Patent Application
20060191556
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technique for processing a substrate.
2. Description of the Background Art
A substrate processing apparatus which processes a substrate by rotating a semiconductor substrate or a glass substrate (hereinafter, referred to as “substrate”) and supplying the substrate with various processing solutions has been conventionally used. For example, a thin substrate processing apparatus has been suggested, which comprises a ring-shaped motor with a ring-shaped stationary part and a ring-shaped rotating part, and processes a substrate while rotating the substrate together with the rotating part which is a holding part (such substrate processing apparatus is referred to, for example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid Open Gazette No. 2003-111352 (Document 1)).
A substrate processing apparatus shown in Japanese Patent Application Laid Open Gazette No. 2000-150452 discloses a technique for increasing exhaust efficiency in an exhaust cup of the apparatus. In the apparatus, a substrate holding part is disposed within the exhaust cup, exhaust openings are formed at the bottom of the exhaust cup and on the internal side surface of the exhaust cup, covers are formed along a rotation direction of the substrate with tilting downward to cover the exhaust openings in a lower part of the exhaust cup, respectively. Japanese Patent Application Laid Open Gazette No. 10-151401 discloses a technique for improving exhausting ability of a substrate processing apparatus, where an exhaust cup connects to a first exhausting path, a substrate holding part is disposed within the exhaust cup and around the exhaust cup, an annular opening part connecting to a second exhausting path is further provided.
Meanwhile, size of substrate is increasing recently, however, in a larger size substrate, uniformity of processing is getting worse. To achieve uniform processing over the entire main surface of a substrate in cleaning, drying, or the like, it is necessary to exhaust gas from an outer edge of the substrate almost uniformly in a substrate processing apparatus. In the process of supplying processing solution to the substrate, it is extremely important to remove (drain) processing solution from the center of the substrate approximately radially and uniformly with exhausting gas uniformly. In a large size substrate, however, in the case where gas is exhausted from an exhaust opening(s) formed at the bottom of the cup, uniformity of exhausting in a circumferential direction comes down. If a cup is provided in an apparatus for processing a large size substrate, the size of the apparatus increases in a horizontal direction and downward. In particular, in a case where a cup is provided in an apparatus having the ring-shaped motor described in Document 1, it is difficult to downsize the apparatus even if the ring-shaped motor is used.
The present invention is intended for a substrate processing apparatus for processing a substrate. It is an object of the present invention to reduce variation of exhaust speed around an outer edge of a substrate and to suppress nonuniformity of processing of the substrate.
The substrate processing apparatus comprises a holding part for holding a substrate; a rotation mechanism for rotating the holding part around a predetermined central axis perpendicular to a main surface of a substrate held by the holding part; a ring-shaped cover part opposed to an annular zone on an outer part of a rotating body which includes the holding part and a substrate rotated by the rotation mechanism, the annular zone being perpendicular to the central axis with a center of the annular zone lying on the central axis; and a member forming an exhaust flow space which connects with a gap space between the cover part and the annular zone along an outer edge of the cover part, a cross-sectional area of the exhaust flow space increasing along a rotation direction of the holding part.
According to the present invention, in the substrate processing apparatus, it is possible to reduce variation of inlet flow speed of gas around the gap space between the cover part and the annular zone on the rotating body and to suppress nonuniformity of processing of a substrate.
Normally, an outer part of the holding part is located outside a substrate held by the holding part and the annular zone lies on the holding part. Preferably, the holding part is a part of a ring-shaped rotating part combined with a ring-shaped stationary part in a ring-shaped motor, and the rotation mechanism is a driving mechanism of the motor. This makes it possible to downsize the substrate processing apparatus.
According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a guiding mechanism, for guiding rotation of the ring-shaped rotating part relative to the ring-shaped stationary part, comprises a supplying channel for supplying gas to a clearance between the ring-shaped stationary part and the ring-shaped rotating part, an auxiliary channel for exhausting gas ejected from the clearance between the ring-shaped stationary part and the ring-shaped rotating part is provided parallel to the exhaust flow space along an outer edge of the motor, and the exhaust flow space and the auxiliary channel are formed by partitioning a duct provided along the outer edge of the motor. It is therefore possible to provide the exhaust flow space and the auxiliary channel in the apparatus with simple structure.
According to an aspect of the present invention, a cross-sectional area of the exhaust flow space at a point on an outer edge of the rotating body is proportional to a distance from a starting point of the exhaust flow space to the point on the outer edge along the outer edge in the rotation direction of the holding part. This makes it possible to further reduce variation of inlet flow speed of gas around the gap space between the cover part and the annular zone on the rotating body.
According to another aspect of the present invention, since a width and a height of the exhaust flow space increase gradually along the rotation direction of the holding part, it is possible to exhaust gas efficiently in the exhaust flow space.
The present invention is also intended for a substrate processing method for processing a substrate.
These and other objects, features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the present invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
As shown in
The substrate holding mechanism 2 has a holding ring 21 contacting with the outer part of the substrate 9 from the lower side and holding pins 22 slightly moving their tips to/from a side surface of the substrate 9 on the holding ring 21.
The substrate processing apparatus 1 further comprises an approximately ring-shaped motor 5 which rotates the substrate 9 in a plane parallel to the lower and upper surfaces of the substrate 9 by rotating the substrate holding mechanism 2. In an outer part of the motor 5, provided is an exhaust part 6 which collects (drains) used cleaning solution (which is cleaning solution supplied in cleaning of the upper surface of the substrate 9 and it is hereinafter referred to as “cleaning drainage”) from the outside of the substrate 9 in the wet cleaning by the second cleaning mechanism 4 and exhausts gas. As simply shown in
In the preferred embodiment, the substrate 9 is held with a front side surface, on which a fine pattern is formed, turning down and with a back side surface turning up. In the following description, the upper surface of the substrate 9 is the back side surface of the substrate 9 and the lower surface is the front side surface of the substrate 9.
The second cleaning mechanism 4 comprises a cleaning solution supplying part 42 for supplying the cleaning solution onto the upper surface of the substrate 9 and a cleaning brush 41 which contacts with the upper surface of the substrate 9 where the cleaning solution is supplied, and the cleaning brush 41 cleans the upper surface by brushing. In the substrate processing apparatus 1, since the upper surface of the substrate 9 is spatially isolated from the lower surface by the substrate holding mechanism 2, the cleaning solution supplied onto the upper surface of the substrate 9 is prevented from flowing onto the lower surface of the substrate 9.
The first cleaning mechanism 3 comprises an ejection nozzle 31 serving as a particle ejection mechanism for ejecting carbon dioxide (CO2) particles toward the lower surface of the substrate 9, and a nitrogen gas supply pipe 32 and a carbon dioxide supply pipe 33 for supplying nitrogen (N2) gas and liquid carbon dioxide to the ejection nozzle 31, separately. A liquid outlet for ejecting liquid carbon dioxide is formed at a top end of the ejection nozzle 31 and a gas outlet for ejecting nitrogen gas is formed around the liquid outlet. By supplying liquid carbon dioxide and nitrogen gas to the ejection nozzle 31, the liquid carbon dioxide is ejected from the liquid outlet of the ejection nozzle 31 and the nitrogen gas is strongly ejected from the gas outlet. Carbon dioxide particles (dry ice particles) frozen by adiabatic expansion in ejecting are mixed with a stream of the nitrogen gas which is career gas, and accelerated. The ejection nozzle 31 is a so-called two fluid nozzle with external mixing. Solid carbon dioxide particles carried by carrier gas collide with the substrate 9 while spreading, and as a result, unwanted fine particles such as organic matter are efficiently removed from the lower surface of the substrate 9. In the ejection nozzle 31, since the liquid carbon dioxide and the nitrogen gas are directed upward along respective channels of nozzle, directivity of ejection of the carbon dioxide particles from the ejection nozzle 31 goes up, and the carbon dioxide particles are efficiently ejected to the substrate 9.
The motor 5 is a hollow motor having a hollow portion inside thereof. The motor 5 comprises an approximately ring-shaped rotating part 51 which rotates around a central axis 50 extending in a vertical direction and is provided along the outer part of the substrate 9, and an approximately ring-shaped stationary part 52 which is combined with the rotating part 51 and generates a torque with the rotating part 51. An upper surface of the rotating part 51 has an annular shape (hereinafter, the surface is referred to as “annular surface 51a”). The substrate holding mechanism 2 is installed in an upper part of the rotating part 51 and serves as a part of the rotating part 51. The outer part of the substrate 9 is located above the annular surface 51 a and a central axis of the substrate 9 which is perpendicular to both the main surfaces of the substrate 9 coincides with the central axis 50.
The rotating part 51 is combined with the stationary part 52 so that an internal side surface (i.e., a side surface opposed to the central axis 50), an upper surface, and a lower surface of the stationary part 52 are covered with the rotating part 51, and the rotating part 51 comprises two conductive plates 511 opposed to the upper and lower surfaces of the stationary part 52, respectively. The stationary part 52 comprises a lot of magnetic cores 521 which are disposed almost circularly around the central axis 50 with predetermined gaps between adjacent magnetic cores 521 and coils 522 each of which are provided on a few magnetic cores 521. The magnetic cores 521 and the coils 522 are opposed to the conductive plates 511 to form an armature 520. Each of the magnetic cores 521 is formed by many flat rolled silicon steel chips which are layered one on another. Each of the coils 522 is formed by winding a enameled wire around the magnetic cores 521.
Inside the stationary part 52, formed are an annular gas channel 523 through which gas (nitrogen gas in the preferred embodiment) flows and a plurality of annular cooling water channels 524 through which cooling water flows. In the gas channel 523, a lot of minute openings 523a for supplying gas to a fine clearance between the internal side surface of the stationary part 52 and the rotating part 51 are formed. Gas supplied from an external gas supply apparatus to the gas channel 523 is ejected from the openings 523a, and the stationary part 52 and the rotating part 51 are kept slightly away from each other. The rotating part 51 is supported by the stationary part 52 through gas, to form a mechanism of a static pressure gaseous bearing. The stationary part 52 is fitted into a ring-shaped member 112 and is supported from an outer side thereof. The stationary part 52 is fixed to an inner wall of the chamber 11 through a motor supporting part 111. In a state where the substrate 9 is held by the substrate holding mechanism 2, an internal space of the chamber 11 is divided into an upper part and a lower part of the substrate 9 by the substrate 9, the substrate holding mechanism 2, the motor 5, the ring-shaped member 112, and the motor supporting part 111.
In the motor 5, multiphase alternating current (two-phase alternating current or three-phase alternating current, for example) is sequentially given to a plurality of coils 522, and traveling magnetic fields are generated on the upper surface and the lower surface of the stationary part 52 along the armature 520. As a result, eddy currents are produced in the conductive plates 511 of the rotating part 51 provided above and under the armature 520, and a torque is given to the rotating part 51 according to the dynamics of a linear motor. In the motor 5, the armature 520 and the conductive plates 511 serve as a driving mechanism of the motor 5. As described above, gas is supplied to the clearance between the internal side surface of the stationary part 52 and the rotating part 51 by the gas channel 523, to guide rotation of the rotating part 51 relative to the stationary part 52. The rotating part 51, the substrate holding mechanism 2 and the substrate 9 smoothly rotate as one rotating body around the central axis 50 perpendicular to the main surface of the substrate 9. In the stationary part 52, cooling water is supplied from an external cooling water supply apparatus to the cooling water channels 524, and then heat generated in the plurality of coils 522 is removed.
As shown in
Inside the duct main body 63, a ring-shaped partition plate 631 projecting out toward the rotating part 51 is attached. At an upper part of the rotating part 51, a ring-shaped projecting part 512 projecting out to the outside is formed. An inner part of the partition plate 631 and the projecting part 512 overlap each other to form a labyrinth structure, and the duct is partitioned into an upper part and a lower part. Therefore, in the duct, an exhaust flow space 64 of the upper part connecting with the gap space 62 along the outer edge of the cover part 61 and an auxiliary channel 65 of the lower part provided parallel to the exhaust flow space 64 along the outer edge of the motor 5 are formed with simple structure. The auxiliary channel 65 is used for exhausting gas ejected from the upper clearance between the stationary part 52 and the rotating part 51 of the motor 5. The partition plate 631 and the projecting part 512 prevent cleaning drainage and air drained (or exhausted) to the exhaust flow space 64 from flowing into the motor 5 in cleaning discussed later.
As shown in
Specifically, the width of the exhaust flow space 64 in the radial direction is very narrow at the position indicated by the arrows I-I in the immediate downstream vicinity of the starting point 641 in the rotation direction of the rotating part 51, as shown in
As shown in
Next discussion will be made on an operation flow of the substrate processing apparatus 1 for cleaning a substrate 9 referring to
In the second cleaning mechanism 4, simultaneously with cleaning of the lower surface of the substrate 9 by the first cleaning mechanism 3, supplying cleaning solution onto the upper surface of the substrate 9 by the cleaning solution supplying part 42 and rubbing the upper surface by the cleaning brush 41 are started (Step S14). In parallel with cleaning the lower surface of the substrate 9 by the first cleaning mechanism 3, the cleaning brush 41 moves repeatedly between the center and the outer edge of the substrate 9 above the substrate 9 while continuing to clean the upper surface of the substrate 9 by brushing, and then wet cleaning to the upper surface of the substrate 9 (i.e., the back side surface of the substrate 9) is performed.
While cleaning of the upper surface of the substrate 9 is performed, removing cleaning drainage from the upper surface of the substrate 9 is performed in the substrate processing apparatus 1. Specifically, by rotation of the substrate 9 and the rotating part 51, cleaning drainage on the upper surface of the substrate 9 moves to the outer edge of the substrate 9 by the centrifugal force, and the cleaning drainage flows into the gap space 62 between the cover part 61 and the annular surface 51a. Since the inner side surface of the cover part 61 is the inclined surface 610, the cleaning drainage flows into the gap space 62 efficiently. The cleaning drainage flowing into the gap space 62 flows out to the exhaust flow space 64. In the following description, with imaging a ring-shaped imaginary member filling the gap space 62 between the ring-shaped cover part 61 and the annular surface 51a, a cross-section corresponding to an internal side surface of the imaginary member is referred to as an inlet cross-section and a cross-section corresponding to an external side surface is referred to as an outlet cross-section.
Air on the substrate 9 and the rotating part 51 moves to the outside by the centrifugal force while being drugged with a movement of the surface of the substrate 9 and a flow of cleaning solution, and flows into the gap space 62 from the inlet cross-section. And the air is guided to the outside by the rectifying plates 611 smoothly, it flows out to the exhaust flow space 64 from the outlet cross-section, and is collected (Step S15). With this operation, in a space above the substrate 9, air blown onto the central area of the substrate 9 flows to the outer edge of the substrate 9 along the upper surface of the substrate 9 and it is sucked into the gap space 62.
Regarding air exhausted through the gap space 62, since the cross-sectional area of the exhaust flow space 64 of
Since the outer part of the substrate 9 is held by the substrate holding mechanism 2 and the cover part 61 is opposed to only the outer part of the annular surface 51 a located outside the substrate 9 (i.e., the cover part 61 is not opposed to the substrate 9), almost whole the upper and lower surfaces of the substrate 9 can be cleaned simultaneously and easily. Further, by making carbon dioxide particles from the ejection nozzle 31 collide with the lower surface of the substrate 9, it is possible to remove unwanted adhering particles efficiently without damaging the fine pattern formed on the lower surface of the substrate 9. In parallel with the dry physical cleaning to the lower surface of the substrate 9, the effective wet cleaning is performed to the upper surface of the substrate 9 by rubbing with the cleaning brush 41, it is therefore possible to remove foreign substances firmly adhering to the upper surface efficiently.
After cleaning of the upper and lower surfaces of the substrate 9 is finished, ejection of carbon dioxide particles by the ejection nozzle 31, supply of cleaning solution by the cleaning solution supplying part 42, and rubbing of the substrate 9 by the cleaning brush 41 are stopped, and the ejection nozzle 31 and the cleaning brush 41 move outside the substrate 9.
In the substrate processing apparatus 1, further, by continuing to rotate the substrate 9, the upper and lower surfaces of the substrate 9 are dried (Step S16). Also in this case, since inlet flow speed of air around the gap space 62 is almost constant across the whole inlet cross-section, cleaning solution is removed from the upper surface of the substrate 9 uniformly and rapidly, and further the upper surface of the substrate 9 is dried uniformly and rapidly.
As stated previously, in the substrate processing apparatus 1, dry physical cleaning where liquid is not used is performed to the lower surface of the substrate 9, and the exhaust part 6 for collecting the cleaning drainage on the upper surface of the substrate 9 is provided. Therefore, it is prevented that the cleaning drainage accumulates at the bottom of the chamber 11 to generate mist from the cleaning drainage. Also, because clean air is supplied inside the chamber 11 through a filter(s) provided on the chamber 11, adherence of mist generated from the cleaning drainage or re-adherence of foreign substances to the substrate 9 in the dry process is prevented, and the substrate 9 is dried with maintaining a clean state. After the upper surface of the substrate 9 is dried, the substrate 9 is unloaded from the annular surface 51a of the rotating part 51, and then the cleaning process of the substrate 9 is completed.
As discussed above, in the substrate processing apparatus 1 of
In the substrate processing apparatus 1, by providing the ring-shaped duct, it is possible to reduce the size of the mechanism related to exhausting gas and to downsize the apparatus. And it is possible to downsize the substrate processing apparatus 1 further by using the ring-shaped motor 5. Since the plurality of rectifying plates 611 are provided on the cover part 61 and air in the gap space 62 is guided to the exhaust flow space 64, it is suppressed that turbulent air flow occurs in the gap space 62, and this makes it possible to keep air flow in the gap space 62 stable. In the substrate processing apparatus 1, the upper side surface of the substrate 9 on which the fine pattern is formed is turned up, and cleaning process using cleaning solution may be performed to the upper side surface.
Next discussion will be made on air displacement in the substrate processing apparatus 1, and specific design examples related to the cover part 61, the duct main body 63, and the like will be discussed.
Linear velocity v [mm/s] in the outer edge of the rotating part 51 is obtained by (v=π D×A/60) where D is a diameter of the outer edge of the rotating part 51, A [rpm] is a rotation number (per minute) of the motor 5, and π is the circular constant. Also, an amount of air dV flowing (sucked) into the gap space 62 per second from a part in the inlet cross-section corresponding to a minute angle d θ with respect to the central axis 50 is expressed as (dV=Rd θ×H×v) where H [mm] is a height of the gap space 62 (a width in a direction along the central axis 50), and R [mm] is a radius of an inner edge of the cover part 61. A total air displacement V per second from the gap space 62 is equal to an amount of air flowing into the gap space 62 from the whole inlet cross-section and it is obtained by Eq. 1.
V=∫02π RHνdθ=2πRHν Eq. 1
In the case where the diameter D of the outer edge of the rotating part 51 is 548 mm, the rotation number A of the motor 5 is 2400 rpm, the height H of the gap space 62 is 10 mm, and the radius R of the inner edge of the cover part 61 is 175 mm, the total air displacement V per minute across the gap space 62 is calculated roughly at 45 m3 by Eq. 1. Although the duct main body 63 is actually provided outside the cover part 61, since the cross-sectional area of the exhaust flow space 64 increases linearly and sufficiently at the rate based on Eq. 1 along the rotation direction, it becomes possible to exhaust air at the above air displacement while suppressing variation of inlet flow speed of air around the gap space 62 without increasing the size of the duct main body 63 unnecessarily. For the duct main body 63 in the embodiment, a width and height of the opening 642 is 100 mm for reasons of design. In this case, the cross-sectional area S [mm2] of the exhaust flow space 64 at a position which is γ [degree] away from the starting point 641 in the rotation direction around the central axis 50 shown in
In an exhaust part 6a in accordance with another example, a width of a exhaust flow space 64 in the radial direction is very narrow at a position (position corresponding to the position indicated by the arrows I-I in
In the substrate processing apparatus 1 with the duct main body 63a, in the case where a rotation number of the motor 5 is 1330 rpm, a height of the gap space 62 is 10 mm, and a radius of the inner edge of the cover part 61 is 175 mm, air flow speed in the opening 642 is 9 m/second by measurement with a hot-wire anemometer. As a cross-sectional area of the opening 642 is 0.001 m2, it is confirmed that a total air displacement from the exhaust flow space 64 is 0.54 m3/minute. In this case, inlet flow speeds of the gap space 62 are 2, 2, 1, and 1 m/second at the positions indicated by the arrows 81 to 84 of
In view of exhausting air in the exhaust flow space 64 efficiently without loss, it is preferable that a cross section (a cross section in a plane including the central axis 50) of the exhaust flow space 64 has a square shape as shown in
In view of designing an apparatus easily while decreasing air flow resistance in the exhaust flow space 64, cross-sectional shapes shown in
Though the preferred embodiment of the present invention has been discussed above, the present invention is not limited to the above-discussed preferred embodiment, but allows various variations.
In the above preferred embodiment, the holding part for holding the substrate 9 is the annular surface 51a and the substrate holding mechanism 2 each of which is a part of the rotating part 51, but the holding part may be provided as a separate member from the motor 5. In the above preferred embodiment, the cover part 61 is provided to be opposed to the annular surface 51a of the rotating part 51. However, for example, in the case of a substrate processing apparatus where the center of the lower surface of the substrate 9 is held by the holding part and the holding part rotates through a shaft of a motor, the cover part 61 may be opposed to the annular zone on the outer part of the rotating substrate 9. In other words, in the substrate processing apparatus, the cover part 61 is opposed to the annular zone on the outer part of the rotating body which includes the holding part and the substrate 9 rotated by the motor 5 and the annular zone is perpendicular to the central axis 50 with its center lying on the central axis 50. It is therefore possible to exhaust gas to the exhaust flow space using the drag effect and the centrifugal force in the annular zone.
The shape of the substrate 9 may be other than disk-shaped, and the substrate 9 may be a printed circuit board, a glass substrate used for a flat panel display apparatus, or the like. For example, when a rectangular plate-like glass substrate is processed in a substrate processing apparatus, a disk-shaped auxiliary member whose size is larger than that of the glass substrate is prepared. The glass substrate is held on the auxiliary member, a cover part opposed to an annular zone on an outer part of the rotated auxiliary member or an annular zone on an outer part of a holding part holding the auxiliary member is provided, and processing the glass substrate is performed.
In the above preferred embodiment, since the inner side surface of the cover part 61 is the inclined surface 610, air and cleaning drainage on the substrate 9 located between the cover part 61 and the annular surface 51a with respect to the central axis 50 direction are sucked into the gap space 62 efficiently. For example, in a case of performing processing such as dry cleaning or the like where liquid is not used, a substrate holding mechanism is provided on an internal side surface of the rotating part 51 and the substrate 9 may be held inside the rotating part 51 with respect to a radial direction and horizontal direction (the substrate 9 is positioned below the annular surface 51a). Also, in this holding method, in the case of performing processing such as wet cleaning or the like where liquid is used, an inclined surface whose diameter gradually increases upward from a position of the upper surface of the substrate 9 is provided on the internal side surface of the rotating part 51, and cleaning drainage on the substrate 9 may be drained into the gap space 62 efficiently.
A rectifying structure for suppressing turbulent air flow in the gap space 62 may be implemented by members except the rectifying plates 611, for example, members whose cross sections are triangle.
In the substrate processing apparatus 1, it is not necessary that only one exhaust flow space is provided along the whole outer edge of the rotating part 51, and a plurality of exhaust flow spaces may be provided along the outer edge of the rotating part 51 without overlapping. In view of decreasing the number of the constituent parts of the substrate processing apparatus 1, however, it is most preferable that only one exhaust flow space is provided along the whole outer edge of the rotating part 51.
To reduce variation of inlet flow speed of air around the gap space 62 still more, it is preferable to make the cross-sectional area of the exhaust flow space increase linearly from the starting point 641 along the rotation direction, but even if the cross-sectional area of the exhaust flow space increases stepwise from the starting point 641 along the rotation direction, it is possible to uniform exhausting roughly.
It is preferable the motor 5 is a hollow motor from the viewpoint of reducing the size of a substrate processing apparatus, but the motor 5 may be other than hollow. For example, as described above, a motor is connected to a disk-shaped holding part through a shaft, and the holding part may hold the center of an lower surface of a substrate. A substrate may be held by a hollow rotating mechanism where a driving mechanism is provided outside separately.
In the above preferred embodiment, the substrate processing apparatus 1 is the apparatus where one substrate 9 is held on the rotating part 51, but the apparatus may have a structure for holding two substrates. As shown in
Though in the above preferred embodiment the substrate processing apparatus 1 is described as a substrate cleaning apparatus for cleaning a substrate, the substrate processing apparatus may be utilized in various applications for processing a substrate by supplying various processing solutions onto a surface of the substrate. Also, the substrate processing apparatus can be utilized in surface treatment, surface fabrication, surface drying, or the like of a substrate where various processing gas or particles are used. Also in the cases, it is possible to exhaust air, processing gas, particles, or the like uniformly and to suppress nonuniformity of processing of the substrate.
While the invention has been shown and described in detail, the foregoing description is in all aspects illustrative and not restrictive. It is therefore understood that numerous modifications and variations can be devised without departing from the scope of the invention.
This application claims priority benefit under 35 U.S.C. Section 119 of Japanese Patent Application No. 2005-54189 filed in the Japan Patent Office on Feb. 28, 2005, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| JP2005-054189 | Feb 2005 | JP | national |
