Substrate treatment method and substrate treatment apparatus

Abstract

The present invention is a substrate treatment method in which a treatment by supplying a treatment solution from a nozzle to a substrate is successively performed for a plurality of substrates, which comprises the step of, during the performance of the successive treatments, performing between the treatments a plurality of pre-dispenses for different purposes of the treatment solution, wherein at least a recipe of the treatment solution to be pre-dispensed or a start condition of the pre-dispense is determined for each of the pre-dispenses. According to the present invention, the pre-dispense can be performed at a necessary and sufficient frequency to shorten the suspension time due to the pre-dispenses in the substrate treatment. This improves the throughput and reduces the number of pre-dispenses, resulting in reduced consumption of the treatment solution.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a substrate treatment method and a substrate treatment apparatus. [0003] 2. Description of the Related Art [0004] In fabrication processes of semiconductor devices, a resist coating treatment is performed in which a resist solution is supplied to, for example, a semiconductor wafer (hereafter referred to as a “wafer”) to form a resist film on the front face of the wafer. [0005] This resist coating treatment is normally performed in a resist coating unit. The resist coating unit is provided with a nozzle for supplying a predetermined amount of the resist solution to the wafer. The nozzle is connected to a storage tank, which is a supply source of the resist solution, via a pipe. This pipe is provided with, for example, a pump for feeding the resist solution by pressure, a filter for removing impurities, an open / close valve for controlling discharge of the resist solution, and so on. T...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0011] The present invention is made in the above viewpoints, and it is an object of the present invention to improve the throughput and to reduce the consumption of a treatment solution when performing pre-dispenses for respective purposes, by omitting unnecessary pre-dispenses.

[0013] According to the present invention, the start condition and the like are determined for each of the plurality of pre-dispenses, so that the pre-dispense can be performed in accordance with a purpose. For example, the pre-dispense can be performed at a necessary and sufficient frequency for attaining each purpose to shorten the suspension time due to the pre-dispenses in the substrate treatment, resulting in improved throughput. Further, it is possible to omit unnecessary pre-dispenses to thereby reduce the consumption of the treatment solution by the pre-dispenses.

[0015] According to the present invention, the pre-dispense is performed only when the kind of the treatment solution is changed between the lots and not every change of lot as in the prior art, resulting in reduced number of pre-dispenses. Therefore, the total consumption of the treatment solution is reduced for reduced cost. Further, when no pre-dispense is performed, the treatment is not suspended, so that the treatment for the subsequent substrate can be started immediately, resulting in improved efficiency of treating substrates.

Problems solved by technology

When left standing for a long time, the remaining resist solution dries or changes in quality.

During the pre-dispense, however, the treatment for wafers is suspended, and thus if its recipe is matched to that of the pre-dispense which needs to be performed most frequently, the throughput of the treatment is significantly decreased.

Further, the resist solution discharged when the pre-dispense is normally disposed, resulting in increased amount of the resist solution going to waste.

This problem also applies to the case in which the pre-dispense is performed every change of lot.

Images