Substrate processing method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12378670-B2
Application number	US-202418408801-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 10, 2024
Priority date	Feb 28, 2019
Publication date	Aug 5, 2025
Grant date	Aug 5, 2025

Abstract

A controller performs an adjustment processing including: forming a film on a surface of a substrate by a film forming unit; removing a peripheral portion of the film by the film forming unit; acquiring surface information indicating a state of the surface of the substrate including the film, from which the peripheral portion has been removed, by a surface inspection unit and adjusting a cut width of the peripheral portion based on the surface information; and peeling the film, from which the peripheral portion has been removed, by the film forming unit, and a process processing including: forming the film on the surface of the substrate by the film forming unit; and removing the peripheral portion by the cut width adjusted in the adjustment processing in the film forming unit.

First claim

We claim:

1. A substrate processing method, comprising:
performing an adjustment processing including: forming a film on a surface of a substrate by a film forming unit configured to form the film on the surface of the substrate and remove at least a part of the film; removing a peripheral portion of the film by the film forming unit; adjusting a cut width of the peripheral portion based on surface information indicating a state of the surface of the substrate including the film, from which the peripheral portion has been removed; and peeling the film, from which the peripheral portion has been removed, by the film forming unit; and
performing a process processing including: forming the film on the surface of the substrate by the film forming unit; and removing the peripheral portion by the cut width adjusted in the adjustment processing in the film forming unit.

2. The substrate processing method of claim 1 , further comprising:
repeatedly performing the adjustment processing until a deviation between the cut width and a target value reaches a predetermined level.

3. The substrate processing method of claim 2 ,
wherein the adjustment processing is repeatedly performed by using a same substrate.

4. The substrate processing method of claim 1 ,
wherein the adjustment processing comprises:
carrying the substrate for the adjustment processing out of an accommodation unit that accommodates therein the substrate, on which the film has not been formed, by a transfer unit configured to transfer the substrate; and
carrying the substrate, from which the film has been removed, into the accommodation unit by the transfer unit.

5. The substrate processing method of claim 1 ,
wherein, in the adjustment processing, the cut width is adjusted by adjusting at least one of a holding position of the substrate on a rotation holder, which is configured to hold and rotate the substrate, or a position of a nozzle, which is configured to discharge a chemical liquid for removing the peripheral portion toward the substrate being rotated by the rotation holder, when the chemical liquid is discharged.

6. The substrate processing method of claim 1 , further comprising:
acquiring the surface information indicating the state of the surface of the substrate, on which the film has not been formed; and
determining whether the substrate is allowed to be used in adjusting the cut width based on the surface information.

7. The substrate processing method of claim 1 ,
wherein the film forming unit has multiple processing units each configured to form the film and remove at least the part of the film, and
while performing the process processing in any one of the multiple processing units, at least a part of the adjustment processing is performed in another processing unit of the multiple processing units.

8. The substrate processing method of claim 1 ,
wherein the film forming unit has multiple processing units each configured to form the film and removes at least the part of the film, and
while performing the adjustment processing in any one of the multiple processing units, the adjustment processing is performed in another processing unit of the multiple processing units.

9. The substrate processing method of claim 1 ,
wherein the film forming unit has a first processing unit configured to form the film and remove the peripheral portion and a second processing unit configured to peel the film, and
in the adjustment processing of adjusting the cut width in the first processing unit, the film, from which the peripheral portion has been removed, is peeled by the second processing unit.

Assignees

• Tokyo Electron Ltd

Inventors

• SHIRASAKA Tetsuro
• Nakamura Naoto

Classifications

• H10P72/0604 Primary

  Process monitoring, e.g. flow or thickness monitoring · CPC title

• H10P72/0448 Primary

  Apparatus for applying a liquid, a resin, an ink or the like · CPC title

• H10P72/7604

  the wafers being placed on a susceptor, stage or support · CPC title

• H10P72/3302

  Mechanical parts of transfer devices · CPC title

• H10P76/204

  of organic photoresist masks · CPC title