Apparatus for treating substrate

Abstract

There is provided an apparatus for treating a substrate using a plurality of treatment solutions in sequence. The apparatus includes treatment liquid collecting vessels for separately collecting used treatment solutions, and an exhaust member for separately discharging pollutant gases generated during a process.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this application, illustrate embodiment(s) of the invention and together with the description serve to explain the principle of the invention. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view of an apparatus for treating a substrate according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a side-sectional perspective view of a treatment liquid collecting member of the apparatus depicted in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an exploded sectional view of the treatment liquid collecting member depicted in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an inner base and a middle base of the treatment liquid collecting member;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an outer base of the treatment liquid collecting member;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a separating plate of the treatment liquid collecting member according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along line AA′ of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is an assembled sectional view of the separating plate depicted in FIG. 6 and the outer base depicted in FIG. 5;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view a separating plate of the treatment liquid collecting member according to another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10 an assembled sectional view of the separating plate depicted in FIG. 9 and the outer base depicted in FIG. 5; and

FIGS. 11 through 13 are views for explaining a process using the apparatus depicted in FIG. 1.

Claims

1. An apparatus for treating a substrate using a plurality of treatment solutions, the apparatus comprising: a supporting member receiving the substrate thereon and rotating the substrate;a treatment liquid supplying member supplying the treatment solutions to the substrate placed on the supporting member;a treatment liquid collecting member forming a space for placing the supporting member and including a plurality of treatment liquid collecting vessels arranged for separately collecting the treatment solutions supplied from the treatment liquid supplying member;an exhaust member separately discharging pollutant gases generated from the treatment solutions during the treatment of the substrate; anda lifting member moving at least one of the supporting member and the treatment liquid collecting member so as to change a height of the supporting member relative to inlets of the treatment liquid collecting vessels.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the treatment liquid collecting vessels surround the supporting member one after another, and the inlet of a more distant treatment liquid collecting vessel is higher than that of a closer treatment liquid collecting vessel.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the treatment liquid collecting vessels comprise: an inner collecting vessel closest to the supporting member; andan outer collecting vessel most distant from the supporting member,wherein the inner collecting vessel comprises:an inner base including a bottom wall, an inner wall, and an outer wall that form a space for receiving the treatment solution and the pollutant gas, the inner base being formed with a drain hole for discharging the treatment solution, the inner wall of the inner base being formed with an exhaust hole for discharging the pollutant gas; andan inner guide disposed on the outer wall of the inner base and providing a passage to introduce the treatment solution and the pollutant gas into the space formed in the inner base.

4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the outer collecting vessel comprises: an outer base including a bottom wall and an outer wall that form a space for receiving the treatment solution and the pollutant gas, the outer base being formed with a drain hole for discharging the treatment solution; andan outer guide disposed on the outer wall of the outer base and providing a passage to introduce the treatment solution and the pollutant gas into the space formed in the outer base.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the inner guide is disposed on the outer wall of the inner base by a groove-protrusion engagement structure formed on an upper end of the outer wall of the inner base and a lower end of the inner guide.

6. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the outer base is formed with a plurality of exhaust holes, and the exhaust member comprises:exhaust tubes connected to the exhaust holes, respectively; anda separating plate dividing the space formed in the outer base, such that the pollutant gas introduced into the space of the outer base through the outer guide is separately discharged from a pollutant gas introduced into the space of the outer base through the inner guide and the inner base.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the exhaust holes are formed in an edge region of the outer base, and the separating plate divides the space of the outer base into an inner space and an outer space, the inner space communicating with the exhaust hole of the inner base and at least one of the exhaust holes of the outer base, the outer space communicating with the outer guide and at least one of the exhaust holes of the outer base.

8. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the exhaust holes are formed in an edge region of the outer base, and the separating plate comprises:a barrier portion disposed between the edge region and a center region of the outer base and forming an inner space communicating with the exhaust hole of the inner base; andan extension portion protruding from the barrier portion into the edge region of the outer base so as to extend the inner space of the barrier portion into the edge region of the outer base and communicate with some of the exhaust holes of the outer base.

9. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the outer base is formed with an upwardly protruded ridge on a bottom, and the separating plate has a lower end formed with a groove corresponding to the ridge of the outer base, such that the separating plate is coupled to the outer base by engaging the groove and the ridge.

10. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein each of the exhaust tubes connected to the exhaust holes has a leading end protruded from the bottom wall of the outer base by a predetermined length.

11. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the treatment liquid collecting vessels further comprise at least one middle collecting vessel between the inner collecting vessel and the outer collecting vessel, wherein the middle collecting vessel comprises:a middle base including a bottom wall, an inner wall, and an outer wall that form a space for receiving the treatment solution and the pollutant gas, the middle base being formed with a drain hole for discharging the treatment solution, and the inner wall of the middle base being formed with an exhaust hole for discharging the pollutant gas; anda middle guide disposed on the outer wall of the middle base and providing a passage to introduce the treatment solution and the pollutant gas into the space formed in the middle base.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the middle base and the inner base are formed in one piece, the inner guide is disposed on the outer wall of the inner base by a groove-protrusion engagement structure formed on an upper end of the outer wall of the inner base and a lower end of the inner guide,the middle guide is disposed on the outer wall of the middle base by a groove-protrusion engagement structure formed on an upper end of the outer wall of the middle base and a lower end of the middle guide, andthe outer guide is disposed on the outer wall of the inner base by a groove-protrusion engagement structure formed on an upper end of the outer wall of the outer base and a lower end of the outer guide.

13. The apparatus of any one of claim 1, wherein the treatment solutions comprise at least two different etching solutions that are supplied to the substrate on the supporting member at different times.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the treatment solutions further comprise a cleaning solution supplied to the substrate on the supporting member at a different time from the etching solutions.

15. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the treatment solutions comprise at least two different etching solutions supplied to the substrate on the supporting member at different times and a cleaning solution supplied to the substrate on the supporting member at a different time from the etching solutions, the apparatus further comprising a controller controlling the lifting member,wherein the controller controls the lifting member such that the cleaning solution is discharged through the outer collecting vessel and the etching solutions are discharged through the inner collecting vessel and the middle collecting vessel.

16. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the outer base is formed with a plurality of exhaust holes, and the exhaust member comprises:exhaust tubes connected to the exhaust holes, respectively; anda separating plate dividing the space formed in the outer base into a plurality of compartments, such that pollutant gases introduced into the space of the outer base through the inner guide, the outer guide, and the middle guide are separately discharged through different exhaust tubes.

17. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the drain hole of the inner base is formed in the bottom wall of the inner base, and the drain hole of the outer base is formed in the bottom wall of the outer base.

18. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the supporting member comprises a supporting plate receiving the substrate thereon, a supporting shaft supporting the supporting plate, and a substrate driving unit rotating the supporting shaft, the treatment liquid supplying member comprises a nozzle disposed above the substrate placed on the supporting plate during a process, a supporting arm coupled to the nozzle, and a nozzle driving unit actuating the supporting arm to move the nozzle toward and away from the substrate placed on the supporting plate, andthe lifting member comprises a base to which the supporting plate and the supporting arm are fixed, and a vertical driving unit moving the base up and down.

19. An apparatus for treating a substrate using a plurality of treatment solutions, the apparatus comprising: a supporting member receiving the substrate thereon and rotating the substrate;a treatment liquid supplying member supplying the treatment solutions to the substrate placed on the supporting member; anda treatment liquid collecting member forming a space therein for placing the supporting member and including passages for separately collecting the treatment solutions supplied from the treatment liquid supplying member,wherein the treatment liquid collecting member comprises:an inner base including a bottom wall, an inner wall, and an outer wall that form a space for receiving the treatment solution, the inner base being formed with a drain hole for discharging the treatment solution;an outer base surrounding the inner base and including a bottom wall and an outer wall that form a space for receiving the treatment solution, the outer base being formed with a drain hole for discharging the treatment solution;an inner guide disposed on the outer wall of the inner base and providing a passage to introduce the treatment solution into the space formed in the inner base; andan outer guide disposed on the outer wall of the outer base and providing a passage to introduce the treatment solution into the space formed in the outer base,wherein the inner guide is disposed on the outer wall of the inner base by a groove-protrusion engagement structure formed on an upper end of the outer wall of the inner base and a lower end of the inner guide, and the outer guide is disposed on the outer wall of the inner base by a groove-protrusion engagement structure formed on an upper end of the outer wall of the outer base and a lower end of the outer guide.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the treatment liquid collecting member further comprises: a middle base extending outwardly from the inner base and including a bottom wall, an inner wall, and an outer wall that form a space for receiving the treatment solution, the middle base being formed with a drain hole for discharging the treatment solution; anda middle guide disposed on the outer wall of the middle base and providing a passage to introduce the treatment solution into the space formed in the middle base,wherein the middle guide is disposed on the outer wall of the middle base by a groove-protrusion engagement structure formed on an upper end of the outer wall of the middle base and a lower end of the middle guide.

21. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the inner wall of the inner base is formed with an exhaust hole for discharging a pollutant gas, the exhaust hole communicating with the space formed in the outer base, the apparatus further comprising a separating plate dividing the space formed in the outer base such that a pollutant gas introduced into the space of the outer base through the outer guide is separately discharged from a pollutant gas introduced into the space of the outer base through the inner guide,wherein the separating plate and the outer base are coupled by a groove-protrusion engagement structure formed thereon.