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KR-102963416-B1 - Chemical liquid supply unit, substrate processing system and method for supplying chemical liquid

KR102963416B1KR 102963416 B1KR102963416 B1KR 102963416B1KR-102963416-B1

Abstract

The present invention discloses a chemical solution supply unit, a substrate processing system applying the same, and a chemical solution supply method, wherein the invention provides a technology capable of ensuring the reliability and stability of process execution by detecting and removing impurities generated according to a chemical reaction when a chemical solution is supplied through the chemical solution supply unit.

Inventors

  • 양승태
  • 박상우
  • 한영준
  • 최기훈
  • 최문순
  • 김성현
  • 정부영

Assignees

  • 세메스 주식회사

Dates

Publication Date
20260511
Application Date
20211216

Claims (20)

  1. A liquid storage unit that receives and stores IPA liquid from an IPA source through a source line; A drug supply line that provides a path for supplying an IPA drug solution stored in the above drug solution storage unit, wherein both ends are connected to the above drug solution storage unit and configured as a circulation line, and includes a branch point connected to a substrate processing device in the middle of the circulation line; A filter placed on the above-mentioned liquid supply line; A drain line for discharging the liquid flowing on the above liquid supply line; A needle valve disposed in the above drain line to regulate the discharge flow rate; A flow meter placed in the above drain line to measure the discharge flow rate; A first valve positioned at the downstream end of the connection portion of the drain line on the above liquid supply line to selectively open and close the above liquid supply line; A second valve disposed in the drain line to selectively open and close the drain line; A drug solution inspection means comprising a measuring probe disposed downstream of the filter on the drug solution supply line, and detecting an IPA derivative generated according to a chemical reaction through a spectroscopic inspection method with respect to the IPA drug solution flowing through the filter on the drug solution supply line; and It includes a control unit that closes the first valve and opens the second valve based on the inspection result of the IPA derivative detection of the above-mentioned liquid inspection means, and controls the needle valve placed in the drain line based on the discharge flow rate measurement of the flow meter placed in the drain line to discharge the IPA liquid flowing in the liquid supply line through the drain line at a set flow rate. A drug solution supply unit characterized in that the above-mentioned IPA derivative is at least one of acetone, acetic acid, and isopropyl acetate.
  2. In Article 1, The above-mentioned drug solution testing means is, A drug solution supply unit characterized by including a Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FT-IR) or a Fourier transform near-infrared spectrometer (FT-NIR).
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  5. In Article 2, The above-mentioned drug solution testing means is, A drug solution supply unit characterized by detecting an IPA derivative based on the presence of a peak of a set wavenumber in a spectroscopic spectrum.
  6. In Article 1, The above-mentioned drug solution testing means is, A measuring probe disposed on the above-mentioned liquid supply line that emits infrared or near-infrared rays toward the IPA liquid flowing in the above-mentioned liquid supply line and detects light transmitted through the IPA liquid; A Fourier transform for acquiring a spectral spectrum from light detected by the above-mentioned measurement probe; and A drug solution supply unit characterized by including an analyzer that determines impurities based on the above spectroscopic spectrum.
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  11. The liquid supply unit of claim 1; and A substrate processing system characterized by including a substrate processing device that receives an IPA solution from the above-mentioned solution supply unit and processes the substrate.
  12. A step of supplying IPA liquid from an IPA source to a liquid storage unit through a source line; A drug supply step for supplying the IPA drug solution stored in the drug solution storage unit to a drug solution supply line - the drug solution supply line includes a circulation line for recovering the drug solution that was not supplied to the substrate processing device back to the drug solution storage unit; An IPA drug solution inspection step in which a drug solution inspection means detects an IPA derivative generated according to a chemical reaction through a spectroscopic inspection method with respect to an IPA drug solution flowing through a filter on the drug solution supply line using a measuring probe; and It includes a drug supply determination step for supplying the IPA drug solution to a substrate processing device or discharging the IPA drug solution to the outside based on the inspection result of detecting an IPA derivative for the IPA drug solution flowing in the above drug solution supply line, and The above drug solution supply determination step is, A step of stopping the supply of IPA liquid to the substrate processing device by closing a first valve disposed in the liquid supply line based on the inspection result of the above liquid inspection means; and The above control unit opens a second valve placed in the drain line and controls a needle valve placed in the drain line based on a discharge flow rate measurement of a flow meter placed in the drain line to discharge the IPA liquid flowing in the liquid supply line through the drain line at a set flow rate, and includes a liquid draining step. A method for supplying a drug solution characterized in that the above-mentioned IPA derivative is at least one of acetone, acetic acid, and isopropyl acetate.
  13. In Article 12, The above IPA drug solution testing step is, A method for supplying a drug solution characterized by detecting impurities on the drug solution supply line through a Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FT-IR) or a Fourier transform near infrared spectrometer (FT-NIR).
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  15. In Article 13, The above IPA drug solution testing step is, A method for supplying a drug solution characterized by detecting an IPA derivative based on the presence of a peak of a set wavenumber in a spectroscopic spectrum.
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  19. In Article 12, The above drug solution supply determination step is, A method for supplying a drug solution characterized by re-performing the above-mentioned IPA drug solution inspection step, and re-performing the above-mentioned drug solution supply suspension step and the above-mentioned drug solution drain step based on the inspection results for the IPA drug solution.
  20. A liquid storage unit that receives and stores IPA liquid from an IPA source through a source line; A drug supply line that provides a path for supplying an IPA drug solution stored in the above drug solution storage unit, wherein both ends are connected to the above drug solution storage unit and configured as a circulation line, and includes a branch point connected to a substrate processing device in the middle of the circulation line; A filter placed on the above-mentioned liquid supply line; A drain line for discharging the IPA liquid flowing on the above liquid supply line; A needle valve disposed in the above drain line to regulate the discharge flow rate; A flow meter placed in the above drain line to measure the discharge flow rate; A first valve positioned at the downstream end of the connection portion of the drain line on the above liquid supply line to selectively open and close the above liquid supply line; A second valve disposed in the drain line to selectively open and close the drain line; A drug solution inspection means comprising: a measuring probe disposed downstream of the filter on the drug solution supply line and emitting infrared or near-infrared rays for the IPA drug solution flowing through the filter in the drug solution supply line and detecting light transmitted through the IPA drug solution; a Fourier transform for acquiring a spectral spectrum from the light detected by the measuring probe; and an analyzer for detecting an IPA derivative based on the spectral spectrum; and The control unit includes a first valve and a second valve based on the inspection result of IPA derivative detection by the above-mentioned liquid inspection means, and controls a needle valve placed in the drain line based on the discharge flow rate measurement of a flow meter placed in the drain line to discharge the IPA liquid flowing in the liquid supply line through the drain line at a set flow rate, and selectively controls the first valve and the second valve based on the inspection result of IPA derivative detection by the above-mentioned liquid inspection means for the IPA liquid flowing in the liquid supply line after the discharge of the IPA liquid flowing in the liquid supply line at the set flow rate. A drug solution supply unit characterized in that the above-mentioned IPA derivative is at least one of acetone, acetic acid, and isopropyl acetate.

Description

Chemical liquid supply unit, substrate processing system applying the same, and chemical liquid supply method The present invention relates to a chemical solution supply unit, a substrate processing system applying the same, and a chemical solution supply method. More specifically, it relates to a technology capable of ensuring the reliability and stability of process execution by detecting and removing impurities generated by a chemical reaction when a chemical solution is supplied through the chemical solution supply unit. Various types of chemicals may be used in general semiconductor device manufacturing processes and flat panel display manufacturing processes. For example, in the substrate cleaning process, various types of chemicals (e.g., IPA) may be used for cleaning the substrate, and by treating the substrate with these chemicals, foreign substances remaining on the surface of the substrate can be removed. When supplying chemicals for substrate processing, various factors can cause the supplied solution to undergo chemical reactions and transform into unnecessary impurities. These impurities lead to a decrease in process yield, resulting in defective products and, furthermore, increasing the risk of process accidents. Therefore, methods to identify impurities through various tests on the supplied drug solution are being proposed. However, conventional drug solution inspection methods based on such technology have a problem in that they require excessive time for analysis, making it practically impossible to perform immediate inspections during process execution. FIG. 1 illustrates an embodiment of a substrate processing system to which the present invention is applied. FIG. 2 illustrates a configuration diagram of an embodiment of a liquid medicine supply unit according to the present invention. FIG. 3 illustrates an example of supplying a chemical solution to a substrate processing device through a chemical solution supply unit according to the present invention. FIG. 4 illustrates a configuration diagram of an embodiment of a drug liquid inspection means of a drug liquid supply unit according to the present invention. FIG. 5 illustrates a flowchart of an embodiment of a method for supplying a drug solution according to the present invention. FIG. 6 illustrates a flowchart of an embodiment of the process of detecting and discharging an IPA derivative through a drug solution supply method according to the present invention. FIGS. 7 to 10 illustrate an example of a spectroscopic spectrum to which the drug solution supply method according to the present invention is applied. Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings, but the present invention is not limited or restricted by the embodiments. In order to explain the present invention, the operational advantages of the present invention, and the objectives achieved by the implementation of the present invention, preferred embodiments of the present invention are illustrated below and examined with reference thereto. First, the terms used in this application are used merely to describe specific embodiments and are not intended to limit the invention; singular expressions may include plural expressions unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. Furthermore, in this application, terms such as "comprising" or "having" are intended to specify the existence of the features, numbers, steps, actions, components, parts, or combinations thereof described in the specification, and should be understood as not precluding the existence or addition of one or more other features, numbers, steps, actions, components, parts, or combinations thereof. In describing the present invention, if it is determined that a detailed description of related known components or functions may obscure the essence of the invention, such detailed description is omitted. The present invention presents a technology that can ensure the reliability and stability of process execution by detecting and removing impurities generated according to chemical reactions when supplying a chemical solution through a chemical solution supply unit. FIG. 1 shows that the substrate processing system (1) to which the present invention is applied may include an indexing section (10) and a process processing section (20). The indexing section (10) and the process processing section (20) may be arranged in a row. The index section (10) may include a load port (12) and a transfer frame (14). A carrier (11) containing a substrate (W) can be placed in the load port (12). Multiple load ports (12) may be provided and arranged in a row, and the number of load ports (12) may increase or decrease depending on the process efficiency and footprint conditions of the substrate processing system (1). A front-opening unified pod (FOUP) may be used as the carrier (11). The carrier (11) may have a plurality of slots formed therein for sto