzle head 56 move upward away from the spin chuck 21. The movement of the lower sealing cup member 61 to the retracted position creates a transport space for the hand of the substrate transport robot 111 to access the spin chuck 21. Loading of the substrate W into the spin chuck 21 and unloading of the substrate W from the spin chuck 21 can then be performed through this transport space. Thus, in this embodiment, access to the substrate W into the spin chuck 21 is possible with minimal upward movement of the lower sealing cup member 61 by the lifting mechanism 7.

[0071] The lifting mechanism 7 has two lifting drive units 71 and 72. In the lifting drive unit 71, a first lifting motor (not shown) is attached to the first lifting mounting portion 173 (Figure 3) of the base member 17. The first lifting motor operates in response to a drive command from the control unit 10 and generates rotational force. Two lifting units 712 and 713 are connected to this first lifting motor. The lifting units 712 and 713 simultaneously receive the rotational force from the first lifting motor. The lifting unit 712 raises and lowers the support member 491 that supports one end of the beam member 49 in the vertical direction Z according to the amount of rotation of the first lifting motor. The lifting unit 713 raises and lowers the head support member 547 that supports the nozzle head 56 in the vertical direction Z according to the amount of rotation of the first lifting motor.

[0072] In the lifting drive unit 72, a second lifting motor (not shown) is attached to the second lifting mounting portion 174 (Figure 3) of the base member 17. The lifting unit 722 is connected to the second lifting motor. The second lifting motor operates in response to a drive command from the control unit 10, generating rotational force which is supplied to the lifting unit 722. The lifting unit 722 raises and lowers the support member 492 that supports the other end of the beam member 49 in the vertical direction according to the amount of rotation of the second lifting motor.

[0073] The lifting and lowering drive units 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 locations in the circumferential direction, in the vertical direction. Therefore, the upper surface protection heating mechanism 4, the nozzle head 56, and the lower sealing cup member 61 can be raised and lowered stably. In addition, the upper cup 33 can be raised and lowered stably in conjunction with the raising and lowering of the lower sealing cup member 61.

[0074] The centering mechanism 8 performs the centering process while the suction by the pump 26 is stopped (i.e., while the substrate W is able to move horizontally on the upper surface of the spin base 21). This centering process eliminates the eccentricity of the substrate W with respect to the rotation axis AX, so that the center of the substrate W coincides with the rotation axis AX. As shown in Figure 4, the centering mechanism 8 has a single contact portion 81 positioned on the transport opening 11b1 side, a multi-contact portion 82 positioned on the maintenance opening 11d1 side, and a centering drive unit 83 that moves the single contact portion 81 and the multi-contact portion 82 in the contact movement direction D2, which is inclined at approximately 40° with respect to the first virtual horizontal line VL1, with respect to the rotation axis AX.

[0075] The single contact portion 81 has a shape that extends parallel to the contact movement direction D2, and its tip on the spin chuck 21 side is finished to be able to contact the end face of the substrate W on the spin chuck 21. On the other hand, the multi-contact portion 82 has a roughly Y-shape when viewed from above vertically, and each tip of the bifurcated portion on the spin chuck 21 side is finished to be able to contact the end face of the substrate W on the spin chuck 21. These single contact portion 81 and multi-contact portion 82 are movable in the contact movement direction D2.

[0076] The centering drive unit 83 includes a single-movement unit 831 for moving the single-contact portion 81 in the contact movement direction D2, and a multi-movement unit 832 for moving the multi-contact portion 82 in the contact movement direction D2. The single-movement unit 831 is attached to the single-movement mounting portion 175 (Figure 3) of the base member 17, and the multi-movement unit 832 is attached to the multi-movement mounting portion 176 (Figure 3) of the base member 17. When the centering process of the substrate W is not being performed, the centering drive unit 83 positions the single-contact portion 81 and the multi-contact portion 82 away from the spin chuck 21, as shown in Figure 4. As a result, the single-contact portion 81 and the multi-contact portion 82 are separated from the transport path TP, effectively preventing them from interfering with the substrate W being transported into and out of the chamber 11.

[0077] On the other hand, when performing the centering process of the substrate W, in response to the centering command from the control unit 10, the single moving unit 831 moves the single contact unit 81 toward the rotation axis AX, and the multi-moving unit 832 moves the multi-contact unit 82 toward the rotation axis AX. As a result, the center of the substrate W coincides with the rotation axis AX.

[0078] The substrate observation mechanism 9 comprises a light source unit 91, an imaging unit 92, an observation head 93, and an observation head drive unit 94. The light source unit 91 and the imaging unit 92 are arranged side by side at the optical component mounting position 177 (Figure 3) of the base member 17. The light source unit 91 irradiates illumination light toward the observation position in response to illumination commands from the control unit 10. This observation position corresponds to the peripheral edge Ws of the substrate W and corresponds to the position where the observation head 93 is positioned (not shown).

[0079] The observation head 93 is capable of reciprocating between an observation position and a position separated from the observation position radially outward from the substrate W. An observation head drive unit 94 is connected to the observation head 93. The observation head drive unit 94 is attached to the base member 17 at the head drive position 178 (Figure 3) of the base member 17. Then, in response to a head movement command from the control unit 10, the observation head drive unit 94 reciprocates the observation head 93 in a head movement direction D3 that is inclined at approximately 10° with respect to the first virtual horizontal line VL1. More specifically, when the substrate W is not being observed, the observation head drive unit 94 moves the observation head 93 to a retracted position for positioning. As a result, the observation head 93 is separated from the transport path TP, effectively preventing the observation head 93 from interfering with the substrate W being transported into and out of the chamber 11. On the other hand, when the substrate W is being observed, the observation head drive unit 94 moves the observation head 93 to the observation position in response to a substrate observation command from the control unit 10.

[0080] When the observation head 93 configured in this way is positioned at the observation position, and the light source unit 91 is turned on in response to a lighting command from the control unit 10 while in the positioning state, illumination light is shone onto the illumination area of ​​the observation head 93. As a result, the peripheral Ws of the substrate W and its adjacent areas are illuminated by the diffuse illumination light from the observation head 93. In addition, the reflected light reflected from the peripheral Ws and its adjacent areas is guided to the imaging unit 92 via the observation head 93.

[0081] The imaging unit 92 has an observation lens system composed of an object-side telecentric lens and a CMOS camera. Therefore, of the reflected light guided from the observation head 93, only the light rays parallel to the optical axis of the observation lens system are incident on the sensor surface of the CMOS camera, and an image of the peripheral Ws and adjacent regions of the substrate W is formed on the sensor surface. In this way, the imaging unit 92 images the peripheral Ws and adjacent regions of the substrate W and acquires top, side, and bottom images of the substrate W. The imaging unit 92 then transmits the image data showing these images to the control unit 10.

[0082] The control unit 10 includes an arithmetic processing unit 10A, a storage unit 10B, a reading unit 10C, an image processing unit 10D, a drive control unit 10E, a communication unit 10F, and an exhaust control unit 10G. The storage unit 10B is composed of a hard disk drive or the like and stores a program for executing bevel processing by the substrate processing device 1. This program is stored, for example, on a computer-readable recording medium RM (e.g., an optical disk, magnetic disk, magneto-optical disk, etc.), read from the recording medium RM by the reading unit 10C, and stored in the storage unit 10B. Furthermore, the provision of this program is not limited to the recording medium RM; for example, the program may be provided via a telecommunications line. The image processing unit 10D performs various processing on the image captured by the substrate observation mechanism 9. The drive control unit 10E controls each drive unit of the substrate processing device 1. The communication unit 10F communicates with a control unit that integrates and controls each part of the substrate processing system 100. The exhaust control unit 10G controls the exhaust unit 38.

[0083] Furthermore, the control unit 10 is connected to a display unit 10H (for example, a display) that shows various information and an input unit 10J (for example, a keyboard and mouse) that receives input from the operator.

[0084] The arithmetic processing unit 10A uses a CPU (= Central Processing Unit) and RAM (= Random The system consists of a computer with Access Memory, etc., and controls each part of the substrate processing apparatus 1 according to the program stored in the memory unit 10B, and performs bevel processing. The bevel processing and coupling rinse processing by the substrate processing apparatus 1 will be described below with reference to Figure 13.

[0085] Figure 13 is a flowchart showing a beveling process performed as an example of substrate processing operation by the substrate processing apparatus shown in Figure 2. When the substrate processing apparatus 1 bevels the substrate W, the calculation processing unit 10A uses the lifting drive units 71 and 72 to raise the lower sealed cup member 61, nozzle head 56, beam member 49, support member 43, and disc portion 42 together. During the rise of the lower sealed cup member 61, the projection 613 engages with the upper annular portion 332 of the upper cup 33, and thereafter the upper cup 33 rises together with the lower sealed cup member 61, nozzle head 56, beam member 49, support member 43, and disc portion 42 and is positioned in the retracted position. This creates a transport space above the spin chuck 21 that is sufficient for the hand (not shown) of the substrate transport robot 111 to enter. Furthermore, the arithmetic processing unit 10A moves the single-movement unit 831 and the multi-contact unit 82 to a retracted position away from the spin chuck 21 using the centering drive unit 83, and moves the observation head 93 to a standby position away from the spin chuck 21 using the observation head drive unit 94. As a result, as shown in Figure 4, among the components arranged around the spin chuck 21, the nozzle head 56, light source unit 91, imaging unit 92, motor 23, and multi-contact unit 82 are located on the maintenance opening 11d1 side (lower side in the figure) of the first virtual horizontal line VL1. In addition, the single-movement unit 831 and the observation head 93 are located on the transport opening 11b1 side of the first virtual horizontal line VL1, but are outside the movement area of ​​the substrate W along the transport path TP. In this embodiment, because such a layout structure is adopted, it is possible to effectively prevent the components arranged around the spin chuck 21 from interfering with the substrate W when the substrate W is loaded into or out of the chamber 11.

[0086] Once the completion of the transport space and prevention of interference with the substrate W are confirmed, the arithmetic processing unit 10A requests the substrate transport robot 111 to load the substrate W via the communication unit 10F, and waits for the unprocessed substrate W to be transported to the substrate processing device 1 along the transport path TP shown in Figure 4 and placed on the upper surface of the spin chuck 21. 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 able to move horizontally on the upper surface of the spin chuck 21.

[0087] Once the loading of the substrate W is complete, the substrate transport robot 111 moves away from the substrate processing device 1 along the transport path TP. Subsequently, the arithmetic processing unit 10A controls the centering drive unit 83 so that the single-movement unit 831 and the multi-contact unit 82 are close to the substrate W on the spin chuck 21. 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). Once the centering process is complete, the arithmetic processing unit 10A controls the centering drive unit 83 so that the single-movement unit 831 and the multi-contact unit 82 are separated from the substrate W, and also operates the pump 26 to apply negative pressure to the spin chuck 21. As a result, the spin chuck 21 attracts and holds the substrate W from below.

[0088] Next, the arithmetic processing unit 10A issues a downward command to the lifting drive units 71 and 72. In response, the lifting drive units 71 and 72 lower the lower sealing cup member 61, nozzle head 56, beam member 49, support member 43, and disc portion 42 together. During this downward movement, the upper cup 33, which is supported from below by the projection 613 of the lower sealing cup member 61, connects to the lower cup 32. This forms the rotating cup portion 31 (= the connected body of the upper cup 33 and the lower cup 32).

[0089] After the rotating cup portion 31 is formed, the lower sealing cup member 61, nozzle head 56, beam member 49, support member 43, and disc portion 42 move further down as a single unit, and the flange portions 611 and 612 of the lower sealing cup member 61 are locked to the flange portion 621 and fixed cup portion 34 of the upper sealing cup member 62, respectively. This positions the lower sealing cup member 61 at the lower limit position (position in Figure 2) (step S3). After the above locking, as shown in the partially enlarged view of Figure 4, the flange portion 621 of the upper sealing cup member 62 and the flange portion 611 of the lower sealing cup member 61 are in close contact via the O-ring 63, and the flange portion 612 and fixed cup portion 34 of the lower sealing cup member 61 are also in close contact via the O-ring 63. As a result, as shown in Figure 2, the lower sealing cup member 61 and the fixed cup portion 34 are connected in the vertical direction, and a sealed space 12a is formed by the upper sealing cup member 62, the lower sealing cup member 61 and the fixed cup portion 34, and the sealed space 12a is separated from the outside atmosphere (outer space 12b) (atmosphere separation).

[0090] In this atmosphere-separated state, the lower surface of the disc portion 42 covers the surface area of ​​the upper surface Wf of the substrate W from above, excluding the peripheral edge Ws. The upper surface processing nozzle 51F is positioned within the notch 44 of the disc portion 42 with its discharge port 511 facing the peripheral edge of the upper surface Wf of the substrate W. Once the preparation for supplying the processing liquid to the substrate W is complete, the calculation processing unit 10A gives a rotation command to the motor 23, and the spin chuck 21 and rotating cup portion 31 that hold the substrate W start to rotate (step S4). The rotation speed of the substrate W and the rotating cup portion 31 is set to, for example, 1800 revolutions per minute. The calculation processing unit 10A also drives and controls the heater drive unit 422 to raise the heater 421 to a desired temperature, for example, 185°C.

[0091] Next, the arithmetic processing unit 10A issues a heating gas supply command to the heating gas supply unit 47. As a result, nitrogen gas heated by the heater 471, i.e., the heating gas, is pumped from the heating gas supply unit 47 towards the central nozzle 45 (step S5). This heating gas is heated by the ribbon heater 48 as it passes through the piping 46. This prevents the heating gas from dropping in temperature during gas supply via the piping 46, and it is discharged from the central nozzle 45 towards the space SPa (Figure 8) sandwiched between the substrate W and the disc portion 42. As a result, the entire upper surface Wf of the substrate W is heated. Heating of the substrate W is also performed by the heater 421. Therefore, over time, the temperature of the peripheral Ws of the substrate W rises and reaches a temperature suitable for beveling, for example, 90°C. The temperature of areas other than the peripheral Ws also rises to approximately the same temperature. In other words, in this embodiment, the in-plane temperature of the upper surface Wf of the substrate W is approximately uniform. Therefore, warping of the substrate W can be effectively suppressed.

[0092] Subsequently, the arithmetic processing unit 10A controls the processing liquid supply unit 52 to supply processing liquid to the upper processing nozzle 51F and the lower processing nozzle 51B. That is, a stream of processing liquid is discharged from the upper processing nozzle 51F so as to hit the upper peripheral edge of the substrate W, and a stream of processing liquid is discharged from the lower processing nozzle 51B so as to hit the lower peripheral edge of the substrate W. This performs beveling on the peripheral edge Ws of the substrate W (step S6). Then, when the arithmetic processing unit 10A detects the elapsed processing time required for the beveling of the substrate W, it issues a supply stop command to the processing liquid supply unit 52 and stops the discharge of processing liquid.

[0093] Subsequently, the arithmetic processing unit 10A issues a command to stop supplying the heating gas supply unit 47, stopping the supply of nitrogen gas from the heating gas supply unit 47 to the central nozzle 45 (step S7). The arithmetic processing unit 10A also issues a command to stop rotation to the motor 23, stopping the rotation of the spin chuck 21 and the rotating cup unit 31 (step S8).

[0094] In the next step S9, the arithmetic processing unit 10A observes the peripheral Ws of the substrate W to inspect the results of the beveling process. More specifically, the arithmetic processing unit 10A positions the upper cup 33 in a retracted position, similar to when the substrate W is loaded, to form a transport space. Then, the arithmetic processing unit 10A controls the observation head drive unit 94 to bring the observation head 93 close to the substrate W. The arithmetic processing unit 10A illuminates the peripheral Ws of the substrate W via the observation head 93 by turning on the light source unit 91. The imaging unit 92 receives the reflected light reflected from the peripheral Ws and adjacent areas and images the peripheral Ws and adjacent areas. In other words, while the substrate W is rotating around the rotation axis AX, the imaging unit 92 acquires multiple images of the peripheral Ws, and from these images, it acquires a peripheral image of the peripheral Ws along the rotation direction of the substrate W. Then, the arithmetic processing unit 10A controls the observation head drive unit 94 to retract the observation head 93 from the substrate W. In parallel with this, the arithmetic processing unit 10A checks whether the beveling process has been performed well, based on the captured peripheral Ws and adjacent region images, i.e., the peripheral image. In this embodiment, as an example of this check, the processing width processed by the processing solution from the edge face of the substrate W toward the center of the substrate W is checked from the peripheral image (post-processing check).

[0095] After inspection, the arithmetic processing unit 10A requests the substrate transfer robot 111 to unload the substrate W via the communication unit 10F, and the processed substrate W is discharged from the substrate processing device 1 (step S10). Subsequently, the arithmetic processing unit 10A determines whether it is time to perform a cup rinse process on the rotating cup unit 31 (step S11). Here, the above timing includes, for example, the replacement of the rotating cup unit 31 or the cumulative number of bevel processes or cumulative time since the last maintenance reaching a predetermined value. It also includes the timing when a cup rinse request is received from the operator.

[0096] If the arithmetic processing unit 10A determines that coupling is unnecessary (NO in step S11), it terminates the series of processes without performing coupling. On the other hand, if the arithmetic processing unit 10A determines that coupling is necessary (YES in step S11), it performs coupling (step S12).

[0097] In the cup rinsing process (step S12), the calculation processing unit 10A controls each part of the apparatus as follows (steps S12a to S12e). Specifically, the calculation processing unit 10A gives a downward command to the lifting drive units 71 and 72. In response, the lifting drive units 71 and 72 lower the lower sealed cup member 61, nozzle head 56, beam member 49, support member 43, and disc part 42 together. During this downward movement, the upper cup 33, which is supported from below by the projection 613 of the lower sealed cup member 61, is connected to the lower cup 32. As a result, the rotating cup part 31 (= connection of the upper cup 33 and the lower cup 32) is formed while the substrate W is not present in the spin chuck 21.

[0098] After the rotating cup portion 31 is formed, the lower sealing cup member 61, nozzle head 56, beam member 49, support member 43, and disc portion 42 move further down as a single unit, and the flange portions 611 and 612 of the lower sealing cup member 61 are locked to the flange portion 621 and fixed cup portion 34 of the upper sealing cup member 62, respectively. This positions the lower sealing cup member 61 at its lower limit position (position in Figure 2) (step S12a).

[0099] In this atmosphere-separated state, as shown in Figure 11B, the lower surface of the disc portion 42 covers the surface area of ​​the upper surface Wf of the substrate W, excluding the peripheral portion Ws, from above. The calculation processing unit 10A also issues a drive command to the nozzle drive motor 543. The slider 544, head support member 547, and nozzle head 56 move together by a distance corresponding to the amount of rotation included in this drive command. As a result, the rinse liquid discharge nozzle 201 is positioned within the notch 44 of the disc portion 42 at a cup rinse position (the position shown in Figure 11B) suitable for cup rinse processing, with the discharge port 202 facing the inclined portion 333 of the upper cup 33 (step S12b).

[0100] Once preparations for supplying the cup rinsing fluid to the rotating cup section 31 are complete, the calculation processing unit 10A issues a rotation command to the motor 23, and the spin chuck 21 holding the substrate W and the rotating cup section 31 begin to rotate (step S12c). During the cup rinsing process, the rotation speed of the substrate W and the rotating cup section 31 is set to a lower speed than the rotation speed during the beveling process, for example, 100 to 500 revolutions per minute.

[0101] Next, the arithmetic processing unit 10A controls the cup rinse liquid supply unit 203 to supply cup rinse liquid to the rinse liquid discharge nozzle 201. That is, the cup rinse liquid is discharged from the rinse liquid discharge nozzle 201 to a portion of the inclined portion 333 of the upper cup 33, more specifically to the cup rinse position Zcr in the vertical direction Z, as shown in Figure 11B. As a result, the cup rinse liquid flows down along the inclined surface 334 of the inclined portion 333, and the cup rinse process is performed (step S12d). Then, when the arithmetic processing unit 10A detects the elapsed processing time required for the cup rinse process of the rotating cup portion 31, it issues a supply stop command to the cup rinse liquid supply unit 203, stopping the discharge of the cup rinse liquid.

[0102] Subsequently, the arithmetic processing unit 10A issues a rotation stop command to the motor 23, stopping the rotation of the rotating cup section 31 (step S12e). This completes the cup rinsing process and the series of processes. These steps (steps S1 to S12) are repeated.

[0103] As described above, in this embodiment, the rotating cup portion 31, which rotates around the rotation axis AX, is directly supplied with cup rinsing liquid from the side of the rotation axis AX, thereby performing the cup rinsing process. Therefore, the rotating cup portion 31 can be kept clean, and the generation of particles caused by droplets of the processing liquid adhering to the rotating cup portion 31 can be effectively prevented. Furthermore, if cup contamination by the processing liquid, especially chemical solutions, is left untreated, the rotating cup portion 31, which is made of resin material, may deform. However, by performing the cup rinsing process at an appropriate timing, deformation of the rotating cup portion 31 can be suppressed. In other words, the lifespan of the rotating cup portion 31 can be extended. As a result, running costs can be reduced. Moreover, the amount of cup rinsing liquid used to achieve these effects is less than that used in the substrate processing apparatus described in Patent Document 1, thus reducing the environmental burden.

[0104] Furthermore, in the rotating cup section 31, the processing liquid is collected on the inclined surface 334 of the inclined portion 333 of the upper cup 33. At this time, the droplets adhering to the inclined surface 334 of the inclined portion 333 of the rotating cup section 31 are subjected to centrifugal force generated as the cup rotates. In addition, they are affected by the airflow formed by nitrogen gas, etc., supplied during the beveling process and flowing radially outward along the upper surface Wf and lower surface Wb of the substrate W. As a result, a downward vector stress acts on the droplets along the inclined surface 334 of the inclined portion 333. Moreover, cup rinsing liquid is supplied to the inclined portion 333 and flows downward along the inclined portion 333. Therefore, the processing liquid can be efficiently removed from the rotating cup section 31.

[0105] Furthermore, in the vertical direction Z, the contact position of the cup rinse liquid at the inclined portion 333, i.e., the cup rinse position Zcr, is set higher than the height position Zw at which droplets of the processing liquid scattered from the rotating substrate W are collected. Therefore, all of the droplets of the processing liquid collected at the inclined portion 333 can be rinsed off by the cup rinse liquid flowing down along the inclined surface 334 of the inclined portion 333, resulting in an excellent cup rinse effect.

[0106] Furthermore, in this embodiment, as shown in Figure 11B, the cup rinsing process is performed with the disc portion 42 of the upper surface protection heating mechanism 4 in close proximity to the inclined portion 333 of the upper cup 33. Therefore, some of the cup rinsing liquid that has landed on the inclined portion 333 may splash back. Taking this into consideration, in this embodiment, the cup rinsing position Zcr is set lower than the position of the upper surface of the disc portion 42 of the upper surface protection heating mechanism 4, i.e., the height position Z42. This effectively prevents droplets of cup rinsing liquid that have splashed back at the cup rinsing position Zcr from adhering to the upper surface of the disc portion 42.

[0107] Furthermore, although the upper cup 33 is heated not only by the heat dissipated from the upper protective heating mechanism 4, room temperature cup rinsing liquid is supplied to the upper cup 33, thereby lowering the temperature of the upper cup 33. As a result, the heat resistance of the upper cup 33 is improved, and deformation of the upper cup 33 can be suppressed.

[0108] Furthermore, in this embodiment, since the diameter of the discharge port 202 is larger than the diameter of the discharge port 511 of the top surface treatment nozzle 51F, the following effects can be obtained. In order to suppress splashing of the cup rinse liquid at the cup rinse position Zcr, in this embodiment, the discharge speed of the cup rinse liquid is set to be lower than the discharge speed of the treatment liquid. On the other hand, as described above, the diameter of the discharge port 202 is set to be relatively large. Therefore, even though the discharge speed of the cup rinse liquid is suppressed, the amount of cup rinse liquid supplied to the cup rinse position Zcr per unit time can be increased. In other words, it is possible to supply sufficient cup rinse liquid for the cup rinse treatment while suppressing splashing of the cup rinse liquid at the cup rinse position Zcr. As a result, the cup rinse treatment can be performed well while suppressing the adverse effects of splashing of the cup rinse liquid.

[0109] Furthermore, as shown in Figure 11B, the discharge direction D33 of the cup rinse liquid is inclined relative to the radial direction AR and the rotation direction Dr of the upper cup 33. This effectively prevents droplets of the cup rinse liquid that bounce off at the cup rinse position Zcr from returning to and adhering to the rinse liquid discharge nozzle 201. As a result, the cup rinse process using the rinse liquid discharge nozzle 201 can be performed continuously, reducing the frequency of maintenance on the rinse liquid discharge nozzle 201 and the rotating cup section 31, and improving the operating efficiency of the device.

[0110] In this embodiment, the rinse liquid discharge nozzle 201 is held together with the upper surface treatment nozzle 51F by the nozzle holder 53, forming a nozzle head 56. The nozzle head 56 is then moved to the cup rinse position (see Figure 11B) by the nozzle moving unit 54. This allows the rinse liquid discharge nozzle 201 to be positioned with high precision in a position suitable for cup rinse processing. Therefore, cup rinse liquid can be supplied to the desired position on the upper cup 33, and the cup rinse processing can be performed effectively.

[0111] As described above, in this embodiment, the control unit 10 corresponds to an example of the "control unit" of the present invention. The cup rinse position Zcr corresponds to an example of the "discharge destination of the cup rinse liquid" of the present invention. The height position Zw corresponds to an example of the "height position of the upper surface of the substrate" of the present invention. The rinse liquid discharge nozzle 201 corresponds to an example of the "upper surface rinse nozzle" of the present invention. The inclined surface 334 corresponds to an example of the "inner circumferential surface of the rotating cup portion" of the present invention.

[0112] By the way, in the first embodiment described above, the cup rinse liquid is discharged from above the substrate holding height at which the spin chuck 21 holds the substrate W in the vertical direction Z toward the cup rinse position Zcr on the inclined surface 334. However, at the same time, the cup rinse liquid may also be discharged toward the cup rinse position Zcr from below the substrate holding height toward the inclined surface 334 (second embodiment).

[0113] Figure 14 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration and operation of a second embodiment of the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention. The main difference between this second embodiment and the first embodiment is that a rinse liquid discharge nozzle 204 is provided on the upper surface (flange portion 572) of the nozzle support portion 57 that supports the lower surface processing nozzle 51B. This rinse liquid discharge nozzle 204 is fixed to the nozzle support portion 57 with its discharge port 205 for discharging cup rinse liquid facing the cup rinse position Zcr. Note that other configurations and operations are the same as in the first embodiment, and therefore the same reference numerals are used and their description is omitted.

[0114] In the second embodiment, during the cup rinsing process (step S12d), the calculation processing unit 10A controls the cup rinsing fluid supply unit 203 to supply cup rinsing fluid to the rinsing fluid discharge nozzle 204, so that cup rinsing fluid is simultaneously supplied to the cup rinsing position Zcr from the rinsing fluid discharge nozzles 201 and 204. Therefore, cup rinsing fluid is supplied to the inclined portion 333 of the upper cup 33 from both diagonally upward and diagonally downward. As a result, better cup rinsing performance is obtained than in the first embodiment.

[0115] Thus, in the second embodiment, the rinse liquid discharge nozzle 204 corresponds to an example of the "bottom rinse nozzle" of the present invention.

[0116] Furthermore, in the first embodiment, the rinse liquid discharge nozzle of the present invention has an upper rinse nozzle 201, and in the second embodiment, it has an upper rinse nozzle 201 and a lower rinse nozzle 204, but it may also be configured to have only a lower rinse nozzle 204 (third embodiment). In this third embodiment, since the upper rinse nozzle is not used, it is possible to keep the nozzle head 56 (= upper processing nozzle 51F + nozzle holder 53) away from the inclined portion 333 during cup rinsing. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the cup rinsing liquid reflected by the inclined portion 333 from adhering to the upper processing nozzle 51F. In addition, the rinse liquid discharge nozzle 204 only needs to be fixed to the nozzle support portion 57 in a position where the discharge port 205 is facing the cup rinsing position Zcr, and the adjustment of the rinse liquid discharge nozzle 204 is simple. Furthermore, since a fixed rinse liquid discharge nozzle 204 is used, the positioning step (step S12b) of the rinse liquid discharge nozzle 201 to the cup rinse position in the first and second embodiments is unnecessary. As a result, processing time can be shortened.

[0117] 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, in the above embodiment, the spin chuck 21 and the rotating cup section 31 are rotationally driven by a single motor 23, but the spin chuck 21 and the rotating cup section 31 may be driven by different motors. The present invention can also be applied to such a substrate processing apparatus. Moreover, in this substrate processing apparatus, during the cup rinsing process, the cup rinsing liquid can be supplied while only the rotating cup section 31 is rotated. As a result, power consumption during the cup rinsing process can be reduced, and the environmental burden can be reduced.

[0118] Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the present invention is applied to a substrate processing apparatus having a raised floor structure in which a substrate processing unit SP is installed on the upper surface of the base member 17. Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the present invention is applied to a substrate processing apparatus having a rotating cup portion 31. Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the present invention is applied to a substrate processing apparatus having an upper surface protection heating mechanism 4, an atmosphere separation mechanism 6, a centering mechanism 8, and a substrate observation mechanism 9. However, as described in Patent Document 1, for example, the present invention can be applied to a substrate processing apparatus that does not have these configurations, that is, a substrate processing apparatus that processes the peripheral edge of the substrate W by supplying a processing liquid to the peripheral edge of the substrate W in the internal space 12 of the chamber 11.

[0119] Furthermore, while the present invention is applied to a substrate processing apparatus that performs beveling as an example of "substrate processing," the present invention can be applied to any substrate processing apparatus that performs substrate processing on a substrate by supplying a processing liquid to a rotating substrate. [Industrial applicability]

[0120] This invention can be applied to all types of substrate processing, which involve processing a substrate with a processing solution. [Explanation of symbols]

[0121] 1… PCB processing equipment (PCB processing unit) 2A...Board holding part 2B... Rotation mechanism 3…Scatter prevention mechanism 4…Top surface protection heating mechanism 5…Processing mechanism 10…Control unit (control section) 10A...Calculation Processing Unit 21... Spin Chuck 31... Rotating cup section 32...Lower cup 33…Upper cup 42...Disk section 51B...Bottom treatment nozzle (treatment liquid discharge nozzle) 51F... Top surface treatment nozzle (treatment liquid discharge nozzle) 52... Processing liquid supply unit 53…Nozzle holder 54…Nozzle movement section 56…Nozzle head 201…(Top) Rinse liquid discharge nozzle 202…(Discharge nozzle of the top rinse liquid discharge nozzle) 203...Cup rinse fluid supply unit 204…(Bottom) Rinse liquid discharge nozzle 205…(Discharge nozzle of the bottom rinse liquid discharge nozzle) 333... (The sloping part of the upper cup) 334…Slope surface AR...Radial direction AX... Rotation axis D33…Discharge direction Dr... Direction of rotation Ws… (Circuit board) edge Z...Vertical direction Zcr... Cup rinse position Zw... (Height position on the top surface of the circuit board)

Claims

1. A substrate holder is provided that is rotatable around a rotation axis extending vertically while holding the substrate, A rotating cup portion is provided so as to be rotatable around the rotation axis while surrounding the outer circumference of the substrate held in the substrate holding portion, A rotating mechanism for rotating the substrate holding portion and the rotating cup portion, A processing mechanism that applies a predetermined substrate treatment to a substrate held in a rotating substrate holding part by supplying a processing liquid from a processing liquid discharge nozzle, A cup rinsing mechanism that performs a cup rinsing process to remove the processing liquid from the rotating cup by directly supplying cup rinsing liquid from the rotating shaft side to the rotating cup that collects the processing liquid scattered from the substrate, The system includes a control unit that controls the rotating mechanism and the cup rinsing mechanism so as to supply the cup rinsing liquid to the rotating cup portion while rotating the cup portion after the substrate processing has been performed. The rotating cup portion includes a lower cup that rotates around the rotation axis by receiving rotational driving force from the rotation mechanism, and an upper cup that is connected to the lower cup and rotates integrally with the lower cup around the rotation axis to collect droplets of the processing liquid scattered from the substrate. The upper cup has a connecting portion located above the lower cup and connected to the lower cup, and an inclined portion that slopes upward from the connecting portion toward the peripheral edge of the substrate, and the inclined portion collects the droplets. The substrate processing apparatus is characterized in that the cup rinsing mechanism has a rinsing liquid discharge nozzle that discharges the cup rinsing liquid toward the inclined portion, and the discharge point of the cup rinsing liquid from the rinsing liquid discharge nozzle is at a cup rinsing position higher in the vertical direction than the height position of the upper surface of the substrate held by the substrate holding portion.

2. A substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, The circuit board has a disc portion containing a heater that heats the central part of the upper surface of the substrate, excluding the peripheral edge, to which the processing liquid is supplied, and the circuit board is further provided with a heating mechanism that heats the substrate by arranging the disc portion above the substrate. A substrate processing apparatus in which the cup rinsing position is lower in the vertical direction than the upper surface of the disc portion.

3. A substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, A substrate processing apparatus in which the discharge direction of the cup rinse liquid from the rinse liquid discharge nozzle is inclined in the rotational direction to the rotating cup portion with respect to the radial direction from the rotation axis toward the rinse liquid discharge nozzle in the horizontal plane.

4. A substrate processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, The processing mechanism has a top surface processing nozzle as the processing liquid discharge nozzle, which discharges the processing liquid from above the substrate held in the substrate holding portion toward the peripheral edge of the upper surface of the substrate. The cup rinsing mechanism has an upper surface rinsing nozzle as the rinsing liquid discharge nozzle, which discharges the cup rinsing liquid from above the substrate holding height at which the substrate is held by the substrate holding portion in the vertical direction toward the inner circumferential surface of the rotating cup portion.

5. A substrate processing apparatus according to claim 4, A nozzle holder that holds the upper surface treatment nozzle and the upper surface rinsing nozzle, which are arranged in close proximity to each other, The nozzle moving unit is provided for moving the nozzle holder to a substrate processing position for performing the substrate processing or to a cup rinsing position for performing the cup rinsing processing. The control unit, When the nozzle holder moves to the substrate processing position, the discharge of the cup rinse liquid from the upper surface rinse nozzle is stopped while the processing liquid is discharged from the upper surface processing nozzle. A substrate processing apparatus that controls the processing liquid discharge nozzle and the rinse liquid discharge nozzle so that when the nozzle holder moves to the cup rinse position, the discharge of the processing liquid from the upper surface processing nozzle is stopped while the cup rinse liquid is discharged from the upper surface rinse nozzle.

6. A substrate processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, The processing mechanism has a processing liquid discharge nozzle which discharges the processing liquid from below the substrate held in the substrate holding portion toward the peripheral edge of the lower surface of the substrate, The cup rinse mechanism is a substrate processing apparatus having a lower rinse nozzle as the rinse liquid discharge nozzle, which discharges the cup rinse liquid from below the substrate holding height at which the substrate is held by the substrate holding portion in the vertical direction toward the inner circumferential surface of the rotating cup portion.

7. A substrate processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, The processing mechanism includes, as the processing liquid discharge nozzle, an upper processing nozzle that discharges the processing liquid from above the substrate held in the substrate holding section toward the peripheral edge of the upper surface of the substrate, and a lower processing nozzle that discharges the processing liquid from below the substrate held in the substrate holding section toward the peripheral edge of the lower surface of the substrate. The cup rinsing mechanism comprises, as the rinsing liquid discharge nozzle, an upper rinsing nozzle that discharges the cup rinsing liquid toward the inner circumferential surface of the rotating cup portion from above the substrate holding height at which the substrate is held by the substrate holding portion in the vertical direction, thereby supplying the cup rinsing liquid to the inner circumferential surface, and a lower rinsing nozzle that discharges the cup rinsing liquid toward the inner circumferential surface of the rotating cup portion from below the substrate holding height, thereby supplying the cup rinsing liquid to the inner circumferential surface.

8. A processing liquid is supplied to a substrate while the outer circumference of the substrate, which rotates around a rotation axis extending vertically, is surrounded by a rotating cup portion, thereby performing a predetermined substrate treatment on the substrate with the processing liquid, and a collection step is performed to collect the processing liquid that is scattered from the substrate with the rotating cup portion. The system includes a cup rinsing step in which the rotating cup portion, which collects the processing liquid, is rotated around the rotation axis, and a cup rinsing liquid is directly supplied to the rotating cup portion from the rotation axis side to remove the processing liquid from the rotating cup portion, The rotating cup portion comprises a lower cup that rotates around the rotation axis and an upper cup that is connected to the lower cup and rotates integrally with the lower cup around the rotation axis to collect droplets of the processing liquid scattered from the substrate. The upper cup has a connecting portion located above the lower cup and connected to the lower cup, and an inclined portion that slopes upward from the connecting portion toward the peripheral edge of the substrate. In the collection step, the droplets are collected at the inclined portion. In the cup rinsing process, the cup rinsing liquid is discharged from the rinsing liquid discharge nozzle toward the inclined portion, and the discharge point of the cup rinsing liquid from the rinsing liquid discharge nozzle is at a cup rinsing position higher than the height of the upper surface of the substrate held by the substrate holding portion in the vertical direction. A substrate processing method characterized by the following.

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