JP2000150333A - Substrate heat treatment apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a substrate heat treatment apparatus capable of preventing effectively a warp or transcription in substrate. SOLUTION: A heat treatment apparatus includes a hot plate 60 for mounting an LCD substrate 61, heaters 6 and 8 provided at the hot plate 60 for radiating heat through the hot plate 60 and treating the LCD substrate 61 by heat, and a carrying means with a plurality of wires 63 horizontally extended for holding the LCD substrate 61 on the wires 63 and moving it onto the hot plate 60. In this constitution, the substrate to be treated is held by the wires 63 with small contact width, so a warp in the substrate caused by an abrupt change in temperatures can be prevented. At the same time, a so-called trace of transcription of resist film caused by a difference in temperatures between the substrate and the carrying means can be effectively prevented.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a substrate heat treatment apparatus for heat-treating a substrate to be processed, and more particularly to a substrate heat treatment apparatus for heating and baking a substrate coated with a resist solution. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a manufacturing process of a liquid crystal display (LCD) device, for example, a thin film of ITO, an electrode pattern and the like are formed on an LCD substrate. For this purpose, a photolithography technique similar to that used in the semiconductor manufacturing process is used.

[0003] That is, the LCD substrate to be processed is
First, after being cleaned in the cleaning device, the treatment surface is subjected to a hydrophobic treatment in the adhesion processing device. Then, after a photoresist solution is formed in a resist coating device, the photoresist solution is heated (baked) in a heat treatment device.
Thus, sublimates such as a solvent are evaporated from the resist liquid film. Next, the LCD substrate is conveyed to an exposure device, the resist liquid film is exposed to a predetermined pattern, and finally, after a developing solution is applied and developed in a developing device, the developing solution is washed away with a rinsing solution or the like, A series of processing ends.

In the above-described processing, the baking processing is performed by a substrate heat treatment apparatus having a built-in heating table called a hot plate in which a heating heater is embedded. The hot plate of this heat treatment apparatus is provided with a transfer pin for transferring the substrate to be processed onto the heating table and performing a heating process so as to be able to protrude and retract.

[0005]

Incidentally, in recent years, for example, a so-called super TF for increasing the field of view by increasing the aperture ratio has been proposed.
With the introduction of T liquid crystal displays and the like, patterns formed on LCD substrates are becoming finer and higher definition. Along with this, the problem of so-called “transfer” has been highlighted.

The term "transfer" refers to the occurrence of quantitative and qualitative variations in a resist coating film due to some cause during photolithography processing, mainly heat treatment. Although the cause of this transfer is not yet clear, when at least the substrate after the application of the resist solution is transferred to the heat treatment apparatus having the above-described configuration, the temperature difference between the transfer pins and the substrate causes
It is known that this affects the thickness of the resist solution applied to the front side of the portion held by the transfer pins, and this contributes to the transfer.

As described above, as the pattern formed on the LCD substrate becomes finer and higher definition, the problem of transfer occurs even in a temperature environment which has not been a problem in the past.

In particular, in the case of an LCD, in a finished product, the thickness variation portion remains as a so-called "transfer mark" and is visually observed through a glass substrate. Therefore, means for effectively preventing the occurrence of this transfer is required. I have. In addition, large area LC
In the case of D, it is necessary to deal with the problem of warpage caused by the temperature difference.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a substrate heat treatment apparatus capable of effectively preventing warpage and transfer from occurring.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a substrate heat treatment apparatus capable of effectively preventing the occurrence of warpage or transfer without lowering the throughput.

[0011]

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a heating table for heating a substrate to be processed,
A substrate heat treatment apparatus, comprising: a plurality of wires stretched horizontally; and a transfer unit for holding the substrate to be processed on the wires and transferring the substrate on the heating table. I do.

[0012] This substrate heat treatment apparatus has a more preferable operation and effect particularly when processing a substrate having a resist liquid applied to the upper surface as the substrate to be processed. More specifically, it is preferably used for a baking process performed after application of a resist solution.

According to such a configuration, by adopting a wire capable of holding the substrate with a small contact width as the substrate transfer means in the heat treatment, the transfer means is adapted to the size of the contact width with the substrate. The influence of the temperature difference on the substrate can be minimized. Thus, it is possible to effectively prevent the influence of the warpage of the substrate caused by the temperature difference between the substrate and the transfer means.

In particular, when the coating process of the resist solution is performed in a closed space, the amount of the solvent and the like in the resist solution before introduction of the heat treatment process is small. The temperature difference between the supported part and the unsupported part due to the temperature change causes the resist film thickness to fluctuate, which causes so-called "transfer marks". High fear.

According to the present invention, such a situation can be effectively prevented by adopting a wire as the transfer means, so that a very high effect can be obtained particularly in an LCD manufacturing apparatus.

The diameter of the wire is determined such that the temperature difference between the wire and the substrate does not change the thickness of the resist liquid film applied on the upper surface of the substrate. Is required, and specifically, 0.1 to 0.
It is preferably formed to 8 mm.

It is preferable that a storage groove for storing the wire is formed on the heating table. When processing the substrate after the application of the resist solution as a substrate to be processed, the dimensions of the storage groove after storing the wire are:
It must be formed in a size that does not affect the resist liquid film applied to the surface of the substrate.

Further, it is preferable to employ a wire moving mechanism capable of moving the stretched position of the wire. When processing the LCD substrate, if the portion outside the product formation area is held, the influence of “transfer” can be minimized.

In this case, it is more preferable that the amount of movement of the wire is determined based on the data of the product area, and the wire is moved based on the determination of the determining means.

[0020]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, an embodiment of a heat treatment apparatus according to the present invention applied to an LCD substrate coating and developing system 1 shown in FIG. 1 will be described.

The coating and developing system 1 applies a resist solution to an LCD substrate, and then once passes it to an exposure system (EXP) shown in FIG. It is received again and subjected to development processing.

In order to perform such a series of processes, the coating and developing system 1 includes a loader / unloader unit (L / UL) 3 for loading and unloading the LCD substrate and a substrate cleaning process. No.
1 Process part 4 and application (coating) of resist solution
A second process unit 5 for performing a peripheral resist removal process, a third process unit 6 for performing a development process,
An interface unit (I / F) 7 for transferring a substrate to and from the exposure system 2 is provided.

The loader / unloader section 3 includes a cassette mounting table 10 and a transport section (C / S) 11. On the cassette mounting table 10, two types of cassettes C1 and C2 are mounted. An LCD substrate before processing is stored in a first cassette C1, and an LCD substrate after processing is stored in a second cassette C2.
The substrate is stored.

The transport section 11 is provided with a first sub arm mechanism 13. The first sub-arm mechanism 13 has an arm 14 capable of holding a substrate, and the arm 14 is turned to move forward and backward to thereby make the first cassette C
The substrate stored in the first processing unit 4 can be taken out and transferred to the first processing unit 4 side. The substrate on which all processing has been completed is stored in the second cassette C2 from the first processing unit 4 side by the first sub-arm mechanism 13.

The first processing section 4 has a first main arm mechanism 15 for receiving a substrate from the first sub arm mechanism 13. This main arm mechanism 15
The base 17 includes a base 17 that runs on a first central conveyance path 16 that extends in the direction, and an arm 18 that turns on the base 17 and is driven to move forward and backward.

Beside the first main arm mechanism 15, along the central transport path 16, two cleaning units (SCR) 19 composed of brush scrubbers, and a heating / heating unit (HP / HP) having a hot plate 20), a dry cleaning unit (UV) 21 comprising an ultraviolet cleaning device, and a cooling unit (COL) having a cooling plate
22 are provided.

Here, the "heating / heating unit (HP / H
The notation "P)" indicates that the heating units having the hot plates are stacked and installed in, for example, two tiers (hereinafter the same). Also, in the figure, the numbers (“HP <U> 1 </ U>”, “COL <U> 1 </ U>”, etc.) appended after the HP indicating the heating unit and the COL indicating the cooling unit are as follows:
The type or order of the heating process or the cooling process is shown.

The first main arm mechanism 15 inserts the substrate received from the loader / unloader section 3 into each of the processing units 19 to 20 and performs necessary processing. Then, the substrate is taken out and sequentially separated. Processing unit 19 ~
20 or the second process unit 5.

On the other hand, the second processing unit 5 is adapted to travel on a second central transport path 23 extending in the Y direction.
The main arm mechanism 24 is provided. The second main arm mechanism 24 has a base 25 and an arm 26 configured similarly to the first main arm mechanism 15.

On the side of the second main arm mechanism 24, a resist coating / peripheral resist removing unit (CT / ER) 28 for applying a resist to the substrate and removing unnecessary resist on the peripheral portion. An adhesion / cooling unit (AD / COL) 29 for performing a hydrophobic treatment on the substrate surface, and a heating / heating unit (HP)
/ HP) 30, heating / cooling unit (HP / COL) 3
1 is arranged.

The second main arm mechanism 24 inserts the substrate received from the first processing section 4 into each of the processing units 28 to 31 and performs necessary processing. It is transported to another processing unit 28 to 31 or to the third processing unit 6 side.

The third processing section 6 includes a third main arm mechanism 34 that travels on a third central transport path 33 extending along the Y direction. The third main arm mechanism 34 has a base 35 and an arm 36 configured similarly to the first and second main arm mechanisms 15.

On the side of the third main arm mechanism 34, three development processing units (DEV) 38 for developing the exposed LCD substrate, and a titler (TITLER) 39 for performing titling are provided. , A heating / heating unit (HP / HP) 40 and a heating / cooling unit (HP / COL) 41 are provided.

The third main arm mechanism 34 transfers the substrate coated with the resist liquid received from the second processing unit 5 to the exposure system 2 (interface unit 7), and removes the exposed substrate. Exposure system 2
Receive from the side. Then, the exposed substrate is inserted into each of the processing units 38 to 41, and after performing necessary processing, the substrate is taken out and sequentially processed in another processing unit 38 to 41.
41 or the second process section 5.

As shown in this figure, cooling units (COL) 42, 43 are provided between the first, second, and third process units 4, 5, 6. These cooling units 42 and 43 are used to temporarily suspend the substrate being processed.

The interface section 7 includes a buffer cassette (BC) and a second sub-arm mechanism 46.
And a transfer unit 49 having a transfer table (not shown) for transferring a substrate between the second sub-arm mechanism 46 and the exposure system 2.

The interface unit 7 applies the resist-coated substrate received from the second processing unit 5 via the third main arm mechanism 34 to the exposure system 2.
To the exposure system 2
And has a function of passing it to the third process unit 6.

Next, the processing procedure in the coating and developing system configured as described above will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. It should be noted that the alphabetic symbols in the flowchart mean that the operations are performed in the units denoted by the same reference numerals in FIG.

First, the unprocessed substrates stored in the first cassette C1 on the mounting table 10 are transferred from the loader / unloader unit 3 to the first processing unit via the transfer unit (C / S) 11. 4 is transferred to the first main arm mechanism 15 (steps S1 and S2). Next, the substrate is subjected to ultraviolet cleaning by a dry cleaning device (UV) 21 (step S3), and then the first cooling unit 22 performs the first cleaning.
Is cooled (COL1) (step S4).

Next, if the brush cleaning (SRC) is performed by the wet cleaning device 19, it is heated and dried by the first heat treatment (HP1) by the heating unit 20 (step S6), and then the cooling unit 21 is heated. Is cooled by the second cooling process (step S
7). Next, this substrate is connected to the first main arm mechanism 15.
To the second main arm mechanism 24 of the second process unit 5
Passed to.

The surface of the substrate transferred to the second processing unit 5 is subjected to hydrophobic treatment (AD) by the adhesion processing unit 29 (step S8), and then the substrate is subjected to the third process.
(COL3) is performed (step S9).
Next, the substrate after the hydrophobizing treatment is introduced into a resist liquid coating / peripheral resist removing device 28 and resist coating (CT)
In addition, unnecessary resist solution removal (ER) at the periphery of the substrate is performed.

The application of the resist solution is performed by a device called a spin coater. In this spin coater, an LCD substrate is accommodated in a closed cup, and the cup is rotated at a high speed while supplying the resist liquid to the surface of the substrate, thereby forming a film of the resist liquid.

The method of applying a resist solution while rotating the substrate as described above is also employed when a circuit pattern is formed on a semiconductor wafer. However, in manufacturing LCDs, it is sometimes difficult to form a uniform resist film as compared with a wafer because the LCD substrate is large and rectangular.

In particular, since the four corners are at a distance from the center, the peripheral speed of these portions is considerably high, and there is a possibility that a problem that turbulence occurs around the substrate may occur.
Further, in order to uniformly diffuse the resist solution to the corners of the substrate, it is necessary to prevent the solvent contained in the resist solution from volatilizing as much as possible and to make the diffusion speed constant. For this reason, in the LCD substrate manufacturing apparatus, volatilization of the solvent and generation of turbulence are prevented by rotating not only the substrate but also the cup for sealingly housing the substrate at a high speed.

On the other hand, the removal of the peripheral resist is to remove the resist film raised at the edge of the substrate by using a tool called an edge remover.

The substrate thus processed is inserted into the heating units 30 and 31 and subjected to a baking process (HP
2) is performed (step S11). As a result, the solvent contained in the resist solution applied to the substrate is volatilized. Next, the substrate is inserted into the cooling unit 31 and cooled to approximately room temperature (COL4) (Step S1).
2). Next, the substrate is transported from the second main arm mechanism 24 to the interface unit 7 via the third main arm mechanism 34, and is transferred to the exposure system 2 (step S13). And this exposure system 2
In step S1, an exposure process (EXP) is performed.
4).

The substrate subjected to the exposure processing is inserted into the titler 39 via the interface section 7 and the third main arm mechanism 34 and subjected to the titling processing (step S15).

Thereafter, the substrate is introduced into the development processing device 38, and development processing (DEV) is performed (step S1).
6). The developing processing unit 38 performs development by rotating the substrate while supplying the developing solution onto the substrate, and after washing away the developing solution with a rinse solution, performs shaking-off drying.

Finally, the substrate is placed in the heating / heating unit 40 or the heating / cooling unit 4 facing the substrate.
1 and heat-dried by a third heat treatment (HP3) (step S17), and then a fifth cooling treatment (C
OL5) (Step S18).

The substrate on which all of the above processes have been completed is transferred from the third main arm mechanism 34 to the transfer unit 11 (C / C) via the second and first main arm mechanisms 24 and 15.
It is delivered to the first sub arm mechanism 13 provided in S) (step S19). Then, the first sub-arm mechanism 13 accommodates the second cassette C2 in the loader / unloader unit 10 (step S20).

Next, the structure of the heat treatment apparatus of the present invention used in the coating and developing system will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 (a), 3 (b) and 4. FIG.

This heat treatment apparatus is, for example, a heat treatment unit (HP2) 3 of the second process section 5 (FIG. 1).
It is used as 0 and 31 and is used for evaporating and drying the solvent contained in the resist solution by subjecting the substrate coated with the resist solution to a heat treatment (baking treatment).

The feature of the heat treatment of the present invention is shown in FIG.
And a pair of poles 62 respectively.
The reason is that the wire is held on three small-diameter wires 63 stretched horizontally between the wires and transferred onto a hot plate indicated by 60 in the figure. By adopting a wire 63 capable of holding the LCD substrate 61 with a small contact width as the substrate transfer means, it is possible to prevent the LCD substrate 61 from being rapidly heated and to generate warpage of the substrate 61 and generation of so-called “transfer marks”. Effectively prevent. The following configuration is provided to achieve such a function.

First, as shown in FIG. 3A, the heat treatment apparatus has a main body 65 provided with an opening 64 through which the second main arm mechanism 24 moves the substrate 61 in and out. In the main body 65, the hot plate 60 for holding the substrate 61 on the upper surface and performing the main heating is fixed on a frame 67 that stands upright from the bottom surface of the main body 65. The hot plate 60 is formed of, for example, an aluminum alloy or the like, and has a heater 68 embedded therein.

The temperature of the heater 68 is controlled by a heater heating temperature controller (not shown) so as to heat the hot plate 60 to a high temperature of, for example, 120 ° C. to 150 ° C.

In the main body 65, a wire 63 for holding a substrate 61 to be heated, and a wire 63
A pair of pawls 62 installed horizontally with a constant tension applied thereto, a holder 71 for holding a base end of the pawls 62, and an elevating mechanism 72 for vertically driving the wire via the holder 71. Is provided.

The wire 63 has a diameter of, for example, 0.1 mm
It is made of stainless steel with a small diameter of about 0.5 mm. The diameter of the wire 63 is arbitrarily determined so as not to cause a change in the resist film thickness that causes transfer when the LCD substrate 61 is held by the wire 63.

That is, one of the causes of the fluctuation of the resist film thickness is as follows.
It has been found that the temperature difference between the substrate 63 and the wire 63 when the substrate 61 is transferred to the wire 63 affects the resist liquid film depending on the contact width (wire diameter) between the wire 63 and the substrate 61. ing. Therefore, in the present invention, by reducing the width of the wire 63 to a certain value or less, the influence is reduced to such an extent that transfer does not occur or even if it occurs, it cannot be visually recognized. Such a wire diameter is Φ0.8 mm or less, but in this embodiment,
A wire 63 having a diameter of 0.5 mm or less is used as a dimension that can obtain more preferable results.

On the other hand, the diameter of the wire 63 is determined based on the number of the wires 63 to be stretched and the tension force, based on the fact that the held substrate 61 is not bent more than necessary. That is, when the diameter of the wire 63 is small, the substrate 61 is bent and the heating result varies. In this case, it is necessary to increase the diameter of the wire or increase the number of wires. In this embodiment, a preferable wire diameter is 0.1 mm or more.

In this embodiment, three wires 63 are used.
However, in the case of a large-sized substrate, more wires 63 may be provided. In order to prevent the generation of particles due to the contact between the wire 63 and the substrate 61, the wire 63 may be coated with a resin.

On the other hand, the pole 62 extends upward through the hot plate 60 with its base end portion fixed to the upper surface of the frame 71. Holder 71
A guide mechanism (not shown) is provided so as to be vertically movable and held so that the wire 63 held by the upper end of the pole 62 can be moved up and down while being held horizontally and at the same height.

Further, the elevating mechanism 72 has a timing belt 73 for driving the holder 71 up and down, and a stepping motor 74 for driving the timing belt 73. The stepping motor 74 is connected to a controller (not shown), and can drive the substrate 61 held by the wires 63 at an arbitrary speed.

This heat treatment apparatus lowers the substrate 61 gradually so as to raise the temperature of the substrate and prevent the substrate from warping due to the temperature difference between the upper surface and the lower surface. The substrate 6 driven downward by the lifting mechanism 72
1 is mounted on the upper surface of the hot plate 60. In this embodiment, the mounted substrate 61 is suction-held on a hot plate 60 in order to increase the throughput of the heat treatment.

FIG. 4 is a view of the hot plate 60 viewed from obliquely above. As shown in this figure, three storage grooves 75 for storing the wires 63 are provided on the upper surface of the hot plate 60, and between the storage grooves 75, for holding the substrate 61 by suction. , A rectangular loop-shaped vacuum chuck groove 76 is provided.

The vacuum chuck groove 76 communicates with a suction hole 77 opened on the upper surface of the hot plate 60, and the suction hole 77 is connected to a vacuum pump (not shown). Therefore, when the vacuum pump is operated, the suction hole 77 and the vacuum chuck groove 76 allow the substrate 61 to move.
Can be held by suction.

The chuck groove 76 and the storage groove 75 are formed to have a predetermined width or less and a predetermined depth or less so as not to give the substrate 61 a heat distribution for transferring.

This will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 shows a state where the substrate 61 is transferred from the wire 63 onto the hot plate 60. That is, the substrate 61 is sucked onto the hot plate 60 through the vacuum chuck groove 76, and the wires 63 are
Are stored in the storage groove 75 at a distance from the lower surface of the storage device.

It has been found that when the grooves and holes formed on the hot plate 60 are smaller than a predetermined size, they do not cause transfer or can reduce the influence of transfer to such an extent that they cannot be visually confirmed. . In this embodiment, the vacuum chuck groove 76 and the storage groove 75 are designed to have the dimensions shown in FIG. 5 so that the influence of transfer marks can be reduced particularly when the groove width is 0.5 mm or less and the groove depth is 0.3 mm or less. I do.

That is, the vacuum chuck groove 76 is formed so as to have a groove width of 0.5 mm and a groove depth of 0.3 mm, and the storage groove 75 has a groove width of 0.5 mm with the wire 63 stored therein. , With a groove depth of 0.3 mm.

In this embodiment, in order to further effectively suppress the influence of the transfer, the wire 63 is connected to the LC
It is arranged according to the product area of the D board 61. That is,
As shown in FIG. 4, when two products are obtained from the LCD substrate 61 (in the case of taking two products), the product area of the LCD substrate 61 is indicated by a dotted line 61a in the figure. And
In this embodiment, the wires 63 are provided so as to hold an area 61b outside the product area of the substrate 61.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 3A, a shutter mechanism 80 for closing the opening 64 of the main body 65 is provided outside the hot plate 60. The shutter mechanism 80 includes a shutter 81 that forms walls in four directions surrounding the hot plate 60, and a drive cylinder mechanism 82 that drives the shutter 81 up and down.

FIG. 3A shows a state in which the shutter 81 is opened to accept the approach of the main arm 24. The shutter 81 is closed when the substrate 61 has been transferred onto the wires 63, as shown in FIG. 3B. Then, the substrate 61 is gradually driven down while being heated in the shutter, and is finally placed on the hot plate 60. Note that FIG. 3B is a diagram in which the vertical cross-sectional direction is shifted by 90 degrees from FIG. 3A.

On the other hand, a stopper 84 for forming a predetermined gap between the shutter 81 and the upper wall 65a is provided on the lower surface of the frame upper wall 65a facing the upper end surface of the shutter 81.

At the center of the upper wall 65a, there is formed an exhaust hole 85 for exhausting the air flow (a) entering through the gap together with the solvent evaporated from the substrate 61 and the like. The main body upper wall 65a is formed in a mortar shape that gradually rises toward the exhaust hole 85, and guides the entered airflow (a) so as not to directly hit the substrate 61.

According to the configuration described above, the following effects can be obtained. That is, in the present invention, the wire 63 capable of holding the substrate with a small contact width is employed as the substrate transfer means in the heat treatment, so that the transfer means can transfer the substrate to the substrate 61 in accordance with the size of the contact width with the substrate 61. The effect of the temperature difference can be minimized. As a result, it is possible to effectively prevent the effect of the substrate 61 such as warpage caused by the temperature difference between the substrate 61 and the transfer means (wire 63).

In particular, in the case of an LCD manufacturing apparatus, since the coating process of the resist solution is performed in a closed space (cup), the solvent and the like in the resist solution hardly sublime before the heat treatment process is introduced. Therefore, when this LCD substrate 61 is suddenly transferred to the transfer means of the heat treatment apparatus having a large temperature difference, only the sublimation of the sublimated material in the supported portion is promoted by the temperature change, and the resist film thickness fluctuates. It is highly likely to cause "transfer marks".

Therefore, according to the present invention, such a situation can be effectively prevented by employing the wire 63 as the transfer means, so that a very high effect can be obtained particularly in the LCD manufacturing apparatus.

In the above embodiment, in order to improve the throughput of the substrate heat treatment, the LCD substrate 61
Is held by suction and brought into close contact with the upper surface of the hot plate 60, but the present invention is not limited to this. Proximity spacers may be provided on the hot plate 60 to provide a certain gap between the substrate 61 and the hot plate 60. In this way, there is an effect that peeling electrification due to static electricity can be effectively prevented.

Also, in the above embodiment, the LCD
Although the substrate 61 is held by suction on the hot plate 60, the present invention is not limited to this. The substrate 61
Need only be placed on the proximity spacer and not held by suction.

FIG. 6 shows this proximity spacer 87.
FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing a hot plate 60 ′ provided with a hot plate. No suction chuck groove is provided on the hot plate 60 ', and a number of proximity spacers 87 are scattered instead. FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing a state in which the LCD substrate 61 is held via the proximity spacer 87.

In this case, the distance between the substrate 61 and the hot plate 60 ′ is 0.1 mm by the proximity spacer 87.
A gap of 1 to 0.2 mm is defined. Note that when the gap defined by the proximity spacer 87 is larger than the wire diameter, it is not necessary to provide the storage groove 75 for storing the wire 63 on the hot plate 60 ', but in this embodiment, Since the diameter of the wire 63 is larger than the gap, the storage groove 75 is still formed on the hot plate 60.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the stretched position of the wire 63 is fixed, but may be movable as shown in FIG. In this embodiment, slits 88 are provided on both sides of the hot plate 60 'so as to extend in a direction perpendicular to the wires 63, so that the standing position of the pole 62 can be changed. On the hot plate 60 ', more grooves 75 for storing the wires 63 are provided than the number of the wires 63, so as to be able to cope with a change in the wire position and an increase in the number of the wires 63.

According to such a configuration, the substrate to be processed 61
There is an effect that it is easy to shift the position of the wire 63 or increase the number of wires 63 according to the size of the product area, the position of the product area 61a, and the like.

In the example shown in FIG. 6, the wire position is manually changed. However, as shown in FIG. 8, the wire position can be moved by a pole driving mechanism 90 that can drive the pole 62. good. In this case, the central control unit 91 outputs the product area data 92 of the substrate.
The position of the wire is determined on the basis of
0 may be controlled.

The structure for holding the wire 63 is not limited to the pole 62, and a plurality of wires 63 may be installed in parallel on the upper ends of a pair of wall-shaped members. .

Lastly, in the above-described embodiment, an example in which the present invention is applied to a coating and developing processing system of an LCD manufacturing apparatus is described as an example which can obtain a particularly great effect. Of course, the present invention can be applied to a prober, an ashing device, an exposure device, and the like. Also, the present invention can be applied to a case where a silicon wafer is processed as a substrate to be processed.

[0087]

According to the configuration of the present invention described above,
Since the substrate to be heat-treated is held by a wire having a small contact width, the substrate to be processed does not warp due to a rapid temperature change. Further, it is possible to effectively prevent the problem of a so-called "transfer mark" of the resist liquid film caused by a temperature difference between the substrate and the transfer means.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating an LCD substrate coating and developing processing system to which an embodiment of the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining a series of processing steps of LCD manufacturing.

FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a substrate heat treatment apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a main part of the substrate heat treatment apparatus.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing a state where a substrate to be processed is held by suction on a hot plate.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing another example of the substrate heat treatment apparatus.

7 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which a substrate to be processed is suction-held on a hot plate by the substrate heat treatment apparatus of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a view for explaining a modification of the substrate heat treatment apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Coating and development processing system (LCD manufacturing apparatus) 60 ... Hot plate (heating board) 61 ... LCD board (substrate to be processed) 61a ... Product area 61b ... Outside product area 63 ... Wire 68 ... Heating heater (heating means) 71 ... Holder 72 ... Elevating mechanism (transferring means) 75 ... Storage groove 76 ... Vacuum chuck groove 77 ... Suction hole 80 ... Shutter mechanism 87 ... Proximity spacer

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A heating table for heating a substrate to be processed, and a plurality of wires stretched horizontally, the substrate to be processed is held on the wires, and the substrate is transferred onto the heating table. A substrate heat treatment apparatus, comprising: a transfer unit. 2. The substrate heat treatment apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the heating table is provided with a storage groove for storing the plurality of wires. 3. The substrate heat treatment apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a wire moving unit that can move a stretch position of the wire. 4. The substrate heat treatment apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the wire has a diameter such that a temperature difference between the wire and the substrate does not change the thickness of a liquid film applied on the upper surface of the substrate. A substrate heat treatment apparatus, comprising: 5. The substrate heat treatment apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a storage groove for storing the wire is formed on the heating table, and the storage groove has a dimension after storing the wire, the storage groove being formed on the heating table. A substrate heat treatment apparatus characterized in that the substrate heat treatment apparatus is formed in a size that does not affect the liquid film applied to the surface of the substrate. 6. The substrate heat treatment apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising: a wire moving mechanism that can move a stretched position of the wire so as to hold a portion of the substrate to be processed outside a product formation region. Substrate heat treatment equipment. 7. The substrate heat treatment apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the wire moving mechanism determines a moving amount of the wire based on data of the product area, and moves the wire based on the determination of the determining means. A substrate heat treatment apparatus comprising: a driving unit that drives the substrate.