JP2000097564A - Substrate dryer and substrate dryer/cleaner - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent the occurrence of unacceptable substrate by making an exhaust opening in the substantially horizontal extension of the substrate supporting face of a substrate supporting table thereby suppressing readhesion of mist to a substrate at the time of rotary drying a cleaned substrate. SOLUTION: An exhaust opening 6c is made in the substantially horizontal extension of the substrate supporting face of a substrate supporting table 2. A large number of exhaust openings 6a, 6b are made in a tubular side wall 4b over the entire circumference thereof and a large number of exhaust openings 6a are made similarly in a tubular side wall 4a over the entire circumference of the tubular side wall 4b. When a substrate 1 is dried by turning at high speed while ejecting dry gas 8 from a dry gas nozzle 7, air flow is discharged well to an apparatus 4 through exhaust openings 6c, 6b, 6a because of the exhaust opening 6c made in the horizontal extension of the upper surface of the substrate 1. Since an air flow ascending onto the substrate 1 along the side wall 4b is not generated, mist is prevented from falling onto the substrate 1.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to various substrates such as LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), that is, liquid crystal display elements and liquid crystal display panels, and semiconductor devices in the manufacturing process thereof. The present invention relates to a substrate drying apparatus for cleaning and drying a substrate and a substrate cleaning / drying apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art LCDs have thin film transistors (TF).
T) etc. as switching elements, an active matrix type LCD or a super twisted nematic liquid crystal (ST)
There is a simple matrix type LCD using N liquid crystal).

For example, in order to manufacture the former TFT-LCD, in a process of forming various thin films on a transparent insulating substrate made of glass or the like and forming a TFT substrate (substrate on which the TFT is formed), a process is usually performed. Before forming each thin film such as a gate wiring, a gate insulating film, an a-Si film, a drain wiring, a pixel electrode, and a protective film (before applying a resist), use a substrate cleaning device and a substrate drying device to remove pure water. The glass substrate is cleaned using a cleaning liquid such as a chemical or a chemical solution. Also,
Processing each thin film into a predetermined pattern, also in the photolithography process, for removing the developer after developing the resist film, removing the etchant after wet etching of each thin film, removing the stripper after removing the resist film, Using a cleaning solution,
The substrate is cleaned.

When cleaning a substrate, a table supporting the substrate is rotated at a high speed (spin) in order to improve the substrate cleaning ability.
A large amount of cleaning liquid is discharged onto the substrate while the cleaning is being performed. After the substrate is washed, the substrate is dried by ejecting a drying gas onto the substrate while rotating the stage supporting the substrate at a high speed in the substrate drying apparatus.

In order to improve the productivity and increase the size of the display screen, a large number of substrates are manufactured rapidly in order to obtain as many substrates as possible for each LCD. Further, the substrate cleaning step is an important step that affects the yield.

[0006] 800 dot x 600 dot TFT-L
The number of pixels of a CD is 1.44 million, and if there is a disconnection or short-circuit of these wirings, an interlayer short-circuit between a gate wiring and a drain wiring, or a defective electrical characteristic of a TFT, the color of the light is increased. However, display defects such as a line defect different from the surroundings linearly or a point defect having a locally different color occur.

FIGS. 8A and 8B show a conventional substrate drying apparatus. FIG. 8A is a schematic perspective view of the apparatus, FIG. 8B is a schematic sectional view of the apparatus when the substrate to be cleaned and dried is small, and FIG. It is a schematic sectional drawing of an apparatus when it is large.

1 is a substrate to be dried, 2 is a substrate support, 2
a is a substrate stage base, 2b is a substrate support pin, 2c
Is a pin for fixing the substrate, 3 is a rotation mechanism of the substrate support table 1, 4 is a substrate drying device, 4a is an outer wall of the device, 4b is a side wall, 4c is an upper opening of the device 4, 4d is a filter provided in an upper opening 4c, 5 Is a drain port, 6a is an exhaust port of the outer wall 4a, 6b is an exhaust port of the side wall 4b, 7 is a drying gas nozzle, and 8 is a drying gas. Arrows indicate airflow.

The outer wall 4a and the side wall 4b are both substantially cylindrical and coaxial as shown in FIG. The substrate 1 cleaned by another cleaning device is placed and supported on the support base 2, and while the substrate 1 is rotated at a high speed by the rotating mechanism 3 in the device 4, a drying gas 8 such as nitrogen (N ₂ ) gas is supplied from the drying gas nozzle 7. It is spouted onto the surface of the substrate 1 to perform spin drying. At this time, the cleaning liquid adhering to the substrate 1 is drained out of the substrate 1 through the drain port 5.

The outer wall 4a and the side wall 4b have a function of receiving the cleaning liquid adhering to the substrate 1 at the time of spin-drying and flowing from the drain port 5 so as to cover the periphery of the substrate 1. The airflow is exhausted out of the device 4 from the exhaust ports 6b, 6a of the inner wall 4b and the outer wall 4a. The side wall 4b surrounds the periphery of the vicinity of the substrate 1, and efficiently exhausts the airflow when the substrate 1 is rotated and dried.
It has a function of flowing out of the device 4 via 6a.

[0011]

In a conventional substrate drying apparatus 4 having a structure as shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B, while drying gas 8 is blown out from a drying gas nozzle 7 onto a substrate 1, each substrate is dried. When the substrate was dried by rotating at a high speed of 1000 rpm or more, the turbulence generated near the end of the substrate 1 in the side wall 4b due to the high speed rotation caused the air current to fly over the substrate 1 along the side wall 4b (backflow component: arrow a)
Occurs. The air flow at the time of drying contains a mist of contaminated water generated by the draining process attached to the surface of the substrate 1,
The mist falls on the substrate 1 due to the soaring air current a.

As described above, during drying, the mist adheres to the surface of the substrate 1 again, and as a result, minute water stains remain on the substrate 1. These minute water stains cause contamination at the interface of the deposited thin film formed on the substrate 1 and cause defects such as wiring defects. In addition, as the number of rotations of the substrate increases, turbulence is more likely to occur, and the drying ability is improved. On the other hand, reattachment of contaminated water is more likely to occur.

Further, as shown in FIG. 8C, such a phenomenon tends to occur because the distance between the side wall 4b and the end of the substrate 1 becomes shorter as the substrate area becomes larger. For this reason, when manufacturing using a large-sized substrate, the manufacturing yield is significantly affected. As a countermeasure, it is conceivable to enhance the exhaust capacity and suppress the rise of the airflow, or to increase the inner diameter of the side wall 4b as much as possible compared to the dimensions of the substrate 1. Increasing the exhaust capacity,
Operating costs increase and manufacturing costs increase. In addition, as the size of the substrate 1 increases, the size of the device 4 must be increased. However, there is a demand to reduce the size of the device 4 as much as possible in order to reduce the area occupied by the device 4. Furthermore, if the number of rotations of the substrate during drying is reduced, the rise in airflow can be suppressed,
It becomes difficult to dry the substrate.

[0014] Such a problem is not limited to a liquid crystal display element, but also applies to a substrate such as a wafer in the manufacture of a semiconductor device.

In addition to the above-described substrate drying apparatus that performs only drying of a substrate after cleaning by another cleaning apparatus, there is also a substrate cleaning and drying apparatus that performs cleaning and drying of a substrate consistently.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a substrate drying apparatus capable of suppressing the re-adhesion of mist generated during rotation drying after cleaning of a substrate to a substrate without increasing the exhaust capacity, and preventing the occurrence of defects caused by the mist. And a device for cleaning and drying the substrate. It is still another object of the present invention to provide a substrate drying and substrate cleaning / drying apparatus which can cope with an increase in the size of a substrate and can be made as small as possible.

[0017]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a substrate drying apparatus according to the present invention includes a substrate support for mounting and supporting a substrate to be dried, a rotation mechanism for rotating the substrate support, It has a container that covers the periphery of the substrate support, and an exhaust port that opens to a substantially horizontal extension of the substrate support surface of the substrate support.

The word "substantially" does not mean that the exhaust port is opened on the substrate supporting surface of the substrate supporting table, that is, a strictly horizontal extension surface of the upper surface of the substrate. means.

[0019] Further, a dry gas jet nozzle is provided on the substrate support table.

Further, the container has an inner wall and an outer wall, the inner wall is provided with a plurality of exhaust ports, and the outer wall is also provided with a plurality of exhaust ports.

Further, the container has an inner container and an outer container, the inner container has a plurality of exhaust ports, the outer wall has a plurality of exhaust ports, and the inner container rotates when the substrate is dried. It is characterized by having a rotating mechanism for causing the rotation.

Further, the substrate cleaning and drying apparatus according to the present invention comprises a substrate support for mounting and supporting a substrate, a rotation mechanism for rotating the substrate support, a container for covering the periphery of the substrate support, A drain port and a first exhaust port that is shielded during the cleaning of the substrate and that is open when the substrate is dried and that opens to a substantially horizontal extension of the substrate support surface of the substrate support stand.

Further, the container has an inner container and an outer container, one of the containers has a plurality of the first exhaust ports, and the other of the containers has a plurality of the second exhaust ports, The first exhaust port is shielded by the wall of the other container during the substrate cleaning, and the first exhaust port is opened to a substantially horizontal extension surface of the substrate support table when the substrate is dried. It is characterized in that at least one of the containers is relatively moved in the up-down direction and is opened.

According to the apparatus of the present invention, the container (cup) for cleaning and drying the substrate has a function of collecting the cleaning liquid and draining it from the drain port, and the air flow in the container is efficiently exhausted during drying. Let it flow out of the container through the mouth,
The structure is such that backflow does not occur on the substrate surface. That is,
In the present invention, by providing an exhaust port that opens on the substantially horizontal extension surface of the substrate support, the airflow rising component during substrate drying is efficiently exhausted from the exhaust port to the outside of the apparatus. Adhesion can be suppressed.

[0025]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. In the drawings described below, those having the same functions are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the repeated description thereof will be omitted.

Embodiment 1 FIGS. 1A and 1B show a substrate drying apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention, wherein FIG. 1A is a schematic external perspective view and FIG. 1B is a schematic sectional view.

1 is a substrate to be dried, 2 is a substrate support (also called a substrate stage or a substrate chuck), 2a
Is a base of the substrate stage, 2b is a pin for supporting the substrate, 2c is a pin for fixing the substrate, 3 is a rotating mechanism of the substrate support 1, 4 is a drying device for the substrate, 4a is an outer wall of the device, 4b is a side wall, 4d is a side of the device 4, A filter provided in the upper opening 4d;
Reference numeral 5 denotes a drain port, 6a denotes an exhaust port of the outer wall 4a, 6b and 6c denote exhaust ports of the side wall 4b, 7 denotes a drying gas nozzle, and 8 denotes a drying gas. Arrows indicate airflow.

FIGS. 6A and 6B are schematic external perspective views showing the details of the substrate support table. FIG. 6A shows the state of loading and unloading the substrate, and FIG.

2A is a loader arm for carrying the substrate 1 in and out of the substrate support 2.

The outer wall 4a and the side wall 4b are both substantially cylindrical and coaxial as shown in FIG. The substrate 1 cleaned by another cleaning device is placed and supported on the support base 2, and while the substrate 1 is rotated at a high speed by the rotating mechanism 3 in the device 4, a drying gas 8 such as nitrogen (N ₂ ) gas is supplied from the drying gas nozzle 7. It is spouted onto the surface of the substrate 1 to perform spin drying. At this time, due to the rotation of the substrate support 2, an airflow is generated as shown by the arrow in FIG. Further, the cleaning liquid adhering to the substrate 1 is:
The water is drained from the drain port 5 to the outside of the substrate 1.

The outer wall 4a and the side wall 4b have a function of receiving the cleaning liquid adhering to the substrate 1 at the time of spin drying and flowing from the drain port 5, so as to cover the periphery of the substrate 1. The airflow is exhausted out of the device 4 from the exhaust ports 6c, 6b, 6a of the inner wall 4b and the outer wall 4a. The side wall 4b surrounds the vicinity of the substrate 1 and has a function of efficiently flowing an airflow when the substrate 1 is rotated and dried through the exhaust ports 6c, 6b, and 6a. The most characteristic feature of the present substrate drying apparatus 4 is that an exhaust port 6c is provided which opens in a substantially horizontal extension of the substrate support surface of the substrate support 2. "Almost" means
The exhaust port 6c is provided on the substrate support surface of the support base 2, that is, the substrate 1
It does not mean that the upper surface is strictly opened on the horizontal extension surface, but that it may be slightly shifted. Exhaust port 6 of side wall 4b
A large number of a and 6b are provided over the entire circumference of the cylindrical side wall 4b (see FIG. 2B). Similarly, a large number of exhaust ports 6a of the outer wall 4b are provided over the entire circumference of the cylindrical outer wall 4a.

In the present substrate drying apparatus 4, the substrate is dried at a high speed of 1000 rpm or more while the drying gas 8 is jetted from the drying gas nozzle 7 onto the substrate 1 and dried. Air flow is provided by the exhaust ports 6c, 6b, 6
8A, the air is well exhausted out of the apparatus 4 and rises on the substrate 1 along the side wall 4b generated in the conventional apparatus shown in FIG. 8 (backflow component: indicated by an arrow a in FIG. 8C).
No mist was generated, and the mist was prevented from falling on the substrate 1, and no fine water stain was generated on the substrate 1.

FIG. 7A shows the number of foreign substances caused by water spots (ie, the number of defects; number of pieces / substrate) with respect to the substrate rotation speed during drying (rotation speed per minute) when the present apparatus shown in FIG. 1 is used. 8B is a graph showing the transition of the number of foreign matter caused by water seepage with respect to the rotation speed of the substrate when the conventional apparatus shown in FIG. 8C is used. The total displacement during drying is 2.4 m ³ / min, and the size of the substrate is 650 mm × 830.
mm, and the inner diameter of the side wall 4b is 1100 mm. In the graph, □ indicates the number of defects before cleaning and drying, and ○ indicates the number of defects after cleaning and drying. In addition, in order to clarify the effect of the present apparatus for reducing the number of water seeping foreign substances, a comparative experiment was performed with the exhaust volume intentionally kept low.

As shown in FIG. 7B, after the rotary cleaning,
When spin-drying is performed using a conventional apparatus, the number of foreign substances caused by water spots increases extremely as the rotation speed increases. On the other hand, as shown in (a), when the rotary cleaning is performed by using the present apparatus 4 after the rotary cleaning, the increase in the number of foreign substances due to the water spot depending on the rotation speed can be suppressed.

Embodiment 2 FIG. 2A is a schematic sectional view of a rotating cup type substrate drying apparatus according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention, and FIG. 2B is a schematic external perspective view of an inner cup.

4a is an outer wall of the apparatus, 4b is an inner cup (inner container), 9 is a rotating mechanism of the inner cup 4b, and 9a is a driving wheel. Straight arrows indicate airflow.

The present apparatus uses the inner cup 4 when the substrate 1 is dried.
b is rotated by the rotation mechanism 9 and the drive wheels 9a. As shown in (b), a large number of exhaust ports 6a and 6b of the side wall 4b are provided over the entire circumference of the cylindrical side wall 4b. Similarly, a large number of exhaust ports 6a of the outer wall 4b are provided over the entire circumference of the cylindrical outer wall 4a. In the present apparatus, the rotation of the inner cup 4b generates an airflow toward the outside of the apparatus 4 (indicated by a straight arrow in (b)), so that water droplets attached to the substrate 1 are efficiently removed, and the inner cup 4b
Is provided with an exhaust port 6c which is opened on the horizontal extension surface of the substrate support surface of the support base 2, so that the airflow is reduced by the exhaust ports 6c, 6
Exhaust gas is satisfactorily exhausted to the outside of the device 4 through the b and 6a, and the airflow (backflow component) that rises on the substrate 1 generated by the conventional device is not generated, and the prevention of minute water seepage due to the mist falling on the substrate 1 is prevented. Great effect.

Third Embodiment FIGS. 3 to 5 are views showing an integrated apparatus for cleaning and drying a substrate according to a third embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a schematic sectional view at the time of a substrate loading / unloading step, and FIG. FIG. 5 is a schematic sectional view at the time of a process, and FIG. 5 is a schematic sectional view at the time of a substrate drying process.

3 to 5, reference numeral 40 denotes a substrate cleaning / drying apparatus; 4a, an outer wall of the apparatus; 4b, an inner cup (first cup); 4c, an outer cup (second cup);
a, the outlets 6b, 6c are the outlets of the inner cup 4b, 6
d is an exhaust port of the outer cup 4c, and 10 is an elevating mechanism of the outer cup 4c. In FIG. 4, 11 is a cleaning liquid nozzle,
Reference numeral 12 denotes a cleaning liquid. Arrows indicate airflow.

As shown in FIG. 4, the substrate 1 is placed and supported on the substrate support 2 of the apparatus 4 in the state shown in FIG. 3, the cleaning liquid nozzle 11 is moved on the substrate 1, and the substrate support 2 is moved. A large amount of cleaning liquid 12 such as pure water or chemical liquid is discharged from the cleaning liquid nozzle 11 onto the substrate 1 while being rotated at a high speed by the rotation mechanism 3. After cleaning the substrate 1, as shown in FIG. 5, while using the substrate cleaning and drying apparatus 4, the substrate holder 2 is rotated at a high speed, and a drying gas 8 such as nitrogen gas is supplied from the drying gas nozzle 7 to the substrate 1. The substrate 1 is blown up to dry the substrate 1.

At the time of cleaning the substrate 1, a large number of exhaust ports 6b and 6c of the inner cup 4b are connected to the outer cup 4 as shown in FIG.
c and is shielded by the side wall of the outer cup 4c. When the substrate 1 is dried, as shown in FIG.
As a result, the outer cup 4c is lowered, and the shielding of the exhaust ports 6c, 6b of the inner cup 4b by the side wall of the outer cup 4c is released, and the exhaust ports 6c, 6b are opened. FIG.
Before the washing of the substrate 1, the elevating mechanism 10 raises the outer cup 4c, and the exhaust ports 6c, 6b of the inner cup 4b are shielded by the side wall of the outer cup 4c.

In the present apparatus 4 also, when the substrate 1 is dried, the exhaust port 6 opened on the horizontal extension surface of the substrate support surface of the substrate support 2.
c, the air flow is satisfactorily exhausted to the outside of the device 4 through the exhaust ports 6c, 6b, 6d, 6a, and the air flow soaring above the substrate 1 is not generated, and the mist falls on the substrate 1. No fine water spots on the substrate 1 occurred.

Although the present invention has been specifically described based on the embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and it is needless to say that various modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention. It is. For example, the device outer wall 4a
The shapes of the cups 4b and 4c need not necessarily be cylindrical. Further, in the devices 4 and 40 shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 5, the drying gas nozzle 7 is not necessarily provided, and the substrate 1 may be dried only by rotating the substrate 1. Also,
In the third embodiment, the outer cup 4c is raised to shield the exhaust ports 6b, 6c of the inner cup 4b, and the outer cup 4c
Is lowered to open the exhaust ports 6b and 6c of the inner cup 4b, but it goes without saying that the outer cup 4c may be lowered and shielded, and may be raised and opened. Further, the present invention relates to an active matrix type or simple matrix type LCD,
The present invention is also applicable to the manufacturing process of various products incorporating a semiconductor element such as an LSI, an optical element, a magnetic element, a magneto-optical element, a molecular recognition element, and the like.

[0044]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Suppresses the contamination of the substrate surface and the generation of water spots due to mist adhesion during spin drying after cleaning the substrate in the manufacturing process of various devices, making it possible to create a clean substrate surface, and has a remarkable effect on improving the manufacturing yield of various devices. .

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1A is a schematic external perspective view of a substrate drying apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention, and FIG. 1B is a schematic sectional view.

FIG. 2A is a schematic sectional view of a rotating cup type substrate drying apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2B is a schematic external perspective view of an inner cup.

FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a substrate cleaning / drying apparatus during a substrate loading / unloading process according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view during a substrate cleaning step according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view during a substrate drying step according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6A is a schematic external perspective view of the substrate support when the substrate is carried in and out, and FIG. 6B is a schematic external perspective view of the substrate support with the substrate installed.

7A is a graph showing a change in the number of foreign substances caused by water spots with respect to the substrate rotation speed when the present apparatus shown in FIG. 1 is used, and FIG. 7B is a graph showing the conventional apparatus shown in FIG. 6 is a graph showing a change in the number of foreign substances permeated with respect to a rotation speed at the time of substrate drying in the case where is used.

FIG. 8A is a schematic external perspective view of a conventional substrate drying apparatus, FIG. 8B is a schematic sectional view of the conventional substrate drying apparatus when a substrate to be cleaned and dried is small, and FIG. It is a schematic sectional drawing of the conventional substrate drying device.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Substrate, 2 ... Substrate support base, 2a ... Substrate stage base part, 2b ... Substrate support pin, 2c ... Substrate fixing pin, 3
... substrate support table rotating mechanism, 4 ... substrate drying apparatus, 4a ... apparatus outer wall, 4b ... side wall (inner cup), 4c ... outer cup,
4d: upper opening, 4e: filter, 5: drain port, 6a,
6b, 6c, 6d: exhaust port, 7: dry gas nozzle, 8:
Dry gas, 9: inner cup rotating mechanism, 9a: drive wheel, 1
0 ... Outer cup elevating mechanism, 11 ... Cleaning liquid nozzle, 12 ...
Cleaning liquid, 40: substrate cleaning and drying device.

[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] January 6, 1999 (1999.1.6)

[Procedure amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Drawing

[Correction target item name] Figure 2

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

FIG. 2

[Procedure amendment 2]

[Document name to be amended] Drawing

[Correction target item name] Fig. 8

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

FIG. 8

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 3B201 AA03 AB02 AB34 BB33 BB92 BB93 CB12 CC12 CC13 CD11 3L113 AA03 AB02 AB08 AB09 AC01 AC47 AC67 AC83 BA34

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A substrate support for mounting and supporting a substrate to be dried, a rotation mechanism for rotating the substrate support, a container covering the periphery of the substrate support, and a substrate support surface of the substrate support. A substrate drying apparatus, comprising: an exhaust port that opens to a horizontal extension surface. 2. A substrate drying apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a drying gas jet nozzle on said substrate support table. 3. The substrate drying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said container has an inner wall and an outer wall, said inner wall has a plurality of said exhaust ports, and said outer wall also has a plurality of exhaust ports. apparatus. 4. The container has an inner container and an outer container, the inner container has a plurality of exhaust ports, the outer wall has a plurality of exhaust ports, and the inner container rotates when the substrate is dried. The substrate drying apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a rotating mechanism for rotating the substrate. 5. A substrate support for mounting and supporting a substrate, a rotation mechanism for rotating the substrate support, a container covering the periphery of the substrate support, a drain for a cleaning liquid, and a shield for cleaning the substrate. And a first exhaust port which is opened when the substrate is dried and which is open to a substantially horizontal extension of the substrate support surface of the substrate support table. 6. The container has an inner container and an outer container, one of the containers has a plurality of the first exhaust ports, and the other of the containers has a plurality of the second exhaust ports, The first exhaust port is shielded by the wall of the other container during the substrate cleaning, and the first exhaust port is opened to a substantially horizontal extension surface of the substrate support table when the substrate is dried. The apparatus for cleaning and drying a substrate according to claim 5, wherein at least one of the containers is relatively moved in the up-down direction and is opened.