Substrate processing apparatus, substrate processing method, and nozzle

Abstract

A substrate processing apparatus includes a substrate holding unit that holds a substrate, an injection unit that injects droplets of a processing liquid from a plurality of injection ports respectively toward a plurality of collision positions within a principal surface of the substrate held by the substrate holding unit, and a liquid film forming unit. The liquid film forming unit discharges a protective liquid from a plurality of discharge ports respectively toward a plurality of liquid contact positions within the principal surface of the substrate held by the substrate holding unit to form a plurality of liquid films of the protective liquid that respectively cover different collision positions.

1 . A substrate processing apparatus comprising:
 a substrate holding unit that holds a substrate;   an injection unit that injects droplets of a processing liquid from a plurality of injection ports respectively toward a plurality of collision positions within a principal surface of the substrate held by the substrate holding unit; and   a liquid film forming unit that discharges a protective liquid from a plurality of discharge ports respectively toward a plurality of liquid contact positions within the principal surface of the substrate held by the substrate holding unit to form a plurality of liquid films of the protective liquid that respectively cover different collision positions.   
     
     
         2 . The substrate processing apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein
 the injection unit includes: a processing liquid supplying unit that supplies the processing liquid to the plurality of injection ports; and a vibration applying unit that applies vibration to the processing liquid injected from the plurality of injection ports to sever the processing liquid injected from the plurality of injection ports.   
     
     
         3 . The substrate processing apparatus according to  claim 1 , further comprising: a nozzle in which the plurality of injection ports and the plurality of discharge ports are formed. 
     
     
         4 . The substrate processing apparatus according to  claim 3 , further comprising: a nozzle moving unit that moves the nozzle along the principal surface of the substrate held by the substrate holding unit. 
     
     
         5 . The substrate processing apparatus according to  claim 1 , further comprising: a substrate rotating unit that rotates the substrate in a substrate rotation direction around a rotation axis intersecting the principal surface of the substrate held by the substrate holding unit;
 wherein the liquid contact positions are set further to the rotation axis side than the collision positions and further upstream than the collision positions with respect to the substrate rotation direction.   
     
     
         6 . The substrate processing apparatus according to  claim 5 , wherein
 each collision position is set on an extension line extending in a direction of a resultant force acting on the protective liquid on the liquid contact position in accordance with the rotation of the substrate by the substrate rotating unit.   
     
     
         7 . The substrate processing apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of liquid contact positions correspond respectively to the plurality of collision positions, and
 the liquid film forming unit discharges the protective liquid from the plurality of discharge ports respectively toward the plurality of liquid contact positions to form the plurality of liquid films of the protective liquid respectively covering the plurality of collision positions.   
     
     
         8 . The substrate processing apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein each liquid contact position corresponds to a plurality of the collision positions, and the plurality of collision positions corresponding to a liquid contact position in common are set along a circular arc centered at the liquid contact position in common. 
     
     
         9 . The substrate processing apparatus according to  claim 1 , further comprising: a substrate rotating unit that rotates the substrate in a substrate rotation direction around a rotation axis intersecting the principal surface of the substrate held by the substrate holding unit; wherein
 each liquid contact position corresponds to a plurality of the collision positions, and the plurality of collision positions corresponding to a liquid contact position in common are set along an extension line extending in a direction of a resultant force acting on the protective liquid on the liquid contact position in accordance with the rotation of the substrate by the substrate rotating unit and set so as not to overlap when viewed from the direction of the resultant force.   
     
     
         10 . A substrate processing method comprising:
 an injecting step of injecting droplets of a processing liquid from a plurality of injection ports respectively toward a plurality of collision positions within a principal surface of a substrate; and   a liquid film forming step of forming a plurality of liquid films of a protective liquid that respectively cover different collision positions by discharging the protective liquid from a plurality of discharge ports respectively toward a plurality of liquid contact positions within the principal surface of the substrate in parallel with performing the injecting step.   
     
     
         11 . The substrate processing method according to  claim 10 , wherein the injecting step includes a processing liquid supplying step of supplying the processing liquid to the plurality of injection ports; and a vibration applying step of severing the processing liquid injected from the plurality of injection ports by applying vibration to the processing liquid injected from the plurality of injection ports in parallel with performing the processing liquid supplying step. 
     
     
         12 . A nozzle for making droplets injected from a plurality of injection ports collide with a substrate covered by a liquid film of a protective liquid discharged from a discharge port, the nozzle comprising:
 an injection portion in which the plurality of injection ports are formed so that the droplets injected from the plurality of injection ports collide respectively with a plurality of collision positions within the substrate; and   a discharge portion in which the discharge port is formed so that the protective liquid contacts a liquid contact position within the substrate that is equal in distance from the respective collision positions.   
     
     
         13 . The nozzle according to  claim 12 , further comprising: a supplying portion in which a processing liquid flow passageway supplying the processing liquid to the plurality of injection ports is formed; and
 a vibration applying unit that severs the processing liquid supplied to the plurality of injection ports by applying vibration to the processing liquid flowing through the processing liquid flow passageway.   
     
     
         14 . The nozzle according to  claim 12 , wherein distances from the respective injection ports to the discharge port are equal. 
     
     
         15 . The nozzle according to  claim 12 , wherein the plurality of injection ports include: a plurality of annularly aligned injection ports disposed at positions of equal distance from a reference point when viewed from a reference direction; and
 the discharge port includes: a central discharge port disposed so as to be positioned at the reference point when viewed from the reference direction.   
     
     
         16 . The nozzle according to  claim 12 , wherein the plurality of injection ports include: a plurality of arcuately aligned injection ports disposed at positions of equal distance from a reference point when viewed from a reference direction; and
 the discharge port includes: an arcuate discharge port that is continuous in a circumferential direction of an arc centered at the reference point when viewed from the reference direction.   
     
     
         17 . The nozzle according to  claim 12 , wherein the plurality of injection ports include: a plurality of annularly aligned injection ports disposed at positions of equal distance from a reference point when viewed from a reference direction; and
 the discharge port includes: an annular discharge port disposed so as to surround the reference point when viewed from the reference direction and being continuous across a whole circumference.   
     
     
         18 . The nozzle according to  claim 12 , wherein the plurality of injection ports include: a plurality of rectilinearly aligned injection ports disposed so as to be aligned rectilinearly when viewed from a reference direction; and
 the discharge port includes: a slit-shaped rectilinear discharge port parallel to the plurality of rectilinearly aligned injection ports when viewed from the reference direction.   
     
     
         19 . A substrate processing apparatus comprising:
 the nozzle according to  claim 12 ;   a processing liquid supply pipe that supplies the processing liquid to the injection portion;   a protective liquid supply pipe that supplies the protective liquid to the discharge portion;   a substrate holding unit that holds a substrate; and   a relative movement unit that makes the nozzle and the substrate held by the substrate holding unit move relatively by moving at least one of either the nozzle or the substrate in a state where a positional relationship of the plurality of injection ports and the discharge port is kept fixed.   
     
     
         20 . The substrate processing apparatus according to  claim 19 , further comprising: a substrate rotating unit that rotates the substrate around a rotation axis intersecting a central portion of a principal surface of the substrate held by the substrate holding unit;
 wherein the relative movement unit moves the nozzle between a central position at which the nozzle faces the central portion of the principal surface of the substrate and a peripheral edge position at which the nozzle faces a peripheral edge portion of the principal surface of the substrate in a manner such that a distance between the nozzle and the substrate at the central position is shorter than a distance between the nozzle and the substrate at the peripheral edge position.