| CPC H01L 21/67034 (2013.01) [H01L 21/02052 (2013.01)] | 15 Claims |
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1. A substrate processing method of drying a substrate, which has a liquid adhering to a surface thereof, by using a processing fluid in a supercritical state,
wherein the substrate processing method is performed by using a substrate processing apparatus,
the substrate processing apparatus comprises:
a processing vessel;
a substrate holder configured to hold the substrate horizontally within the processing vessel such that the surface of the substrate faces upwards;
a fluid discharge unit configured to discharge the processing fluid into the processing vessel;
a fluid drain unit configured to drain the processing fluid from the processing vessel;
a supply line, connected to the fluid discharge unit, through which the processing fluid is supplied to the fluid discharge unit from a fluid source configured to supply the processing fluid in the supercritical state;
a drain line connected to the fluid drain unit; and
a flow control device provided in at least one of the supply line or the drain line, and configured to control a flow of the processing fluid flowing within the processing vessel from the fluid discharge unit toward the fluid drain unit, and
wherein the fluid drain unit comprises a manifold having, between a first end and a second end thereof, multiple outlet openings arranged at a distance therebetween in a horizontal direction; the drain line comprises a first sub-drain line and a second sub-drain line connected to the first end and the second end of the manifold, respectively; each of the first sub-drain line and the second sub-drain line is provided with a drain flow control device; and the drain flow control device constitutes at least a part of the flow control device,
wherein the substrate processing method comprises: flowing the processing fluid from the fluid discharge unit to the fluid drain unit such that the processing fluid flows along the surface of the substrate held by the substrate holder,
the flowing of the processing fluid comprises flowing the processing fluid in a first flow mode in the processing vessel and flowing the processing fluid in a second flow mode in the processing vessel,
between the first flow mode and the second flow mode, a flow direction distribution of the processing fluid flowing along the surface of the substrate in the processing vessel is different when viewed from a direction normal to the surface of the substrate, and
a switchover between the first flow mode and the second flow mode is performed by the flow control device,
by using the drain flow control device, in the first flow mode, a drain flow rate of the processing fluid into the first sub-drain line through the manifold is set to be smaller than a drain flow rate of the processing fluid into the second sub-drain line through the manifold, and
by using the drain flow control device, in the second flow mode, a drain flow rate of the processing fluid into the first sub-drain line through the manifold is set to be larger than a drain flow rate of the processing fluid into the second sub-drain line through the manifold.
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