JP2001023943A - Substrate rotating dryer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a substrate rotating dryer which is capable of lessening particles attached to a substrate and drying the substrate, keeping it high in cleanliness. SOLUTION: After a prescribed time Td has elapsed after a tank exhaust damper 52 and an axial exhaust damper 53 are closed at the same time, a chamber open/close lid is opened, a substrate and a holder which are clamped by clamping devices are released from a clamping state. Even if the inside pressure of the chamber is lower than the outside pressure at a time, when an exhaust operation by a chamber exhaust section is stopped, outside air flows into the chamber while a prescribed time elapses after an exhaust operation is stopped, so that the external pressure and inside pressure of the chamber become equal to each other, and the flow of air will not flow into the chamber from the beginning, when a substrate inlet/outlet is opened. By this setup, particles which are contained comparatively densely in an air flow above a substrate rotary dryer are restrained from being attached to the substrate, so that the substrate can be dried out, keeping it high in cleanliness.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an exhaust device, and more particularly to an exhaust device of a rotary drying device for rotating a wet substrate to dry it.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When performing a surface treatment such as a cleaning process on a thin substrate to be processed (hereinafter simply referred to as a substrate) such as a semiconductor wafer or a glass substrate for liquid crystal, the substrate is immersed in a processing bath. An immersion type substrate processing apparatus is used.
In this immersion type substrate processing apparatus, a substrate processing tank for processing a substrate and a substrate rotary drying apparatus for drying the processed substrate are arranged. As this type of substrate rotary dryer, a horizontal axis rotary type substrate rotary dryer is known (Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 4-48622).

[0003] The substrate rotating and drying apparatus includes a rotating body for holding a substrate, and a chamber for covering the rotating body and rotatably supporting a rotating shaft by a bearing. This chamber is provided with a substrate entrance and an intake at the top,
The lower part is provided with a chamber exhaust port. An exhaust duct is connected to the chamber exhaust port, and the exhaust duct is connected to a facility exhaust duct.

In such a substrate rotary drying apparatus, when the substrate is taken out of the chamber, the substrate entrance is opened and the inside of the chamber is opened to the outside air. However, if air is constantly ventilated from the chamber exhaust port, the outside air continues to enter the chamber while the substrate is being taken in and out, and particles contained in the outside air enter the chamber and adhere to the substrate.

In order to solve such a problem, when opening the substrate entrance, the exhaust from the chamber exhaust port is stopped to make it difficult for outside air to flow into the chamber, and particles contained in the outside air enter the chamber. It is known to take measures to make it difficult to intrude (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-22378).
issue).

[0006]

In the prior art, when the substrate is taken in and out of the chamber, the exhaust from the chamber exhaust port is stopped. Therefore, the exhaust is continuously performed throughout the opening and closing of the board. Although the contamination of the substrate was considerably reduced, particles are still observed on the dried substrate.

The inventors of the present application have intensively investigated the cause of the adhesion of the particles to the substrate, and as a result, have newly found that the adhesion of the particles to the substrate due to the following unknown factors. I found it.

That is, when the opening of the substrate entrance and the stop of the exhaust from the chamber exhaust port are simultaneous, when the opening of the substrate entrance starts to be opened, the slight gap between the substrate entrance and the opening that has started to be opened causes
Although the flow rate was extremely small, a phenomenon in which the air flow flowed into the chamber occurred. In a substrate rotary drying apparatus having a chamber structure having an intake port, although the inside and the outside of the chamber are always in communication via the intake port, still immediately after stopping the exhaust from the chamber exhaust port, it takes a short time. There is
It was found that the inside of the chamber was still slightly lower in pressure than the outside.

At the beginning of the opening of the substrate entrance, it was found that the airflow flowing into the chamber from a slight gap between the substrate entrance and the opening began to have a particularly large amount of particles. This is because the substrate rotary dryer is installed in a clean room where a downflow flow is formed, and when the downflow flows down to the substrate rotary dryer, it is prevented from flowing downward, and whirls sideways, upwards, and vortex. The particles flowing down the downflow flow are shaken off from the downflow flow that changes direction. The atmosphere is in a state of relatively high concentration. For this reason, the airflow flowing into the chamber through a slight gap between the substrate entrance and the beginning of opening draws the atmosphere in which the particles are distributed at a high concentration on the side of the substrate entrance. Therefore, when an airflow flows into the chamber through a slight gap between the opening and closing of the substrate at the beginning of the opening of the opening and closing of the substrate, many particles enter the chamber at a small flow rate and adhere to the substrate.

[0010] Further, while the air is exhausted from the chamber exhaust port, an air current flows into the chamber from the intake port, and during that time, the downflow flow is disturbed around the substrate rotary drying device, and the substrate is rotated by the substrate rotary drying device. The existing wet substrate before the rotational drying is exposed to the turbulent downflow flow, and a strong airflow hits a part of the substrate, and is partially evaporated and dried. Adhesion had occurred.

That is, the liquid that wets the substrate contains impurities or a reaction product generated with the substrate surface. In the rotary drying treatment, impurities and reaction products contained in the liquid as well as the liquid are shaken off.However, when the above-described evaporation occurs, even if the evaporation is partially impossible, the impurities and the reaction contained in the liquid are removed. The reaction products and the like remain on the substrate surface without being evaporated and remain as particles.

The present invention is based on the search for the cause of particles adhering to a substrate in the above-described substrate rotary drying apparatus. An object of the present invention is to provide a substrate rotary drying apparatus capable of drying a substrate with high cleanliness. To provide.

[0013]

The present invention has the following configuration in order to achieve the above object.

That is, the invention according to claim 1 comprises substrate rotation holding means for holding and rotating a substrate, a chamber surrounding the substrate rotation holding means, and a chamber exhaust section for exhausting the inside of the chamber, The chamber is a substrate rotary drying device having an openable and closable substrate entrance for taking in and out the substrate, and an intake opening for taking in outside air by communicating the inside and the outside even when the substrate entrance is closed, and exhausting by a chamber exhaust unit. A substrate entrance / exit of the chamber is opened after a lapse of a predetermined time from the stop of the process.

With the above configuration, the first aspect of the present invention has the following operation.

After a lapse of a predetermined time from the stop of the exhaust by the chamber exhaust unit, the substrate entrance of the chamber is opened. For this reason, at the time when the exhaust by the chamber exhaust unit is stopped, even if the inside of the chamber is at a lower atmospheric pressure than the outside, until a predetermined time elapses from when the exhaust is stopped.
Without opening the substrate entrance, the outside air of the chamber flows into the chamber from the intake port during that time, and the inside of the chamber does not have a pressure difference with the outside. No inflow occurs. This prevents the atmosphere on the side of the substrate entrance where particles are distributed at a relatively high concentration from being drawn into the chamber by a gas flow from a slight gap between the substrate entrance and the opening that has started to open, and the particle substrate is prevented from flowing. Adhesion to is eliminated.

Also, even before the substrate entrance is opened, even if the wet substrate before drying is near the substrate rotary drying apparatus, the exhaust by the chamber exhaust unit is stopped a predetermined time before the substrate entrance is opened. Therefore, the turbulence of the downflow flow around the substrate rotating and drying apparatus due to the generation of the airflow flowing into the chamber from the intake port with the exhaust from the chamber exhaust port is eliminated before the predetermined time before opening the substrate entrance, Partial evaporation and drying of the wet substrate before drying due to turbulence in the downflow flow is reduced. This allows
Particles originating from impurities contained in the liquid which wets the substrate before drying and reaction products of the liquid and the substrate are prevented from adhering to the substrate.

[0018]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to FIG. 1, an immersion type substrate processing apparatus 1 to which a preferred embodiment of the present invention is applied is loaded and loaded.
The apparatus includes an unloading section 2, a substrate transfer device 3, a substrate cleaning device 4, a substrate rotating and drying device of a horizontal axis rotating type, and a substrate transport robot 6.

The loading / unloading section 2 is for loading / unloading a carrier C for storing a substrate, and is provided with a substrate transfer robot 10 for transporting the carrier C. The substrate transfer robot 10 can move up and down and rotate, and can move in a direction indicated by an arrow A in FIG. The substrate transfer device 3, the substrate cleaning device 4, and the substrate rotary drying device are arranged side by side in the left-right direction. Substrate transfer robot 6
Has a pair of arms 11 for holding a substrate. The substrate transfer robot 6 is movable in the direction indicated by the arrow B, and is movable up and down. The substrate can be transferred between the devices 3 to 5 by the substrate transfer robot 6.
The substrate cleaning apparatus 4 is provided with a substrate cleaning tank 13 made of, for example, quartz glass. In the cleaning tank 13, a substrate holding unit 12 that can move up and down is provided. In addition, the substrate cleaning tank 13 is supplied with a chemical solution according to the processing from a plurality of chemical solution storage containers 7a to 7e.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the substrate rotary drying apparatus includes a substantially cylindrical chamber 15, a horizontal shaft-type rotor 16 rotatably provided in the chamber 15,
The apparatus includes a substrate holding section 19 which is detachably mounted on the base 6, and a holder elevating section 20 which is provided at a lower portion of the chamber 15 to move up and down the substrate holding section 19.

At the upper part of the peripheral wall of the chamber 15 is a substrate entrance 2
3, and a chamber exhaust port 24 is formed at the lower part of the peripheral wall. The substrate entrance 23 is closed by a chamber opening / closing lid 18 which can be freely opened / closed. An intake port 26 for taking in outside air is provided above the chamber opening / closing lid 18, and a filter 25 is mounted on the intake port 26. Below the filter 25, a static electricity removing device 27 composed of a pair of discharge needles is arranged. The static eliminator 27 applies a high voltage to the discharge needles to discharge them, ionizes the air in the chamber, and removes static electricity generated on the substrate W due to friction with the air during rotation. A duct connection portion 15a is formed in the chamber exhaust port 24, and a tank exhaust duct 28 (FIG. 5) is connected to the duct connection portion 15a.

The opening / closing lid 18 attached to the chamber 15 is
When the substrate entrance 23 is closed, the inside of the chamber 15 communicates with the outside only through the air inlet 26, and the opening and closing of the chamber 15 and the opening / closing lid 18 can be airtightly closed. An elastic packing 14 made of fluorine-based resin, silicon-based resin, or the like is interposed between the lid 18 and the chamber 15.

As shown in FIG. 3, the rotor 16 has a pair of left and right rotating flanges 31a and 31b arranged so as to face each other at an interval, and a plurality of connecting members for integrally connecting the rotating flanges 31a and 31b. And a bar 32. The substrate holder 19 is provided between the pair of rotating flanges 31a and 31b.
There are provided a substrate clamp device 21 and a holder clamp device 22 for fixing the plurality of substrates W and the substrate holder 19 held by the above to the rotor 16, respectively.

Rotating shafts 33a and 33b are fixed to the rotating flanges 31a and 31b, respectively. The rotating shaft 33a is supported by a bearing 34a. The bearing 34a is held by a bearing holder 35a fixed to the left side surface of the chamber 15.

A positioning ring 38 for positioning the rotor 16 at a reference position (a position where the orientation flat surface of the held substrate W is horizontal downward) is fixed to the tip of the rotating shaft 33a. Positioning ring 3
8, a positioning hole 38a is formed in the outer peripheral surface. A positioning member 39a is opposed to the positioning hole 38a, and a tip of the positioning member 39a is engageable. The positioning member 39a can be advanced and retracted by the air cylinder 39.

A detection dog 40 is fixed between the bearing 34a and the positioning ring 38. Detection dog 40
Is detected by the photo interrupter 41. When the photo-interrupter 41 is at the reference position,
It is arranged at a position where the detection dog 40 is detected.

The right rotating shaft 33b has a pair of bearings 34b,
34b rotatably supported. Bearings 34b, 34
b is the bearing holder 3 fixed to the right side of the chamber 15
5b. A pulley 42 is fixed to a tip of the rotating shaft 33b. The pulley 42 is connected to the motor 17 via a belt 43.

In the chamber 15, the rotating shaft 33
a and 33b are respectively provided in the shaft exhaust chamber 3
6 are formed. The shaft exhaust chamber 36 is formed so as to cover the rotating shaft from the outer peripheral side. The shaft exhaust chamber 36 is connected to a shaft exhaust duct 37.

As shown in FIG. 4, a labyrinth seal 44 having a convex cross section for sealing the outer periphery of the rotating shaft 33a is disposed inside the bearing 34a of the bearing holder 35a. An annular pressurized space 45 is formed outside the convex portion of the labyrinth seal 44. In the pressurized space 45,
The inner peripheral end of the gas supply port 46 that opens on the outer peripheral surface of the bearing holder 35a is open. A plurality of communication holes 48 are formed between the pressurized space 45 and the protrusion of the labyrinth seal 44.

A slight gap is formed between the outer peripheral portion of the labyrinth seal 44 and the bearing holder 35a. An annular exhaust space 49 is formed between the bearing 34a and the labyrinth seal 44. This exhaust space 4
In FIG. 9, an inner peripheral end of the gas discharge port 50 which opens on the outer peripheral surface of the bearing holder 35a is open. The gas discharge port 50 is connected to a gas discharge duct 51.

The bearing holder 35b has the same configuration, and the left and right gas supply ports 46 are connected to a nitrogen gas source via a gas supply pipe 47 and a gas supply valve 55 as shown in FIG. ing. The left and right gas discharge ducts 51 join the tank exhaust duct 28. A tank exhaust damper 52 is arranged on the way downstream of the junction of the tank exhaust duct 28.

The two shaft exhaust ducts 37 on both sides merge on the way, and a shaft exhaust damper 53 and a blower 54 are arranged on the way downstream of the merged part. The dampers 52 and 53 are for opening and closing the tank exhaust duct 28 and the shaft exhaust duct 37, respectively. The blower 54
The shaft exhaust chamber 36 is exhausted. By providing the blower 54, the pressure in the shaft exhaust chamber 36 can be made higher than that in the chamber 15. These ducts 2
8, 37 are independently connected to the facility exhaust duct.

The substrate processing apparatus 1 has a control unit 60 composed of a microcomputer shown in FIG. Control unit 6
0 has a timer section for counting time therein, and further includes an air cylinder 39, a motor 17, a tank exhaust damper 52, a shaft exhaust damper 53, a static electricity removing device 27, a gas supply valve 55, and other components. The input / output unit is connected.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described with reference to a control flowchart shown in FIG. 7 and a timing chart shown in FIG.

When the carrier C containing the substrate is placed on the substrate loading / unloading section 2, the carrier C is loaded into the substrate transfer device 3 by the substrate transfer robot 10. The substrate transfer device 3 collectively receives a plurality of substrates from the carrier C and holds them by the arm 11 of the substrate transfer robot 6.
Then, the plurality of received substrates are transferred to the substrate holder 12 of the substrate cleaning tank 13. Here, a cleaning process is performed on the substrate. When the cleaning is completed, the substrate transport robot 6 receives the substrate from the substrate holder 12, and transports the substrate to the substrate rotating and drying device.

In the substrate rotating / drying device, when the transported substrate is detected (step S1), the chamber opening / closing lid 18 is opened (step S2). Then, the substrate holder 19 is raised by the holder lifting unit 20, and the substrates are collectively received from the arm 11 of the substrate transfer robot 6. Substrate holder 19
When the substrate is received in step (1), the holder 19 is lowered by lowering the holder raising / lowering portion 20, and the substrate is arranged at a predetermined position (step S3). Then, the substrate and the holder 19 are clamped by the respective clamp devices 21 and 22. When the clamping is completed, the air cylinder 39 is retracted, the engagement between the positioning ring 38 and the positioning member 39a is released,
The rotor 16 is changed from the locked state to the unlocked state (step S4), and the chamber opening / closing lid 18 is closed (step S5). At this time, both the dampers 52 and 53 are closed.

Next, after closing the chamber opening / closing lid 18,
After a predetermined time Ta has elapsed (step S6), both the tank exhaust damper 52 and the shaft exhaust damper 53 are opened (step S7). Further, the static electricity removing device 27 is turned on (step S8), the gas supply valve 55 is opened, and nitrogen gas is supplied around the labyrinth seal 44 (step S9).

Here, when the gas supply valve 55 is opened,
The pressurized space 45 is filled with pressurized nitrogen gas through the gas supply port 46, and further enters the labyrinth seal 44 through the communication hole 48. A part of the invading nitrogen gas flows along the outer periphery of the labyrinth seal 44 to the exhaust space 49 and another part flows to the shaft exhaust chamber 36. The nitrogen gas flowing into the exhaust space 49 is discharged to the gas exhaust duct 51 via the gas outlet 50. Then, they join the tank exhaust duct 28 and are discharged to the facility exhaust duct via the tank exhaust damper 52. The nitrogen gas flowing to the shaft exhaust chamber 36 is
It is discharged to the shaft exhaust duct 37 together with the air inside the chamber. Then, the air is discharged to the equipment exhaust duct via the shaft exhaust damper 53 and the blower 54.

Next, after a predetermined time Tb has elapsed since both the tank exhaust damper 52 and the shaft exhaust damper 53 were opened (step S10), a predetermined current is supplied to the motor 17,
The rotor 16 is rotated at the first speed (for example, 1000 rpm) (step S11). Continue to the second gear (for example,
The rotor 16 is rotated at 200 rpm (step S1).
2), and after a predetermined time, the third speed (for example, 1500 rpm)
m) (step S13).

After the required drying time has elapsed, the rotor 16
Is reduced to the positioning speed (for example, 10 rpm) (step S14). Then, when the photo interrupter 41 detects the detection dog 40 (step S15), the motor 17 is stopped to stop the rotation of the rotor 16 (step S16).

Next, after a predetermined time Tc has elapsed since the stop and the rotation of the rotor 16 were stopped (step S1).
7), the static electricity removing device 27 is turned off (step S1)
8) Then, the gas supply valve 55 is closed to stop supplying the nitrogen gas (Step S19), and both the tank exhaust damper 52 and the shaft exhaust damper 53 are closed (Step S20).

Here, the tank exhaust duct 28 is closed by closing the damper 52, the pressure in the chamber 15 returns to the same pressure as the atmospheric pressure, and the shaft exhaust duct 37 is closed by closing the damper 53. The pressure in the shaft exhaust chamber 36 also returns to the same pressure as the atmospheric pressure.

Subsequently, the air cylinder 39 is advanced, and the positioning member 39a is engaged with the positioning ring 38. Thus, the rotor 16 is locked at the reference position (step S21).

Next, after a predetermined time Td has elapsed since both the tank exhaust damper 52 and the shaft exhaust damper 53 have been closed (step S22), the chamber opening / closing lid 18 is opened (step S23), and each of the clamp devices 21 and 22 is opened. The holding of the substrate and the holder 19 clamped by the above is released. Then, by raising the holder raising / lowering portion 20, the holder 19
Is raised to a predetermined delivery position (step S2
4), the substrates are transferred to the arm 11 of the substrate transfer robot 6 in a lump.

The dried substrate is further transferred to the substrate transfer device 3 by the substrate transfer robot 6, and the substrate is stored in the carrier C in the substrate transfer device 3. The carrier C is transferred from the substrate transfer device 3 to the carry-in / carry-out unit 2 by the substrate transfer robot 10. Here, since the pressurized nitrogen gas is supplied from the outer peripheral side of the labyrinth seal 44, the particles generated in the bearings 34a and 34b do not flow to the chamber 15 side. Furthermore, since the static electricity removing device 27 is provided below the filter 25 to ionize the gas inside, the static electricity generated on the substrate due to the contact with air during rotation can be reliably removed.

In the above embodiment, the tank exhaust damper 52
When opening the, after closing the chamber opening / closing lid 18,
After a predetermined time Ta elapses (step S6), it is opened (step S7). Therefore, immediately after closing the chamber opening / closing lid 18, the elastic packing 14 provided for closing the chamber opening / closing lid 18 in an airtight manner is provided.
The tank exhaust damper 52 is opened after a period during which the airtightness is unstable during the deformation to the airtight closing posture.

As a result, immediately after the chamber opening / closing lid 18 is closed, the suction of outside air from the minute gap in the elastic packing 14 between the chamber opening / closing lid 18 and the chamber 15 is eliminated, and the substrate is dried and dried with a lot of particles. The outside air that floats a lot of particles from around the substrate entrance 23 located near the upper surface of the apparatus 5 is prevented from entering the chamber 15.

In the above embodiment, when the substrate is rotated, the tank exhaust damper 52 and the shaft exhaust damper 5 are used.
After a predetermined time Tb has elapsed since both of the shutters 3 were opened (step S10), rotation is started. Therefore, an airflow that is taken into the chamber 15 from the intake port 26 and exhausted from the chamber exhaust duct 28 to the outside of the chamber 15 through the chamber exhaust port 24 is first formed around the substrate in the chamber 15. Then, the substrate is rotated. Also, the shaft exhaust duct 3
The substrate is rotated after the airflow to be discharged to 7 is formed.

By the way, the mist-like suspended matter in the chamber 15 which is generated when the droplets and the particles adhering to the substrate are shaken off from the substrate is most intensively generated in the initial stage of the rotation. As described above, since the airflow toward the chamber exhaust port 24 is formed around the substrate in the chamber 15 before the rotation, the airflow is reliably and quickly discharged out of the chamber 15 from the start of the rotation on the airflow. Furthermore, the liquid shaken off from the substrate in the initial stage of rotation does not wet the inner wall surface of the chamber 15, and the time required for rotation drying can be shortened.

The chamber 1 of the rotating shafts 33a, 33b
Particles generated in the penetrating portion 5 and the bearings 34a and 34b are also generated most in the initial stage of rotation, but are discharged from the shaft exhaust chamber 36 to the shaft exhaust duct 37 before rotation as described above. Since the airflow is formed, the substrate is discharged quickly and reliably from the start of rotation on the airflow, and the substrate can be dried with high cleanliness.

In the above-described embodiment, when closing the tank exhaust damper 52 and the shaft exhaust damper 53, the tank exhaust damper 52 and the shaft exhaust damper 53 are closed after a predetermined time Tc has elapsed since the substrate stopped rotating (step S17). . Therefore, for a predetermined time Tc after the rotation of the substrate is stopped, the tank exhaust damper 52 and the shaft exhaust damper 53 are open, the tank exhaust duct 28 is kept open, and the shaft exhaust duct 37 is kept open.

For this reason, when the rotation is stopped, the mist-like suspended matter and particles floating in the chamber 15 ride on the airflow exhausted from the tank exhaust duct 28 which flows even after the rotation is stopped, and quickly. The substrate is reliably discharged from the chamber 15 and the substrate can be dried with high cleanliness. Further, at the time when the rotation is stopped, the particles floating in the shaft exhaust chamber 36 ride on the airflow exhausted from the shaft exhaust duct 37 flowing even after the rotation is stopped, and are quickly and reliably discharged from the shaft exhaust chamber 36. Thus, the substrate can be dried with high cleanliness without flowing into the chamber 15.

In the above embodiment, when the chamber opening / closing lid 18 is opened, a predetermined time Td has elapsed since the tank exhaust damper 52 was closed (step S2).
2) I open it. Therefore, at the time when the exhaust of the chamber 15 from the tank exhaust duct 28 is stopped, even if the inside of the chamber 15 is at a lower pressure than the outside, the time from when the tank exhaust damper 52 is closed to when the chamber opening / closing lid 18 is opened is opened. During the predetermined time Td, outside air flows into the chamber 15 from the outside through the air inlet 26, and the inside of the chamber has no pressure difference with the outside. When the substrate entrance 23 is opened, the inside of the chamber 15 is opened from the beginning. No inflow of airflow occurs. Thereby, the adhesion of the particles to the substrate due to the air flow that draws the atmosphere near the upper surface of the substrate rotating and drying apparatus 5 in a state where the particles are distributed at a relatively high concentration, that is, the atmosphere on the side of the substrate entrance 23 is eliminated. .

Also, before opening the chamber opening / closing lid 18,
Even if the wet substrate before drying is near the substrate rotating and drying device 5, the tank exhaust damper 52 is closed a predetermined time Td before the substrate is opened. The turbulence of the downflow flow around the substrate rotary drying device 5 due to the generation of the airflow flowing into the chamber from above is eliminated before the chamber opening / closing lid 18 is opened, and the wet substrate before drying due to the turbulence of the downflow flow is removed Partial evaporative drying is reduced. As a result, the impurities contained in the liquid that wets the substrate before drying and particles derived from the reaction product between the liquid and the substrate are prevented from adhering to the substrate, and the substrate can be dried with high cleanliness. .

In the above embodiment, the gas outlet 5
0 is connected to the tank exhaust duct 2.
8, but with a higher negative pressure.
May be joined. Further, it may be independently connected to the facility exhaust duct.

The predetermined times Ta, Tb, Tc, and Td in the above-described embodiment are determined by various mechanical elements related to the substrate rotary drying apparatus, such as the volume of the chamber 15 and the amount of suction air from the tank exhaust duct 28. The optimum value is determined for each individual device depending on the degree. Further, the relationship among the predetermined times Ta, Tb, Tc, and Td in the above embodiment is as follows:
There is no need to unify at the same time, nor do we need to make a difference.

In the above embodiment, the shaft exhaust chamber 36 is provided with respect to the tank exhaust damper 52 disposed in the tank exhaust duct 28 connected to the chamber exhaust port 24.
The shaft exhaust damper 53 arranged in the shaft exhaust duct 37 connected to the tank exhaust opening and closing is opened and closed at the same time, but it is not always necessary to open and close simultaneously with the tank exhaust damper 52.

For example, the shaft exhaust damper 53 may be opened before the tank exhaust damper 52 is opened after a lapse of a predetermined time Ta after the chamber opening / closing lid 18 is closed, or the shaft exhaust damper 53 may be opened later. Further, for example, the shaft exhaust damper 53 may be closed before the tank exhaust damper 52 is closed after a predetermined time Tc has elapsed after the rotation is stopped,
The shaft exhaust damper 53 may be closed later.

In the above embodiment, the rotation of the substrate is started by the tank exhaust damper 52 and the shaft exhaust damper 53.
It is assumed that a predetermined time Tb has elapsed from the time when both of them are opened, and that the rotation is started after the predetermined time Tb has elapsed from the time when both the tank exhaust damper 52 and the shaft exhaust damper 53 are opened. However, it is particularly preferable that particles generated in the through portions of the rotating shafts 33a and 33b with the chamber 15 and the bearings 34a and 34b are also discharged quickly and reliably from the beginning of rotation, and the substrate can be dried with high cleanliness. It is not necessary that both the tank exhaust damper 52 and the shaft exhaust damper 53 be opened. The starting point of the predetermined time Tb may be at least the time when the tank exhaust damper 52 is opened.

In the above embodiment, the chamber opening / closing lid 18 is opened after a lapse of a predetermined time Td from the time when both the tank exhaust damper 52 and the shaft exhaust damper 53 are closed. May be at least the time when the tank exhaust damper 52 is closed, and need not necessarily be the time when both the tank exhaust damper 52 and the shaft exhaust damper 53 are closed.

The shaft exhaust chamber 36 may be opened earlier or later than when the tank exhaust damper 52 in the above embodiment is opened, but it should be opened at least before the start of rotation. desirable. The shaft exhaust chamber 36 is provided with the tank exhaust damper 52 in the above embodiment.
May be closed before or after closing, but it is desirable to close at least after stopping rotation.

In the above-described embodiment, the substrate is rotated about the rotation shafts 33a and 33b lying in the horizontal direction, and the rotation is performed on the horizontal axis. However, the substrate rotation drying apparatus according to the present invention is set up vertically. A vertical axis rotation type in which the substrate rotates around a rotation axis may be used.

[0063]

According to the present invention, the substrate inlet / outlet of the chamber is opened a predetermined time after the evacuation by the chamber evacuation unit is stopped. Even when the pressure is low, outside air flows into the chamber from the intake port during a predetermined time from the time when the exhaust is stopped, the inside of the chamber has no pressure difference with the outside, and when opening the substrate entrance,
No airflow enters the chamber from the beginning. Thereby, the adhesion of the particles to the substrate due to the air flow near the upper surface of the substrate rotating and drying apparatus in a state where the particles are distributed at a relatively high concentration is eliminated, and the substrate can be dried with high cleanliness.

Even before the substrate entrance is opened, even if the wet substrate before drying is near the substrate rotary drying apparatus, the exhaust by the chamber exhaust unit is stopped a predetermined time before the substrate entrance is opened. Therefore, the turbulence of the downflow flow around the substrate rotating and drying apparatus due to the generation of the airflow flowing into the chamber from the intake port with the exhaust from the chamber exhaust port is eliminated before the predetermined time before opening the substrate entrance, Partial evaporation and drying of the wet substrate before drying due to the turbulence of the downflow flow is reduced, and is caused by impurities contained in the liquid that is wetting the substrate and reaction products between the liquid and the substrate. The adhered particles to the substrate are eliminated, and the substrate can be dried with high cleanliness.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a substrate processing apparatus employing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a substrate rotary drying device.

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view thereof.

FIG. 4 is a partial sectional view of a bearing holder.

FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view showing an exhaust duct.

FIG. 6 is a control block diagram of the substrate processing apparatus.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a part of the control flow.

FIG. 8 is a timing chart showing the operation timing.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Substrate processing apparatus 5 Substrate rotary drying apparatus 15 Chamber 18 Chamber opening / closing lid 23 Substrate entrance / exit 28 Bath exhaust duct 36 Shaft exhaust chamber 37 Shaft exhaust duct 52 Bath exhaust damper 53 Shaft exhaust damper

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on front page F term (reference) 3B116 AA03 AB33 AB42 BB73 CC03 CD11 CD31 CD42 CD43 3L113 AA01 AB08 AC28 AC45 AC46 AC48 AC49 AC54 AC57 AC63 AC67 AC73 AC75 AC76 AC77 AC78 AC79 AC83 AC90 BA34 CB19 CB28 CB34 CB24 CB40 DA15

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A substrate rotating and holding means for holding and rotating a substrate, a chamber surrounding the substrate rotating and holding means, and a chamber exhaust unit for exhausting the inside of the chamber, wherein the chamber is opened and closed to take in and out the substrate. What is claimed is: 1. A substrate rotary drying apparatus having a substrate inlet / outlet and an air inlet through which the inside and the outside communicate with each other even when the substrate inlet / outlet is closed to suck in outside air, and after a predetermined time elapses after stopping the exhaust by the chamber exhaust unit. A substrate inlet / outlet of the chamber is opened.