JP2001108977A - Apparatus for manufacturing liquid crystal display device and method for the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent the easy tendency to the readhesion of contamination removed from substrate surfaces during cleaning and the infeasibility of obtaining a high foreign matter removal effect in the conventional batchwise or single substrate cleaning system. SOLUTION: The cleaning device for executing the cleaning, wet etching, resist peeling, etc., of the substrates by the single substrate system is so constituted that the planes of the substrates are installed with an upward inclination of 5 to 30 deg. with the horizontal in the progressing direction and that the substrates move while ascending with an inclination of 5 to 30 deg. with the horizontal.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a single-wafer type cleaning method and a structure of the apparatus in a process of manufacturing a thin film transistor substrate used for an active matrix type liquid crystal display device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, liquid crystal display devices (hereinafter referred to as LCDs)
In the manufacturing process (1) described as (Liquid Crystal Display), a batch type cleaning method shown in FIG. 3 or a single wafer type cleaning method shown in FIG. 4 has been used for cleaning the substrate.

[0003] The batch cleaning method shown in FIG.
US Patent No. 2,267,264 discloses a cassette containing a substrate 31 to be cleaned in an ultrasonic cleaning tank 34 in which an ultrasonic (800 to 1,200 kHz) vibrator 35 having a high frequency is installed on the bottom surface. 32 was put on the support 33 and the operation was performed. Also, the cleaning tank of the cleaning device is
A plurality of tanks are installed in series as needed, and the cleaning tanks are filled with a solution such as water, an alkali, or an organic solvent (such as Freon or IPA), which is suitable for the purpose of cleaning. In the method disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-267264, the substrate 31 to be cleaned is moved with respect to the vibrator 35 as shown in FIG.
By tilting the first element surface 36 toward the vibrator 35, ultrasonic waves radiated from the vibrator 35 are efficiently radiated to the element surface 36, and dirt is efficiently removed.

The single-wafer cleaning method shown in FIG. 4 is a method introduced in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 8-236498. FIG. 4A shows an example of the entire apparatus, and FIG. It is a side view of a specific example of a tank and a drying tank. In FIG. 4A, a substrate 41 such as a thin film transistor substrate is mounted on the loader 10.
It is automatically and sequentially conveyed from 0 to the unloader 104. The substrate 41 unloaded from the loader 100 is placed in the processing tank 1
In step 01, processes such as cleaning, wet etching, and resist stripping are performed, and then the wafer is conveyed to a rinsing tank 102 and rinsed with pure water or the like. Then, it is conveyed to the drying tank 103, dried by an air knife that blows high-pressure air, high-pressure inert gas, or the like, and conveyed to the unloader 104. FIG.
6B, the substrate 41 is transported over the transport roller 45 from left to right in the figure. In the rinsing tank 102,
A rinsing liquid is sprayed on the substrate 41 by a rinsing liquid shower 47, and the processing liquid in the processing tank 101 shown in FIG. Subsequently, when the glass substrate 41 is conveyed to the drying tank 103, high-pressure air, high-pressure inert gas or the like is blown by the air knife 43 to blow off the rinsing liquid 49,
A drying process is performed. Then, the glass substrate 41 is transported to the unloader 104.

[0005]

The conventional cleaning methods shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 have the following problems.

First, in the batch cleaning method shown in FIG.
By immersing the substrate 31 (and further applying ultrasonic vibration), foreign substances (particles and contaminant metal components) on the substrate surface
Is removed. Further, the vibrator 35 is tilted by tilting the substrate.
The effect of this is to make it more efficient. However, the foreign matter that has come out of the cleaning liquid may approach the surface of the substrate 31 again because it floats in the liquid, and easily adheres to the surface of the substrate 31 again. Further, when pulling up the substrate 31 from the cleaning liquid,
The foreign substances floating on the liquid surface are raised with the lifting of the substrate 31.
Since the liquid is attracted to the substrate 31 by the surface tension of the liquid on the surface of the substrate 31, re-attachment of particles and the like is remarkable, and there is a problem that a high foreign matter removing effect cannot be obtained.

In the single-wafer cleaning method shown in FIG. 4, the efficiency of the replacement of the cleaning liquid and the rinsing liquid 49 near the center of the substrate is low because the flow of the liquid is not uniform on the horizontally disposed substrate 41. , The residence time on the surface of the substrate 41 becomes longer,
There is a problem that the foreign matter once removed from the surface of the substrate 41 is likely to adhere again. In order to prevent this, it is necessary to prevent stagnation of the liquid as much as possible, and it has disadvantages such as the necessity of using a large amount of a cleaning liquid and a rinsing liquid.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and provides a cleaning method and an apparatus therefor having a high effect of removing foreign substances on the surface of a substrate.

[0009]

Means for Solving the Problems To achieve the above object, a solution taken by the invention of claim 1 is that the plane of the substrate is installed with an inclination of 5 to 30 degrees upward with respect to the horizontal in the traveling direction. The substrate is configured to move while rising with an inclination of 5 to 30 degrees with respect to the horizontal.

According to the structure of the first aspect, the processing liquid on the substrate surface can be cleaned from the front in the traveling direction of the substrate to the rear in the traveling direction of the substrate while maintaining the flow rate of the liquid on the substrate surface.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, a plurality of processing tanks are provided, and the processing liquid in the processing tanks travels along the substrate by the inclination of the substrate at the entrance of the substrate in each processing tank. And a mechanism for preventing the processing liquid in the processing tank from flowing into the next processing tank.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, a plurality of cleaning steps can be performed.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a process wherein the substrate is installed with an upward inclination of 5 to 30 ° with respect to the horizontal in the traveling direction, and the substrate is moved while rising at an inclination of 5 to 30 ° with respect to the horizontal. In the step of spraying the processing liquid on the substrate, the cleaning is performed from the front in the traveling direction of the substrate to the rear in the traveling direction of the substrate while maintaining the flow rate of the liquid on the substrate surface.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the configuration of the third aspect, a step of continuously performing a plurality of processes is provided, and at the entrance of the substrate in each processing tank, the processing liquid in the tank is tilted by the substrate. And a step of preventing the processing solution in the processing tank from flowing into the next processing tank by preventing the processing solution from flowing into the preceding processing tank along the substrate.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A method for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device according to an embodiment of the present invention and the device will be described below with reference to the drawings.

(First Embodiment) FIGS. 1 and 2 are schematic sectional views of a method for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device according to a first embodiment of the present invention and a manufacturing apparatus for explaining the device.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 20 denotes a cleaning chamber for cleaning the substrate 1, reference numeral 21 denotes a rinsing chamber for removing the cleaning liquid remaining on the substrate 1, reference numeral 22 denotes a drying chamber for final cleaning and drying of the substrate 1, and reference numeral 2 denotes a substrate. Roller for conveying 1, 3 for substrate 1
An air knife 4 for blowing off the cleaning liquid 7 to dry the substrate 1, a cleaning shower 4 for supplying the cleaning liquid to the substrate 1, and an air knife 5 for dropping the cleaning liquid remaining on the substrate 1.
A rinse shower for supplying a rinse liquid such as pure water,
Reference numeral 6 denotes an air curtain for preventing the processing liquid in each processing chamber from flowing out of the room.

The substrate 1 is cleaned by a roller 2 in a cleaning chamber 20.
The rinsing chamber 21 and the drying chamber 22 are transported in this order. At this time, the substrate 1 is transported while rising at an angle θ with respect to the horizontal. Is 5 to 30 degrees.

First, in the cleaning room 20, the substrate 1 is conveyed and the cleaning liquid 8 from the cleaning shower 4 is shut off by the air curtain 6 before the air curtain 6, so that the substrate 1 is not exposed to the cleaning liquid 8. The substrate is further transported.
When one end passes through the air curtain 6, the cleaning liquid 8 is supplied to the portion that has passed, and the cleaning process is started. As the transfer of the substrate proceeds sequentially, the entire substrate is cleaned by the cleaning liquid 8. Next, when the substrate 1 is transported to the vicinity of the exit of the cleaning chamber 20, the cleaning liquid 8 on the substrate 1 is blown off by the air knife 3, and the substrate 1 is dried.

Next, the substrate 1 transferred to the rinsing chamber 21 is not exposed to the rinsing liquid 9 because the rinsing liquid 9 is not initially supplied by the air curtain 6 in substantially the same manner as the processing in the preceding cleaning chamber 20. After passing through the air curtain 6, the rinsing liquid 9 is supplied by the rinsing shower 5, and the cleaning liquid 8 remaining on the front and back surfaces of the substrate 1 is washed away. Next, the substrate 1
Is transported to the vicinity of the exit of the rinsing chamber 21, the rinsing liquid 9 on the substrate 1 is blown off by the air knife 3, and the substrate 1 is dried.

Next, the substrate 1 conveyed to the drying chamber 22 is first supplied to the pure water 10 because the air curtain 6 does not supply the pure water 10 at first, almost in the same manner as in the cleaning chamber 20 and the rinsing chamber 21 in the preceding stage. Although not exposed, pure water 10 is supplied by the pure water shower 5 after passing through the air curtain 6 to rinse off the rinsing liquid 9 remaining on the surface of the substrate 1, and then the substrate 1 is transported to near the outlet of the drying chamber 22. The pure water 10 on the substrate 1 is blown off by the air knives 3 installed in two stages, and the substrate 1 is completely dried.

In the above-described multi-stage processing, since the substrate 1 has the angle θ (5 to 30 °), the supplied cleaning liquid 8, rinsing liquid 9, and pure water 10 (hereinafter referred to collectively as processing liquid). Flows in one direction downward (from right to left in the figure) due to the inclination of the substrate 1. When the processing liquid flows in one direction from the upper side to the lower side, the processing liquid on the surface of the substrate 1 is efficiently replaced without staying, and a uniform and high cleaning / rinsing effect can be obtained. Furthermore, since the cleaning liquid does not stay and the new processing liquid is supplied to the upper side, foreign substances such as particles floating from the substrate surface due to the processing such as cleaning are hardly reattached, so that a high foreign substance removing effect can be obtained. Here, the inclination angle θ of the substrate 1 needs to be 5 ° or more in order to create a smooth flow without the treatment liquid on the substrate surface remaining.

Further, under the substrate 1, as shown in FIG. 2, a flow of compressed air is generated by the air curtain 6, and the cleaning liquid 8 (or the rinsing liquid 9, pure water 10) flows out below the air curtain 6. Is preventing that. Here, if the inclination of the substrate 1 is 30 ° or more, the flow of the processing liquid is too fast, and it is difficult to stop the flow by the air curtain 6, so that the inclination angle θ of the substrate 1 is 30 ° or less. is necessary.

By the air curtain 6 and the air knife 3, the processing liquid in each processing tank does not flow out of the processing tank.
In addition to the effect of reducing the amount of the processing liquid used, the processing liquid is exposed only between the air curtain 6 and the air knife 3, so that the distance between the air curtain 6 and the air knife 3 and the transport speed within the substrate surface are reduced. Processing can be performed for an equal amount of time, and uniform processing can be performed.

In the above-described embodiment, three steps of cleaning, rinsing, and drying have been described. However, the cleaning, drying, and cleaning may be performed by etching. can get.

According to the above-described embodiment, it is possible to provide a cleaning method and an apparatus having a high effect of removing foreign substances from the substrate surface.

[0027]

According to the apparatus for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device according to the first aspect of the present invention, the processing liquid supplied with the substrate having an angle θ (5 to 30 °) flows in one direction downward due to the inclination of the substrate. . When the processing liquid flows in one direction from above to below, the processing liquid on the substrate surface is efficiently replaced without staying, and a uniform and high cleaning / rinsing effect can be obtained. In addition, since the cleaning liquid does not stay and the new processing liquid is supplied to the upper side, foreign substances such as particles floating from the substrate surface due to the processing such as cleaning are hard to re-attach, so that a function of obtaining a high foreign substance removing effect can be obtained. Can have.

According to the apparatus for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device according to the second aspect of the present invention, it is possible to have a function of preventing the processing liquid on the substrate surface from flowing out of the processing tank along the substrate surface due to the inclination of the substrate.

According to the method of manufacturing a liquid crystal display device according to the third aspect of the present invention, a uniform and high cleaning / rinsing effect and a high foreign matter removing effect can be achieved.

According to the method of manufacturing a liquid crystal display device according to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the processing can be performed in the substrate surface for an equal time, the processing can be performed uniformly, and the amount of liquid used can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an apparatus for explaining a liquid crystal display device manufacturing apparatus and a method thereof according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an apparatus for explaining an operation method of the apparatus for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic sectional view of an apparatus for explaining a conventional batch-type cleaning apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a schematic sectional view of an apparatus for explaining a conventional single-wafer cleaning apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Substrate 2 Roller 3 Air knife 4 Cleaning shower 5 Rinse shower 6 Air curtain 7 Pure water shower 8 Cleaning liquid 9 Rinse liquid 10 Pure water 20 Cleaning room 21 Rinse room 22 Drying room

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A cleaning apparatus for performing substrate cleaning, wet etching, resist stripping, and the like in a single-wafer system, wherein the plane of the substrate is installed with an inclination of 5 to 30 ° upward with respect to the horizontal in the traveling direction. Is a device for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device, which moves while rising with an inclination of 5 to 30 degrees with respect to the horizontal. 2. A mechanism having a plurality of processing tanks, wherein a mechanism for preventing a processing solution in the processing tank from flowing into the preceding processing tank along the substrate due to the inclination of the substrate at a substrate entrance of each processing tank; 2. The apparatus for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device according to claim 1, further comprising a mechanism for preventing a processing solution in the processing tank from flowing into the next processing tank. 3. A method for cleaning a substrate in a single-wafer system, wherein the substrate is installed with an inclination of 5 to 30 ° upward with respect to the horizontal in the traveling direction, and with an inclination of 5 to 30 ° with respect to the horizontal. The step of moving while ascending and the step of spraying the processing liquid on the substrate perform the cleaning while maintaining the flow rate of the liquid on the substrate surface from the front in the traveling direction of the substrate to the rear in the traveling direction of the substrate. A method for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device characterized by the above-mentioned. 4. A process for continuously processing a plurality of processes, wherein at a substrate entrance in each processing tank, the processing liquid in the tank flows along the substrate by the inclination of the substrate and flows into the preceding processing tank. 4. The method for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device according to claim 3, comprising a step of preventing the processing solution from flowing in the processing tank and a step of preventing the processing liquid from flowing into the next processing tank.