Substrate processing apparatus

Abstract

There is provided a substrate processing apparatus including: a cleaning tank configured to clean a target substrate; a drying chamber configured to communicate with an upper area of the cleaning tank and dry the target substrate picked up from the cleaning tank; a first drying gas supply unit configured to supply a first drying gas containing vapor of a solvent for removing a liquid; a second drying gas supply unit configured to supply a second drying gas not containing the vapor of the solvent for removing the liquid; a substrate holder configured to pick up the target substrate from the cleaning tank and transfer the target substrate to the drying chamber; and a controller configured to output a control signal to alternately supply the first drying gas and the second drying gas.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A substrate processing apparatus comprising:
 a cleaning tank configured to clean a target substrate by immersing the target substrate in a cleaning solution in a longitudinal direction while the cleaning solution is supplied from a cleaning solution supply unit;   a drying chamber configured to communicate with an upper area of the cleaning tank and dry the target substrate picked up from the cleaning tank;   a first drying gas supply unit configured to supply a first drying gas containing vapor of a solvent for removing a liquid to an atmosphere ranging from the upper area of the cleaning tank to an inside of the drying chamber;   a second drying gas supply unit configured to supply a second drying gas not containing the vapor of the solvent for removing the liquid to the atmosphere ranging from the upper area of the cleaning tank to the inside of the drying chamber;   a substrate holder configured to pick up the target substrate from the cleaning tank and transfer the target substrate to the drying chamber while holding the target substrate in a longitudinal direction; and   a controller configured to output a control signal to alternately supply the first drying gas and the second drying gas to an area where the target substrate is exposed after an upper end of the cleaned target substrate is picked up from a liquid surface of the cleaning solution by the substrate holder,   wherein when a cycle is defined as a period of time required to respectively supply the first drying gas and the second drying gas one time, at least one cycle is repeated between a time when the upper end of the target substrate is picked up from the cleaning solution and a time when the whole target substrate is picked up from the cleaning solution.   
     
     
         2 . The substrate processing apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the controller outputs a control signal to alternately supply the first drying gas and the second drying gas to the upper area of the cleaning tank from a time when the entire target substrate is immersed in the cleaning solution. 
     
     
         3 . The substrate processing apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the controller outputs a control signal to supply the cleaning solution into the cleaning tank based on an operation of supplying the first drying gas to the upper area of the cleaning tank. 
     
     
         4 . The substrate processing apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein a speed of picking up the target substrate from the cleaning solution is in a range of from about 2 mm/sec to about 10 mm/sec. 
     
     
         5 . A substrate processing apparatus comprising:
 a cleaning tank configured to clean a target substrate by immersing a target substrate in a cleaning solution in a longitudinal direction while the cleaning solution is supplied from a cleaning solution supply unit;   a drying chamber configured to communicate with an upper area of the cleaning tank and dry the target substrate picked up from the cleaning tank;   a drying gas supply unit configured to supply a gas containing vapor of a solvent for removing a liquid to an atmosphere ranging from the upper area of the cleaning tank to an inside of the drying chamber while changing a concentration of the vapor of the solvent;   a substrate holder configured to pick up the target substrate from the cleaning tank and transfer the target substrate to the drying chamber while holding the target substrate in a longitudinal direction; and   a controller configured to output a control signal to perform a process of supplying a first gas containing vapor of a solvent of a first concentration to an area where the target substrate is exposed between the upper area of the cleaning tank and the drying chamber in order to form a liquid film on a surface of the target substrate after an upper end of the cleaned target substrate is picked up from a liquid surface of the cleaning solution by the substrate holder, and a process of supplying a second gas containing the vapor of the solvent of a second concentration higher than the first concentration after the target substrate is loaded into the drying chamber communicating with the upper area of the cleaning tank in order to remove the liquid by vaporizing the solvent after the liquid adhering to the surface of the substrate is diluted by condensing the solvent,   wherein when a cycle is defined as a period of time required to supply the first gas one time, at least one cycle is repeated between a time when the upper end of the target substrate is picked up from the cleaning solution and a time when the whole target substrate is picked up from the cleaning solution.   
     
     
         6 . The substrate processing apparatus of  claim 5 , wherein in the supplying process of the first gas and the supplying process of the second gas, the first concentration is changed to the second concentration by changing an interval of alternate supplies of a gas containing the vapor of the solvent and a gas not containing the vapor of the solvent. 
     
     
         7 . The substrate processing apparatus of  claim 5 , wherein the first concentration is changed to the second concentration by changing an interval of alternate supplies of a gas containing the vapor of the solvent and a gas not containing the vapor of the solvent in the supplying process of the first gas and continuously supplying a gas containing the vapor of the solvent in the supplying process of the second gas. 
     
     
         8 . The substrate processing apparatus of  claim 5  wherein in the supplying process of the first gas and the supplying process of the second gas, the first concentration is changed to the second concentration by changing mixing ratio of the vapor of the solvent and a gas that dilutes the vapor of the solvent. 
     
     
         9 . The substrate processing apparatus of  claim 5  wherein in the supplying process of the first gas and the supplying process of the second gas, the first concentration is changed to the second concentration by changing a supply amount of a gas containing vapor of a solvent of a preset concentration.