JP2001007004A - Device and method for supplying chemical - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make a chemical tank which is exchangeable with another tank, without interrupting the treatment of a substrate to be treated. SOLUTION: An auxiliary pipeline 46 is provided so as to by-pass a main pipeline 45 between first to third developing solution tanks 31, 32, and 33 and a buffer tank 34, and at exchanging of the tanks 31, 32, and 33 with each other, the developing solution in a spare tank 35 is supplied to developing sections 5 and 6 by supplying N2 gas to the spare tank 35 via the auxiliary pipeline 46 by switching a first change-over switch 41 installed to the main pipeline 45 from a communicating position to an interrupting position and a second change-over valve 47 connected to the auxiliary pipeline 46 from an interrupting position to a communicating position. As a result, the exchanging work of the developing tanks 31, 32, and 33 can be carried out without having to stop facilities.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a chemical liquid supply apparatus and a chemical liquid supply method, and more particularly, to a chemical liquid supply apparatus and a chemical liquid supply method for a chemical liquid processing unit that supplies a chemical liquid to a substrate to be processed and performs a predetermined process. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a wafer process in semiconductor manufacturing, a developing process for developing a pattern exposed on a wafer uses, for example, equipment as shown in FIG. The wafer before development set in the supply unit 1 is transported to the oven unit 3, subjected to a predetermined heat treatment at, for example, 100 ° C., and then transported to the buffer unit 4. The wafer taken out one by one from the buffer unit 4 is the first or second wafer.
After being transported to the developing units 5 and 6, a predetermined developing process is performed. After the processing, a drying process is performed in the oven unit 7 and then transported to the buffer unit 8. Then, the wafers are transferred one by one to the storage unit 9 and taken out.

The first and second developing units 5 and 6 are constituted by well-known spin developers as chemical processing units. As shown in FIG. 8A, the wafer W is supported by a spin chuck 20 directly connected to a motor 19, the developer 18 is supplied to the wafer W from an upper nozzle 21 and the centrifugal force generated by the rotation of the wafer W is used. This is a device for uniformly applying the developer 18 over the entire surface of the wafer. The supply of the developer to the first and second developing units 5 and 6 is performed from the developer supply device 1 via a developer supply line 10. FIG. 6 shows a configuration of a conventional developer supply device. As shown
Developer supply lines 14 and 14 ′ are separately provided for the first and second developing units 5 and 6. Since both systems have the same configuration, only the system on the first developing unit 5 side will be described here, and the description on the second developing unit 6 side will be omitted. The same reference numerals are given to the components corresponding to and, and “′” is added at the end.

[0004] First and second developer tanks 11 and 12 are provided in series as chemical liquid tanks, and are connected to a first developing section 5 via a buffer tank 13. Compressed nitrogen (N ₂ ) gas is supplied from a pressurizing source (not shown) to the first developer tank 11, whereby the first developer tank 1
1 is supplied to the first developing section 5 via the second developer tank 12 and the buffer tank 13. When the developing solution in the first developing solution 11 becomes empty, the developing solution in the second developing solution tank 12 is supplied to the first developing unit 5 via the buffer tank 13. When the second developing solution tank 12 is emptied, the developing solution in the buffer tank 13 is supplied to the first developing unit 5, but as shown in FIG. When less,
The remaining amount sensor 15 detects this, and outputs a facility stop signal to interrupt the developer supply operation.

Therefore, the first and second developer tanks 1
After replacing the tanks 1 and 12 with new tanks and using the air vent valve 16 to fill the entire developing tank with the developing solution from the outlet side of the first developing solution tank 11 to the inside of the buffer tank 13, Otherwise, the operation cannot be resumed, and thus, there is a problem that the wafer cannot be subjected to the developing process during this time.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and has as its object to provide a chemical solution supply apparatus and a chemical solution supply method capable of exchanging a chemical solution tank without interrupting chemical solution processing of a wafer. Make it an issue.

[0007]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, according to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a spare tank which is disposed in the middle of a main pipe between a buffer tank and a chemical solution processing unit and is filled with a chemical solution. One side communicates with the pressurizing source, and the other end is connected to the main pipe halfway between the buffer tank and the spare tank, and the main pipe on the pressurizing source side from the chemical tank to operate the residual quantity sensor. And a second switching valve provided in the auxiliary pipe and switched from the shut-off position to the communication position in response to the operation of the remaining amount sensor. Constitute. When replacing the chemical tank, the first switching valve is switched to the shut-off position, the second switching valve is switched to the communication position, and the auxiliary tank is connected to the pressurizing source via the auxiliary pipe, so that the auxiliary tank is connected to the chemical unit. Since the chemical solution can be supplied, the chemical solution tank can be replaced without stopping the equipment.

In the invention according to claim 5, a spare tank filled with a chemical is disposed between the buffer tank and the chemical processing unit, and usually, a pressurized gas is supplied to the chemical tank to thereby increase the chemical tank. By supplying the chemical solution inside to the chemical solution processing unit via the spare tank, and when replacing the chemical solution tank, by supplying the pressurized gas directly to the spare tank,
The method is characterized by supplying a chemical solution in the spare tank to the chemical solution processing unit. This makes it possible to supply the chemical solution to the chemical solution processing unit even when the chemical solution tank is replaced, and the facility operation rate is greatly improved as compared with the related art.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIGS. 1 and 2 show a piping system of a chemical solution supply device according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the present embodiment, the first, second, and third chemical liquid tanks are used.
The developer tanks 31, 32, and 33 are connected in series, and a pressure source (not shown) for supplying a compressed nitrogen (N ₂ ) gas is connected to an inlet of the first developer tank 31. A buffer tank 34 is connected to the outlet of the third developer tank 33 via a pipe. The buffer tank 34 is for temporarily storing the developer supplied from the developer tanks 31, 32, and 33, and is connected to the inlet of the spare tank 35 via a check valve 42 via a pipe. The check valve 42 makes the flow of the developer from the buffer tank 34 to the spare tank 35 a forward direction. The spare tank 35 has the same configuration as the developer tanks 31, 32, and 33, and is filled with the developer in advance. The outlet side of the reserve tank 35 is configured such that a pipe is branched into two so that a developing solution is supplied to a first developing section 5 and a second developing section 6 as a chemical solution processing unit, and the pipe is provided in the middle of the pipe. Each is provided with a trap tank 37A, 37B.

In this embodiment, the developer tanks 31, 3
The first and second developing units 5 and 6
The main supply line 45 supplies the developing solution to the developing solution tanks 31, 32, 33 and the buffer tank 3.
The pipe 46 arranged to bypass the pipe 4 is used as a sub pipe. One end of the sub-pipe 46 is connected via a T-joint 40 to a part of the pipe closer to the pressure source than the first developer tank 31, and the other end is connected to a part of the pipe between the check valve 42 and the spare tank 35. It is connected via a T-joint 43.

A first switching valve 41 is provided in a main conduit 45 between the T-joint 40 and the first developer tank 31. The first switching valve 41 takes a shut-off position when not energized (OFF) as shown in FIG. , Is configured as an electromagnetic switching valve which takes a communication position when excited (ON). Also, the second switching valve 4 is
2, which is configured as an air operated valve, as shown in FIG. 2, takes a shut-off position when the pilot pressure is not applied, and takes a communication position when the pilot pressure is applied. The pilot pressure is controlled by the solenoid valve 49, and the excitation of the solenoid valve 49 causes the compressed air of the original pressure of 0.2 MPa to act on the second switching valve 47. Further, a check valve 48 is provided between the second switching valve 47 and the T-joint 43 so that the direction from the second switching valve 47 to the T-joint 43 is a forward direction.

The buffer tank 34 and the trap tanks 37A and 37B are provided with a first remaining amount sensor 38 and second remaining amount sensors 39A and 39B, respectively. It is configured to operate when it falls below. In addition, a pressure sensor 17 is provided in the middle of the pipe near the pressurizing source, and a hydraulic pressure sensor 44 is provided in the middle of the pipe downstream of the auxiliary tank 35 via a mounting joint 36.

Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

The developer tanks 31, 32, 33 and the spare tank 35 are filled with the developer, and the first switching valve 41 is turned on.
It is in the communication position. The second switching valve 47
Is OFF and is in the shut-off position. From this state, compressed N ₂ gas is supplied to the first developer tank 31 from a pressure source (not shown) at a pressure of more than 0.1 MPa and 0.15 MPa or less. Thereby, the inside of the first developer tank 31 is pressurized, and the developer therein is supplied to the second developer tank 32.
Similarly, the inside of the second developer tank 32 is pressurized and the developer therein is supplied to the third developer tank 33,
The developing solution in the third developing solution tank 33 is supplied to the buffer tank 34. Then, the developer is supplied to the first and second developing units 5 and 6 via the spare tank 35 and the trap tanks 37A and 37B.

The developing solution is emptied from the first developing solution tank 31 side. When all the developing solution tanks 31, 32 and 33 are emptied, the developing solution stored in the buffer tank 34 becomes N
_It is pressurized to _two gases and supplied to the downstream side. Then, the first remaining amount sensor 38 detects that the developer storage level in the buffer tank 34 has become lower than the predetermined amount, and turns on (step S1). The valve 47 is turned on to switch from the shut-off position to the communication position (steps S2, S3).
A predetermined time (for example, 5 seconds) after the second switching valve 47 is switched
After the lapse of time, the first switching valve 41 is turned off to switch from the communication position to the shut-off position, N ₂ gas is directly supplied to the auxiliary tank 35 via the auxiliary pipe 46, and the developer in the auxiliary tank 35 1, and are supplied to the second developing units 5 and 6.

As described above, the switching of the first switching valve 41 is performed after a predetermined time has elapsed since the switching of the second switching valve, so that the supply of the developing solution to the developing units 5 and 6 can be performed without interruption. Can be. Further, since the check valve 42 is provided immediately downstream of the buffer tank 34, the N ₂ gas does not flow into the buffer tank 34 side.

The blinking of the tower light in blue indicates to the operator that the developer tanks 31, 32, 33 need to be replaced, whereby the replacement of the developer tanks 31, 32, 33 is started (step S5). ). That is, after the empty developer tanks 31, 32, and 33 are removed from the pipe, a new developer tank prepared is attached. The coupler connection operation includes an inlet side and an outlet side of the first developer tank 31, an inlet side and an outlet side of the second developer tank 32,
After connection is made in the order of the inlet side and the outlet side of the third developer tank 33, the replacement switch (not shown) is pressed to turn on the first switching valve again to take the communication position, thus ending (steps S8, S9). . Next, the air in the path from the new developer tanks 31, 32, 33 to the buffer tank 34 is vented. This is because the developer flows from the third developer tank 33 to the buffer tank 34 by manually opening the air release valve 50 of the buffer tank 34, and after the buffer tank 34 is filled with the developer, the air release valve is opened. close. Thereby, the air release is completed. The developer discharged outside during the air bleeding operation is sent to the waste liquid tank 51.

When the buffer tank 34 is filled with the developing solution, the first remaining amount sensor 38 is turned off from ON and the blue tower light is turned off (steps S10 and S10).
1). Also, five seconds after the first remaining amount sensor 38 is turned off, the second switching valve 47 is turned off to take a shut-off position (step S12). This returns to the normal developer supply mode.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, when the developer tanks 31, 32, and 33 are replaced, the spare tank 35 is replaced.
Is supplied directly to each of the developing units 5 and 6, so that the developer tanks 31, 32 and 33 can be replaced without interrupting the developing process of the wafer W,
As a result, the facility operation rate can be improved as compared with the related art.

On the other hand, by repeatedly performing the above operation, the developer storage amount in the spare tank 35 gradually decreases.
And finally, when the spare tank 35 becomes empty, it becomes the second remaining amount sensor 39A of the trap tank 37A, 37B,
39B. With reference to FIG.
When the second remaining amount sensors 39A, 39B are turned on during the replacement of the developer tanks 31, 32, 33, the entire wafer development processing equipment is stopped, and the red tower light is turned on (steps S6, S7, S15). At this stage, the spare tank 35 is also replaced with a new tank (step S1).
6) After the replacement of all the tanks is completed, the same operation as described above is performed by pressing the replaced switch (steps S8 to S12).

When the spare tank 35 is replaced, the spare tank 35 is replaced with the trap tanks 37A and 37A.
It is necessary to remove air in the route to B. This is performed using an air vent valve (not shown) provided for the trap tanks 37A and 37B. As a result, the trap tanks 37A and 37B are filled with the developer, the second remaining amount sensors 39A and 39B are turned off, the red tower light is turned off, and the equipment is restarted.

Further, referring to FIG. 4, in the present embodiment, by providing a liquid pressure sensor 44, the equipment operates in a state where the first to third developer tanks 31, 32, and 33 are connected. When the developer pressure value is within the range of 0.06 MPa or more and 0.17 MPa or less (step T1), it is determined that the developer is normal, while the developer pressure value is 0.06 MPa.
When the pressure falls below a (step T2), the red tower light blinks as a hydraulic pressure failure, and the equipment is stopped (steps T3 and T4). In this case, after the operator takes an appropriate action (step T5), the operation is restarted.

In the conventional configuration described with reference to FIG.
Since the pressure of the developing solution supplied to the developing unit 5 is controlled only by controlling the pressure of the N ₂ gas using the pressure sensor 17, for example, when the developing solution tank is replaced, a coupler for connecting the tank and the pipe is connected. Due to a failure or the like, a situation occurs in which the developing solution is not supplied to the developing unit 5 with a liquid pressure corresponding to the pressure of the N ₂ gas, and a state occurs in which the developing solution 18 is not normally applied to the wafer W as shown in FIG. 8B. Even so, such a situation could not be detected. However, such a problem has been solved by the configuration of the present embodiment.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is, of course, not limited thereto, and various modifications can be made based on the technical concept of the present invention.

For example, in the above-described embodiment, the developer supply device and the supply method for semiconductor manufacturing have been described as the chemical solution supply device and the chemical solution supply method. However, the present invention is not limited to the developer, but a resist, a rinse solution, a cleaning solution, an etching solution The present invention can also be applied to various kinds of chemical liquid supply.

Further, although the developer tank as the chemical liquid tank is constituted by three, the number thereof may be further increased, and the number of the spare tank 35 may be increased.

[0028]

As described above, according to the present invention, the following effects can be obtained.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, when replacing the chemical tank, the first switching valve is switched to the shut-off position and the second switching valve is switched to the communication position, so that the chemical is transferred from the spare tank to the chemical unit. Can be supplied, so that the chemical liquid tank can be replaced without stopping the equipment.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, by providing a time difference between the switching timing of the first switching valve and the second switching valve, it is possible to prevent the supply of the chemical to the chemical processing unit from being interrupted. Can be.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, it is possible to prevent the pressurized medium from flowing from the main pipe to the sub pipe or from the sub pipe to the main pipe.

According to the fourth aspect of the invention, the replacement cycle of the chemical tank can be lengthened, and the chemical can be supplied to a plurality of chemical processing units.

Further, according to the invention of claim 5, the chemical liquid can be supplied to the chemical liquid processing unit even when the chemical liquid tank is exchanged, so that the equipment operation rate can be greatly improved as compared with the related art.

Further, according to the invention of claim 6, it is possible to reliably detect a failure in the supply pressure of the chemical solution, thereby avoiding the chemical treatment of the non-processed substrate due to insufficient hydraulic pressure.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a chemical solution supply device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a piping system diagram of the same device.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating another operation of the apparatus.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an outline of a semiconductor manufacturing substrate development processing facility.

FIG. 6 is a schematic configuration diagram of a conventional chemical liquid supply device.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a relationship between a buffer tank and a remaining amount sensor.

FIG. 8 is a side view for explaining the action of supplying the developing solution to the wafer, wherein A shows a state of supplying the developing solution at a normal fluid pressure, and B
Indicates that the developer is supplied at a liquid pressure lower than the predetermined pressure.

[Explanation of symbols]

31: first developer tank, 32: second developer tank, 3
3. Third developer tank, 34 Buffer tank, 35
Spare tank, 38: first remaining amount sensor, 41: first switching valve, 42, 48: check valve, 44: hydraulic pressure sensor, 45: main piping, 46: auxiliary piping, 47: second switching valve.

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A chemical solution tank filled with a chemical solution, a pressurizing source for pressurizing the inside of the chemical solution tank and supplying the chemical solution to a chemical solution processing unit via a main pipe, and temporarily storing the chemical solution arranged in the main pipe. A liquid supply device comprising: a buffer tank to be operated, and a remaining amount sensor that operates when the liquid chemical in the buffer tank is equal to or lower than a predetermined level. The liquid chemical supply device is disposed in the main pipe halfway between the buffer tank and the liquid chemical processing unit. A supplementary tank filled with a chemical solution, a sub-pipe connected at one end to the pressurization source, and the other end connected to the middle of the main pipe between the buffer tank and the spare tank; Provided in the main pipe on the side of the pressurization source,
A first switching valve that switches from a communicating position to a shut-off position in response to operation of the remaining amount sensor; and a second switching valve that is provided in the auxiliary pipe and that switches from the shut-off position to the communicating position in response to operation of the remaining amount sensor. A chemical solution supply device comprising a valve. 2. The chemical according to claim 1, wherein, when the remaining amount sensor is operated, the first switching valve switches after a predetermined time has elapsed since the switching of the second switching valve. Feeding device. 3. A first check valve having a forward direction from the buffer tank to the connection point is provided between the buffer tank and a connection point between the main pipe and the sub pipe. A second check valve is provided between the second switching valve and the connection point, the second check valve having a forward direction from the second switching valve to the connection point. Chemical supply device. 4. The chemical liquid supply device according to claim 1, wherein the chemical liquid tank includes a plurality of tanks connected in series with each other. 5. A pressurized gas supplied from a pressurized source,
A chemical liquid supply method for supplying a chemical liquid from a chemical liquid tank filled with a chemical liquid to a chemical liquid processing unit via a buffer tank for temporarily storing the chemical liquid, wherein a preliminary tank filled with a chemical liquid between the buffer tank and the chemical liquid processing unit is provided. Usually, by supplying the pressurized gas to the chemical liquid tank, the chemical liquid in the chemical liquid tank is supplied to the chemical liquid processing unit via the spare tank, and when replacing the chemical liquid tank, A chemical solution supply method, wherein a chemical solution in the preliminary tank is supplied to the chemical solution processing unit by supplying a pressurized gas to the preliminary tank. 6. The chemical solution supply to the chemical solution processing unit is stopped when the pressure of the chemical solution supplied from the spare tank to the chemical solution processing unit falls below a predetermined value. Chemical solution supply method.