A development method includes: a development step of supplying a developing solution to a surface of a substrate for manufacturing a semiconductor device after undergoing formation of a resist film and exposure, to perform development; a first rotation step of, after the development step, increasing revolution speed of the substrate to rotate the substrate in a first rotational direction around a central axis so as to spin off and remove part of the developing solution from the substrate; and a second rotation step of, after the first rotation step, rotating the substrate in a second rotational direction reverse to the first rotational direction so as to spin off and remove the developing solution remaining on the substrate from the substrate.

The method includes a step of executing a rotation treatment in a rotation treatment apparatus; a step of imaging a substrate on which the rotation treatment has been executed, in an inspection apparatus; a step of acquiring change amount information stored in advance, being information on an amount of change in orientation of the substrate while the substrate is moved from the rotation treatment apparatus to the inspection apparatus; a step of acquiring, as an execution result information, information on an execution result of the rotation treatment along a circumferential direction of the substrate, based on an imaging result in the inspection apparatus; and a step of correcting a position of the substrate at a time of the rotation treatment, based on the change amount information and the execution result information.

After a development liquid on a substrate is washed away with a rinse liquid, the rotational speed of the substrate is reduced, so that a liquid layer of the rinse liquid is formed over a top surface of the substrate. Thereafter, the rotational speed of the substrate is increased. The increase in the rotational speed of the substrate causes a centrifugal force to be slightly greater than tension, thereby causing the liquid layer to be held on the substrate with the thickness thereof in its peripheral portion increased and the thickness thereof at the center thereof decreased. Then, gas is discharged toward the center of the liquid layer from a gas supply nozzle, so that a hole is formed at the center of the liquid layer. This causes tension that is balanced with a centrifugal force exerted on the peripheral portion of the liquid layer to disappear. Furthermore, the rotational speed of the substrate is further increased while the gas is discharged. Thus, the liquid layer moves outward from the substrate.

A substrate processing method includes performing a developing processing on a substrate. The developing processing includes supplying a developing liquid on a surface of the substrate to form a liquid film of the developing liquid on the surface of the substrate; maintaining the liquid film on the surface such that development progresses; and performing, during the maintaining of the liquid film, a first processing of supplying a gas to an inner region located inward of a peripheral region on the surface of the substrate and a second processing of supplying an adjusting liquid configured to suppress progress of the development on the peripheral region to adjust a degree of the development between the peripheral region and the inner region. The second processing is started after a start time of the first processing, and the second processing is ended after an end time of the first processing.

A developing device includes a spraying assembly and a concentration regulating assembly. A developing method usable in the developing device includes: spraying developing agents by a spraying assembly onto respective developing regions on a substrate to be developed; and spraying a regulating liquid by a concentration regulating assembly onto a target developing region on the substrate to be developed to change concentration of the developing agents.

A developing method for forming a resist film having a high uniformity of CD distribution. After exposure of a resist film on a substrate surface to form a resist pattern, the method includes sequential steps of: (A) supplying a developer to the rotating substrate; (B) reacting the resist film with the developer; and (C) removing the developer from the surface of the resist film to terminate the reaction of the resist film with the developer. In step (A), a liquid-contact nozzle, having an ejection orifice for the developer and a lower surface extending laterally from the ejection orifice and disposed opposite the resist film, is used. In step (C), the boundary between a reaction-terminated area of the surface of the resist film, and an in-progress reaction area of the surface of the resist film, is moved from the center toward the periphery of the resist film.

The present disclosure provides a developing device and a developing method. The method may be used in the developing device. The developing device includes a spraying assembly and a concentration regulating assembly. The method includes: spraying developing agents by a spraying assembly onto respective developing regions on a substrate to be developed; and spraying a regulating liquid by a concentration regulating assembly onto a target developing region on the substrate to be developed to change concentration of the developing agents.

Example embodiments may provide methods for determining a quality of a film in spin coating process. The methods may include capturing images of portions of the film using an imaging device while coating the film on a substrate using a spinner. The imaging device may include SPCs and lens and/or SLMs. The methods may also include determining whether a characteristic of the film matches to a standard based on the images of the portions of the film. The method may further include performing detecting that the quality of the film is optimal in response to determining that the characteristic of the film matches to the standard or detecting that the quality of the film is not optimal in response to determining that the characteristic of the film does not match to the standard.

A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device includes supplying a developer on a substrate. A distribution information of the developer on the substrate is captured by a capturing device of an analysis subsystem. An assessment result is generated based on the distribution information by a processor of the analysis subsystem. Whether to perform an adjustment operation is determined based on the assessment result.

Example embodiments are directed to a developer supply device including a first pipe supply a developer of a first temperature, a second pipe supply the developer of a second temperature, a mixer fluidly connected to the first pipe and the second pipe and mix the developer to obtain a mixed developer, a first flow rate controller control a flow rate of the developer into the mixer, a second flow rate controller control a flow rate of the developer into the mixer, a nozzle to dispense the mixed developer on a target substrate, a third pipe fluidly connected to the mixer and the nozzle to supply the mixed developer; a temperature sensor to measure a temperature of the mixed developer, and a controller to control the first flow rate controller or the second flow rate controller based on the temperature.