US-12622202-B2 - Substrate processing apparatus

Abstract

A substrate processing apparatus includes a first drying unit configured to perform a first drying process using a drying fluid on a substrate having a liquid film formed thereon, a first fluid supply unit configured to supply the drying fluid into the first drying unit, a second drying unit configured to perform a second drying process using the drying fluid on the substrate on which the first drying process is performed, a second fluid supply unit configured to supply the drying fluid into the second drying unit, a first door configured to control opening and closing of the first drying unit, and a second door configured to control opening and closing of the second drying unit, wherein the first door is opened when pressure in the first drying unit reaches a first transfer pressure, and the second door is opened when pressure in the second drying unit reaches a second transfer pressure.

Inventors

• Euisang LIM

Assignees

• SEMES CO., LTD.

Dates

Publication Date

20260505

Application Date

20231212

Priority Date

20221226

Claims (18)

1. 1 . A substrate processing apparatus comprising: a first drying unit configured to perform a first drying process using a drying fluid on a substrate having a liquid film formed thereon, the first drying unit including a first door that is configured to open and close the first drying unit; a first fluid supply unit configured to supply the drying fluid into the first drying unit; a second drying unit configured to perform a second drying process using the drying fluid on the substrate on which the first drying process is performed, the second drying unit having a second door that is configured to open and close the second drying unit; a second fluid supply unit configured to supply the drying fluid into the second drying unit; and a controller configured to control the first door and the second door in order to transfer the substrate from the first drying unit to the second drying unit, wherein the controller is configured to control the first door to open the first door in response to pressure in the first drying unit reaching a first transfer pressure, and the controller is configured to control the second door to open the second door in response to pressure in the second drying unit reaching a second transfer pressure.
2. 2 . The substrate processing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the substrate on which the first drying process is performed is transferred through the first door and the second door.
3. 3 . The substrate processing apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a waiting space adjacent to the first drying unit and the second drying unit, wherein the first transfer pressure is lower than or equal to a waiting pressure inside the waiting space.
4. 4 . The substrate processing apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a waiting space adjacent to the first drying unit and the second drying unit, wherein the second transfer pressure is higher than or equal to a waiting pressure inside the waiting space.
5. 5 . The substrate processing apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a waiting space between the first drying unit and the second drying unit.
6. 6 . The substrate processing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the drying fluid is in a supercritical state while the first drying process and the second drying process are performed in the first drying unit and the second drying unit, respectively.
7. 7 . The substrate processing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the first transfer pressure is lower than or equal to the second transfer pressure.
8. 8 . A substrate processing apparatus comprising: a first drying unit configured to perform a first drying process using a drying fluid on a substrate having a liquid film formed thereon, the first drying unit including a first door that is configured to open and close the first drying unit; a second drying unit configured to perform a second drying process using the drying fluid on the substrate on which the first drying process is performed, the second drying unit having a second door that is configured to open and close the second drying unit; a waiting space adjacent to the first drying unit and the second drying unit; a transfer apparatus configured to transfer, to the second drying unit, the substrate on which the first drying process is performed in the first drying unit; and a controller configured to control the first door and the second door in order to transfer the substrate from the first drying unit to the second drying unit, wherein the controller is configured to control the first door to open the first door in response to pressure in the first drying unit reaching a first transfer pressure, the controller is configured to control the second door to open the second door in response to pressure in the second drying unit reaching a second transfer pressure, and the first transfer pressure is lower than or equal to the second transfer pressure.
9. 9 . The substrate processing apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the transfer apparatus is configured to: in response to the first door being opened, transfer, to the waiting space, the substrate on which the first drying process is performed; and in response to the second door being opened, transfer, from the waiting space to the second drying unit, the substrate on which the first drying process is performed.
10. 10 . The substrate processing apparatus of claim 8 , further comprising: a first fluid supply unit configured to supply the drying fluid into the first drying unit while the first drying process is performed on the substrate; and a second fluid supply unit configured to supply the drying fluid into the second drying unit while the second drying process is performed on the substrate on which the first drying process is performed.
11. 11 . The substrate processing apparatus of claim 8 , wherein pressure of the waiting space is greater than or equal to the first transfer pressure, and is lower than or equal to the second transfer pressure.
12. 12 . The substrate processing apparatus of claim 8 , further comprising: a first fluid supply unit configured to supply the drying fluid into the first drying unit; and a first fluid exhaust unit configured to exhaust the drying fluid to an outside of the first drying unit, wherein the controller is configured to control the first fluid supply unit and the first fluid exhaust unit to increase the pressure in the first drying unit to a first process pressure at which the first drying process is performed; and reduce the pressure in the first drying unit to the first transfer pressure.
13. 13 . The substrate processing apparatus of claim 12 , further comprising: a second fluid supply unit configured to supply the drying fluid into the second drying unit; and a second fluid exhaust unit configured to exhaust the drying fluid to an outside of the second drying unit, wherein the controller is configured to control the second fluid supply unit and the second fluid exhaust unit to increase the pressure in the second drying unit to the second transfer pressure; and increase the pressure in the second drying unit to a second process pressure at which the second drying process is performed.
14. 14 . A substrate processing method comprising: cleaning a substrate; transporting the substrate to a drying processing unit, the drying processing unit including a first drying unit configured to perform a first drying process using a drying fluid on the substrate having a liquid film formed thereon, the first drying unit including a first door that is configured to open and close the first drying unit; a first fluid supply unit configured to supply the drying fluid into the first drying unit; a second drying unit configured to perform a second drying process using the drying fluid on the substrate on which the first drying process is performed, the second drying unit having a second door that is configured to open and close the second drying unit; a second fluid supply unit configured to supply the drying fluid into the second drying unit; and a controller configured to control the first door and the second door in order to transfer the substrate from the first drying unit to the second drying unit; and drying the substrate, wherein the drying the substrate includes boosting pressure in the first drying unit to a first processing pressure; performing the first drying process on the substrate in the first drying unit at the first processing pressure by using the drying fluid; reducing pressure in the first drying unit to a first transfer pressure; controlling, using the controller, the first door of the first drying unit to open the first door in response the pressure in the first drying unit reaching the first transfer pressure; controlling, using the controller, the second door of the second drying unit to open the second door in response to the pressure in the second drying unit reaching a second transfer pressure; transferring, from the first drying unit to the second drying unit, the substrate on which the first drying process is performed; boosting the pressure in the second drying unit to a second processing pressure; and performing, in the second drying unit at the second processing pressure, the second drying process on the substrate on which the first drying process is performed, by using the drying fluid.
15. 15 . The substrate processing method of claim 14 , further comprising boosting the pressure in the second drying unit to the second transfer pressure in order to perform the transferring.
16. 16 . The substrate processing method of claim 15 , wherein the first transfer pressure in the first drying unit is lower than or equal to the second transfer pressure in the second drying unit.
17. 17 . The substrate processing method of claim 14 , further comprising a waiting space adjacent to the first drying unit and the second drying unit, wherein the transferring includes: transferring, from the first drying unit to the waiting space, the substrate on which the first drying process is performed; and transferring, from the waiting space to the second drying unit, the substrate on which the first drying process is performed.
18. 18 . The substrate processing method of claim 14 , wherein the cleaning the substrate includes applying an organic solvent onto the substrate, wherein the organic solvent includes isopropyl alcohol (IPA), the drying fluid includes carbon dioxide (CO2), and the first transfer pressure in the first drying unit and the second transfer pressure in the second drying unit are each about 80 Bar to about 100 Bar.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This application is based on and claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119 to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2022-0185008, filed on Dec. 26, 2022, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. BACKGROUND 1. Field The disclosure relates to a substrate processing apparatus, and more particularly, to a substrate processing apparatus including a drying processing unit. 2. Description of the Related Art In order to manufacture semiconductor devices, desired patterns are formed on substrates, such as wafers, through various processes such as photography, etching, ashing, ion implantation, and thin film deposition. Various processing liquids and processing gases are used in each process, and particles and process by-products are generated during the processes. In order to remove the particles and process by-products from the substrates, a cleaning process is performed before and after each process. In general cleaning processes, the substrates are processed with chemicals and rinse liquids and then dried. As an example of drying processing, there are spin drying processes for removing rinse liquids remaining on substrates by spinning the substrates at a high speed. However, spin drying methods as described above may break patterns formed on the substrates. Accordingly, recently, supercritical drying processes have been used to replace rinse liquids remaining on substrates with organic solvents having low surface tension by supplying the organic solvents, such as isopropyl alcohol (IPA), on the substrates, and then remove the organic solvents remaining on the substrates by supplying processing fluids in a supercritical state. In the supercritical drying processes, drying gases are supplied into process chambers having sealed insides, and the drying gases are heated and/or pressurized. Accordingly, both the temperature and pressure of the drying gases rise above a critical point, and the drying gases undergo phase changes to supercritical states. SUMMARY Provided is a substrate processing apparatus having improved drying performance. An object of the disclosure is not limited to the above description, and other objects and advantages of the disclosure not mentioned may be understood by the following description. Additional aspects will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the presented embodiments of the disclosure. According to an aspect of the disclosure, a substrate processing apparatus includes a first drying unit configured to perform a first drying process using a drying fluid on a substrate having a liquid film formed thereon, a first fluid supply unit configured to supply the drying fluid into the first drying unit, a second drying unit configured to perform a second drying process using the drying fluid on the substrate on which the first drying process is performed, a second fluid supply unit configured to supply the drying fluid into the second drying unit, a first door configured to control opening and closing of the first drying unit, and a second door configured to control opening and closing of the second drying unit, wherein the first door is opened when pressure in the first drying unit reaches a first transfer pressure, and the second door is opened when pressure in the second drying unit reaches a second transfer pressure. According to another aspect of the disclosure, a substrate processing apparatus includes a first drying unit configured to perform a first drying process using a drying fluid on a substrate having a liquid film formed thereon, a second drying unit configured to perform a second drying process using the drying fluid on the substrate on which the first drying process is performed, a waiting space adjacent to the first drying unit and the second drying unit, a waiting space adjacent to the first drying unit and the second drying unit, a first door configured to control opening and closing of the first drying unit, a second door configured to control opening and closing of the second drying unit, and a transfer apparatus configured to transfer, to the second drying unit, the substrate on which the first drying process is performed in the first drying unit, wherein the first door is opened when pressure in the first drying unit reaches a first transfer pressure, the second door is opened when pressure in the second drying unit reaches a second transfer pressure, and the first transfer pressure is lower than or equal to the second transfer pressure. According to another aspect of the disclosure, a substrate processing method includes a liquid processing operation of cleaning a substrate, transporting the substrate to a drying processing unit, the drying processing unit including a first drying processing unit and a second drying processing unit, and a drying operation on th