Substrate processing apparatus, substrate processing method and recording medium

Abstract

A controller performs a control to contact, after forming a liquid puddle of a rinse liquid on a surface of a wafer, a liquid contact surface of a nozzle of a developing liquid supply unit with the liquid puddle and to form a liquid puddle of a diluted developing liquid by discharging a developing liquid from the nozzle; a control to rotate the wafer at a first rotation speed which allows the diluted developing liquid inside an edge of the liquid contact surface to stay between the liquid contact surface and the surface and allows the diluted developing liquid outside the edge of the liquid contact surface to be diffused toward an edge of the wafer; and a control to move the nozzle toward the edge of the wafer while rotating the wafer at a second rotation speed smaller than the first rotation speed and discharging the developing liquid.

We claim: 
     
         1 . A substrate processing apparatus, comprising:
 a rotating/holding unit configured to hold and rotate a substrate;   a first supply unit configured to supply a diluting liquid on a surface of the substrate;   a second supply unit configured to supply a processing liquid on the surface of the substrate; and   a control unit,   wherein the second supply unit comprises:   a nozzle having a liquid contact surface facing the surface of the substrate and at least one discharge hole which is opened at the liquid contact surface and through which the processing liquid is discharged; and   a position adjusting unit configured to adjust a position of the nozzle, and   wherein the control unit is configured to perform:   controlling the first supply unit to supply the diluting liquid on the surface of the substrate and to form a liquid puddle of the diluting liquid;   controlling the second supply unit to bring the liquid contact surface into contact with the liquid puddle of the diluting liquid by moving the nozzle through the position adjusting unit and to form a liquid puddle of a mixed solution of the diluting liquid and the processing liquid by discharging the processing liquid from the at least one discharge hole;   controlling the rotating/holding unit to rotate the substrate at a first rotation speed which allows the mixed solution located at an inner side than an edge of the liquid contact surface to stay between the liquid contact surface and the surface of the substrate and allows the mixed solution located at an outer side than the edge of the liquid contact surface to be diffused toward an edge of the substrate;   controlling the rotating/holding unit to rotate the substrate at a second rotation speed smaller than the first rotation speed after the substrate is rotated at the first rotation speed; and   controlling the second supply unit to move the nozzle toward the edge of the substrate by the position adjusting unit while rotating the substrate at the second rotation speed and discharging the processing liquid from the at least one discharge hole.   
     
     
         2 . The substrate processing apparatus of  claim 1 ,
 wherein the controlling of the second supply unit to bring the liquid contact surface into contact with the liquid puddle of the diluting liquid by moving the nozzle through the position adjusting unit includes controlling the second supply unit to move the nozzle close to the surface of the substrate by the position adjusting unit in a state that the at least one discharge hole is filled with the processing liquid.   
     
     
         3 . The substrate processing apparatus of  claim 2 ,
 wherein the controlling of the second supply unit to move the nozzle close to the surface of the substrate in the state that the at least one discharge hole is filled with the processing liquid includes controlling the second supply unit to move the nozzle close to the surface of the substrate by the position adjusting unit while discharging the processing liquid from the at least one discharge hole.   
     
     
         4 . The substrate processing apparatus of  claim 3 ,
 wherein the controlling of the second supply unit to move the nozzle close to the surface of the substrate while discharging the processing liquid from the at least one discharge hole includes controlling the second supply unit to move the nozzle close to the surface of the substrate until a distance between the liquid contact surface and the surface of the substrate becomes 0.5 mm to 2 mm after the discharging of the processing liquid from the at least one discharge hole is begun in a state that the distance between the liquid contact surface and the surface of the substrate is 5 mm to 7 mm.   
     
     
         5 . The substrate processing apparatus of  claim 1 ,
 wherein the first rotation speed is in a range from 300 rpm to 1500 rpm.   
     
     
         6 . The substrate processing apparatus of  claim 1 ,
 wherein the second rotation speed is in a range from 10 rpm to 100 rpm.   
     
     
         7 . The substrate processing apparatus of  claim 1 ,
 wherein the control unit is configured to further perform controlling the rotating/holding unit to rotate the substrate at a third rotation speed smaller than the first rotation speed when the second supply unit brings the liquid contact surface into contact with the liquid puddle of the diluting liquid by moving the nozzle through the position adjusting unit and discharges the processing liquid from the at least one discharge hole.   
     
     
         8 . The substrate processing apparatus of  claim 7 ,
 wherein the controlling of the second supply unit to bring the liquid contact surface into contact with the liquid puddle of the diluting liquid by moving the nozzle through the position adjusting unit includes controlling the second supply unit to bring the liquid contact surface into contact with the liquid puddle of the diluting liquid at a position where a center of the liquid contact surface is deviated from a rotation center of the substrate, and   the controlling of the second supply unit to form the liquid puddle of the mixed solution of the diluting liquid and the processing liquid by discharging the processing liquid from the at least one discharge hole includes controlling the second supply unit to move the center of the liquid contact surface close to the rotation center of the substrate by moving the nozzle through the position adjusting unit while discharging the processing liquid from the at least one discharge hole.   
     
     
         9 . The substrate processing apparatus of  claim 7 ,
 wherein the third rotation speed is equal to or less than 100 rpm.   
     
     
         10 . The substrate processing apparatus of  claim 1 ,
 wherein the controlling of the second supply unit to move the nozzle toward the edge of the substrate by the position adjusting unit while rotating the substrate at the second rotation speed and discharging the processing liquid from the at least one discharge hole includes controlling the second supply unit such that the second rotation speed and a moving speed of the nozzle satisfy a following expression:
   3≤ RF/V≤ 5
 
   (V denotes the moving speed [mm/s] of the nozzle and RF denotes the second rotation speed [rpm]).   
     
     
         11 . The substrate processing apparatus of  claim 1 ,
 wherein the controlling of the second supply unit to move the nozzle toward the edge of the substrate by the position adjusting unit while rotating the substrate at the second rotation speed and discharging the processing liquid from the at least one discharge hole includes controlling the second supply unit to increase a discharge amount of the processing liquid from the at least one discharge hole while the nozzle is being moved toward the edge of the substrate.   
     
     
         12 . The substrate processing apparatus of  claim 1 ,
 wherein the nozzle is configured such that an average flow velocity of the processing liquid passing through the liquid contact surface is in a range from 1.2 m/min to 5.5 m/min under a condition that a discharge amount of the processing liquid is set to be 90 ml/min.   
     
     
         13 . The substrate processing apparatus of  claim 12 ,
 wherein the at least one discharge hole is plural in number,   the nozzle has multiple discharge holes arranged in a circumferential direction around a center of the liquid contact surface and inclined in a same direction with respect to the circumferential direction.   
     
     
         14 . The substrate processing apparatus of  claim 12 ,
 wherein an opening area of the at least one discharge hole is gradually increased as it approaches the liquid contact surface.   
     
     
         15 . The substrate processing apparatus of  claim 12 ,
 wherein the controlling of the second supply unit to move the nozzle toward the edge of the substrate by the position adjusting unit while rotating the substrate at the second rotation speed and discharging the processing liquid from the at least one discharge hole includes controlling the second supply unit such that the average flow velocity of the processing liquid passing through the liquid contact surface is in the range from 1.2 m/min to 5.5 m/min when the discharging of the processing liquid from the at least one discharge hole is begun.   
     
     
         16 . The substrate processing apparatus of  claim 7 ,
 wherein the controlling of the second supply unit to form the liquid puddle of the mixed solution of the diluting liquid and the processing liquid by discharging the processing liquid from the at least one discharge hole includes controlling the second supply unit to move a center of the liquid contact surface close to a rotation center of the substrate by moving the nozzle through the position adjusting unit in a state that the discharging of the processing liquid from the at least one discharge hole is stopped after discharging the processing liquid from the at least one discharge hole.   
     
     
         17 . The substrate processing apparatus of  claim 16 ,
 wherein the controlling of the second supply unit to move the nozzle toward the edge of the substrate by the position adjusting unit while rotating the substrate at the second rotation speed and discharging the processing liquid from the at least one discharge hole includes controlling the second supply unit to start the discharging of the processing liquid from the at least one discharge hole while the center of the liquid contact surface is away from the rotation center of the substrate and is being moved toward the edge thereof.   
     
     
         18 . A substrate processing method, comprising:
 supplying a diluting liquid on a surface of a substrate and forming a liquid puddle of the diluting liquid;   bringing, by moving a nozzle having a liquid contact surface facing the surface of the substrate and a discharge hole which is opened at the liquid contact surface and through which a processing liquid is discharged, the liquid contact surface into contact with the liquid puddle of the diluting liquid, and forming a liquid puddle of a mixed solution of the diluting liquid and the processing liquid by discharging the processing liquid from the discharge hole;   rotating the substrate at a first rotation speed which allows the mixed solution located at an inner side than an edge of the liquid contact surface to stay between the liquid contact surface and the surface of the substrate and allows the mixed solution located at an outer side than the edge of the liquid contact surface to be diffused toward an edge of the substrate;   rotating the substrate at a second rotation speed smaller than the first rotation speed after the substrate is rotated at the first rotation speed; and   moving the nozzle toward the edge of the substrate while discharging the processing liquid from the discharge hole in a state that the substrate is rotated at the second rotation speed.   
     
     
         19 . A computer-readable recording medium having stored thereon computer-executable instructions that, in response to execution, cause an apparatus to perform a substrate processing method as claimed in  claim 18 .