An object of the present invention is to provide a solution which contains an organic solvent as a main component (content: equal to or greater than 98% by mass) and has an excellent defect inhibition ability.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a solution storage body storing the solution, an actinic ray-sensitive or radiation-sensitive resin composition containing the solution, and a pattern forming method and a manufacturing method of a semiconductor device using the solution.

The solution of the present invention is a solution containing at least one kind of organic solvent having a boiling point lower than 200° C. and an organic impurity having a boiling point equal to or higher than 250° C., in which a content of the organic solvent with respect to a total mass of the solution is equal to or greater than 98% by mass, and a content of the organic impurity with respect to the total mass of the solution is equal to or greater than 0.1 mass ppm and less than 100 mass ppm.

A radiation-sensitive composition includes a polymer including first and second structural units, a first compound that generates a first acid upon irradiation with radioactive ray, and a second compound that generates a second acid upon irradiation with radioactive ray. The first structural unit includes an acid-labile group, the first acid does not substantially dissociate the acid-labile group under 110° C. and a period of 1 min, the second acid dissociates the acid-labile group under 110° C. and a period of 1 min, and the second structural unit includes a monovalent group of formula (X),

##STR00001##

where Ar.sup.1 is a group obtained by removing (a+b) hydrogen atoms from an unsubstituted aryl group, R.sup.XA is a monovalent iodine atom, an iodinated alkyl group or an iodinated alkoxy group, R.sup.XB is a monovalent organic group, a is an integer of 1 to 10, and b is an integer of 1 to 10.

A lithography apparatus includes a wafer chuck configured to hold a wafer, a fluid source configured to contain a fluid to be applied towards the wafer during a lithography process, a dispensing nozzle positioned above the wafer chuck and in fluid communication with the fluid source, the dispensing nozzle having an adjustable cross-section, and a mechanical mechanism operable to apply a force towards an outer surface of the dispensing nozzle to change the adjustable cross-section.

Method for coating a substrate with a coating material is described, in particular with a coating or photoresist, wherein said substrate is provided in said method. Said coating material is applied to said upper side of said substrate. A gas flow is generated, said gas flow being directed from said underside of said substrate to said upper side of said substrate, wherein said gas flow prevents a bead of said coating material forming on said edge of said upper side of said substrate or a previously existing bead is removed by means of said gas flow. In addition, a coating system is described.

In this invention use of silicone hard-coated polycarbonate (SHC-PC) as direct photo definable, thermally, chemically and optically stable polymer that can be patterned using conventional microfabrication and drying etching process is reported. As a result of the increased resistance to thermal and chemical deformations and flow of the silicone hard-coated polycarbonate (SHC-PC), it has been shown for the first time that the illustrated process herein to be compatible with a variety of conventional thin film deposition, micro and nano fabrication approaches such as metal evaporation, photoresist deposition/developing and electroplating that are typically incompatible to polycarbonate. As such high optical clarity surfaces with ultra-hydrophobic-hydrophilic properties with well-defined micro and nano patterned surface features of high surface roughness were fabricated with high fidelity.

Provided is an apparatus and a method for liquid-treating a substrate. A substrate treating apparatus may include: a substrate support unit supporting a substrate; and a liquid supply unit applying a photosensitive liquid onto the substrate supported on the substrate support unit, and the liquid supply unit may include an application nozzle supplying the photosensitive liquid, a nozzle arm in which the application nozzle is positioned at one end portion, and a driving member positioned at the other end portion of the nozzle arm and moving the nozzle arm, and the application nozzle may include a nozzle body supported on the nozzle arm, a nozzle tip connected to the nozzle body, and an anti-static surface having an internal flow path through which the photosensitive liquid is ejected and capable of removing static electricity, a nozzle nut member fastened to a thread of the nozzle body so that the nozzle tip is fixed to the nozzle body, and contacting the nozzle tip, and a grounding member having one end contacting the nozzle nut member and the other end grounded through the nozzle arm.

The present disclosure describes a lithography apparatus comprising a photoresist coating unit configured to perform one or more coating processes on a substrate. The lithography apparatus further comprises a detection unit configured to determine a contamination level of a contaminant from the one or more coating processes adheres on a sidewall of the lithography apparatus. The lithography apparatus further comprises a controller unit configured to adjust one or more operations of the lithography apparatus based on a comparison between the contamination level and a baseline cleanliness requirement of the lithography apparatus.

Disclosed is a liquid processing apparatus including: a plurality of substrate placement regions; a nozzle that supplies a processing liquid to a substrate from each processing position; a nozzle placement region provided behind a row of the substrate placement regions; an arm that detachably holds the nozzle at one end side; a driving unit that horizontally pivots the arm around a pivot axis; and a controller that outputs a control signal to convey the nozzle from the nozzle placement region to a standby position corresponding to a processing position of a conveyance destination, cause the nozzle to stand by at the standby position, and then, convey the nozzle to the processing position. The standby position is outside the substrate placement regions and is located between the processing position and the nozzle placement region when viewed in a front-and-rear direction.

A method for forming a planarization layer is provided that can include depositing an organic planarization layer on a deposition surface using a spin on deposition method; and treating the deposited organic planarization layer with a solvent anneal. In some embodiments, a vapor of solvent is passed over the deposited organic planarization layer to increase uniformity of the deposited organic planarization layer. The method may further include curing the deposited organic planarization layer with a thermal anneal.

An object of the present invention is to provide a novel fluorine-containing polymer, a radiation-sensitive resin composition for liquid immersion lithography which contains the fluorine-containing polymer, which leads to a pattern having an excellent shape and excellent depth of focus, wherein the amount of an eluted component in a liquid for liquid immersion lithography such as water that comes in contact with the resist during exposure in liquid immersion lithography is little, and which provides a larger receding contact angle between the resist film and the liquid for liquid immersion lithography such as water, and a method for purifying the fluorine-containing polymer. The present resin composition comprises a novel fluorine-containing polymer (A) containing repeating units represented by the general formulae (1) and (2) and having Mw of 1,000-50,000, a resin (B) having an acid-unstable group, a radiation-sensitive acid generator (C), a nitrogen-containing compound (D) and a solvent (E).