JP2002148818A - Liquid chemical processing equipment and method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To save the space of a development processing machine and to reduce the cost of equipment and running cost. SOLUTION: This equipment is provided with a first rinsing tank 13 and a second rinsing tank 24 so as to hold one liquid chemical processing tank 12 in-between. The equipment is provided with third and fourth rinsing tanks 15 and 16 and an air knife tank 17 adjacently to the second rinsing tank 14. A substrate conveyance section 20 is so disposed as to penetrate the respective tanks 12 to 17. The air knife tank 17 side is provided with a first substrate inlet and outlet 23 and the first rinsing tank 13 is provided with a second substrate inlet and outlet 24. The equipment is provided with a liquid chemical switching section 21 to change over the liquid chemicals to be supplied to the liquid chemical processing tank 12. In changing over the liquid chemicals, water and air are alternately sprayed from liquid chemical spraying nozzles 36 and 37 to clean the inside of the nozzles 36 and 37, and their piping and the liquid chemical processing tank 12. Since a plural of liquid chemical processing are carried out by the one liquid chemical processing tank 12, the space saving is achieved. In cleaning by accepting uncleaned glass substrates 11a, the glass substrates 11a are inserted from the second substrate inlet and outlet 24. The contamination in the development processing machine by the uncleaned glass substrates is eliminated.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a chemical processing apparatus and a method for alternately performing a chemical processing and a cleaning processing on a substrate, and more particularly to a chemical processing suitable for forming a fine pattern on a substrate in a photolithography process. The present invention relates to a processing apparatus and method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Various methods are known as a method for producing a color filter used in a liquid crystal display panel or the like. In recent years, a method using transfer using a photosensitive colored resin sheet has produced a color filter with high accuracy. It is receiving attention because it can be easily manufactured.

In the transfer method using a photosensitive colored resin sheet, first, a photosensitive colored resin layer composed of a colored material (pigment or dye) of a predetermined color and a photosensitive resin is formed on a flexible support sheet. Install and manufacture. The photosensitive sheet is manufactured in each color of red (R), green (G), blue (B), and black (K). Next, this photosensitive sheet is set on a laminator, and for example, a photosensitive colored resin layer of R is thermally transferred to a transparent glass substrate. Next, with an exposure device, the surface of the photosensitive colored resin layer is irradiated with light through a photomask,
The photosensitive colored resin layer is exposed in a pattern. Next, the exposed photosensitive colored resin layer is developed by a developing apparatus to form an R colored pixel pattern on the glass substrate. Similarly, after forming the G and B colored patterns on the glass substrate, the K photosensitive colored resin layer is heat-transferred, exposed from the surface opposite to the transfer surface of the photosensitive resin layer, and developed. Then, a black matrix is formed on the glass substrate.

[0004]

[0005] The demand for color filters has been increasing more and more in recent years, and accordingly, there has been a demand for improving the performance of color filters and reducing the price. For this reason, the size of the substrate is increased from the viewpoint of increasing the yield and reducing the cost, and the size of each developing apparatus is correspondingly increased. In addition, since the development processing apparatus uses at least a plurality of types of chemicals, a plurality of tanks corresponding to each chemical processing are required, and a cleaning tank, a drying tank, and the like are required (for example, JP-A-6-61137, 6-26
0412 and 11-128852). Therefore, the installation area (footprint) of each tank needs to be large. In particular, since manufacturing is required in a clean environment, it is necessary to install each facility in a clean room, and an increase in the installation area leads to an increase in facility costs and running costs.

The present invention can cope with an increase in the size of a substrate,
In addition, it is an object of the present invention to provide a developing method and an apparatus capable of efficiently performing a chemical solution processing by minimizing an installation area of the apparatus.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a chemical processing tank for performing chemical processing on a substrate, and a substrate disposed adjacent to the chemical processing tank. A cleaning tank for cleaning, a chemical liquid switching unit for switching a chemical liquid supplied to the chemical liquid processing tank, and a cleaning unit for cleaning the chemical liquid processing tank are provided. It is preferable that the chemical treatment tank includes a substrate cleaning brush, a chemical nozzle, and a cleaning nozzle. Further, it is preferable that the cleaning unit performs cleaning by alternately ejecting a cleaning gas and a cleaning liquid a plurality of times from the nozzle of the chemical bath into the chemical bath.

A plurality of the cleaning tanks are provided so as to sandwich the chemical processing tank in the substrate feeding direction, and the chemical switching unit performs cleaning of the chemical processing tank and switching of the chemical during cleaning of the substrate in one of the cleaning tanks. Is preferred. In addition, one of the plurality of cleaning tanks is a first cleaning tank and the other is a second cleaning tank, the first cleaning tank is a receiving tank in receiving and cleaning a glass substrate, and a substrate entrance is provided in the first cleaning tank. It is preferable that a substrate for receiving and cleaning be inserted from the entrance of the substrate, and a substrate for other chemical treatment or intermediate cleaning be inserted from the side of the second cleaning tank. Further, it is preferable that an injection nozzle for an adhesion promoting treatment liquid is provided in the first cleaning tank, and the adhesion promoting treatment liquid is injected toward the substrate during the receiving cleaning. In the chemical treatment in the chemical treatment tank and the cleaning treatment in the cleaning tank, it is preferable that the substrate is reciprocated in addition to simply passing the substrate. Instead of reciprocating the substrate, or in combination with the reciprocation, the substrate may be swung in the width direction.

A liquid drain zone is provided between the chemical processing tank and the cleaning tank. In the liquid drain zone, an injection nozzle for blowing gas toward the substrate toward the chemical processing tank is disposed on the side of the chemical processing tank. In addition, it is preferable to dispose an injection nozzle that blows gas toward the cleaning tank on the cleaning tank side in the liquid draining zone. In this case, it is preferable that the gas is selectively or simultaneously blown out from the spray nozzle in accordance with the direction in which the substrate passes. For example, when the substrate is sent to the chemical processing tank while the substrate is being cleaned in the cleaning tank and the chemical processing is not performed in the chemical processing tank, gas is injected from an injection nozzle toward the cleaning tank to drain the liquid. In addition, when performing chemical treatment in the chemical treatment tank while cleaning the substrate in the cleaning tank, when the substrate is sent from the cleaning tank to the chemical treatment tank or from the chemical treatment tank to the cleaning tank, gas is ejected from both the ejection nozzles. And drain.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for processing a plurality of chemicals by using one chemical processing tank for performing chemical processing on a substrate and a cleaning tank for cleaning the substrate, and switching the chemicals to the chemical processing tank. To do. Accordingly, it is not necessary to provide a plurality of chemical treatment tanks and a plurality of cleaning tanks, and the installation area of these in a clean room is reduced.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is a front view schematically showing a developing machine according to the present invention. The development processing machine 10 includes the glass substrate 1
A chemical treatment tank 12 for performing a chemical treatment on the substrate 1 and a first chemical cleaning tank 12 disposed adjacent to the chemical treatment tank 12 for cleaning the glass substrate 11.
To a fourth rinsing tank (cleaning tank) 13 to 16, an air knife tank 17, and a glass substrate 1 in each of these tanks 12 to 17.
1 comprises a substrate transport unit 20 for transporting the chemical solution 1 and a chemical solution switching unit 21 for switching the chemical solution supplied to the chemical solution processing tank 12. In addition, the chemical solution treatment tank 12 and the first
Liquid drain zones 18 and 19 are provided between the liquid drain zones 18 and 19 and the second rinse tanks 13 and 14, respectively.
Numeral 19 injects air by spraying a chemical solution, cleaning water, or the like in each tank, and suppresses the liquid from being brought into an adjacent tank.

The air knife tank 17 is provided with a first substrate port 23, and the first rinse tank 13 is provided with a second substrate port 24. These board entrance 2
The substrate transport section 20 is horizontally arranged so as to penetrate the tanks 12 to 17 so as to connect the substrates 3 and 24.
A turntable 25 is located near the first substrate entrance 23,
A roller conveyor 26 is provided near the second substrate entrance 24. Normally, the glass substrate 11 is inserted and discharged from the first substrate entrance 23. Further, a static elimination bar 27 is provided at the first substrate entrance / exit 23 so as to be vertically separated from each other, and neutralizes the glass substrate 11. Although an ionizer (manufactured by Richmond Corporation) is used as the static elimination bar 27, any type having a static elimination function may be used, and various types of static elimination devices may be used.

When the glass substrate 11 is to be received and cleaned (preliminary cleaning) or the like, the glass substrate 11a for receiving and cleaning is inserted from the second substrate entrance 24 through the roller conveyor 26. In this manner, the two ports 23 and 24 of the glass substrate 11 are provided, and the glass substrate 11a for pre-cleaning is inserted by directly receiving and cleaning the glass substrate 11a into the first rinsing bath 13 using one of the ports 24. By the substrate 11a, the substrate transport unit 20 in the development processing machine 10
The rollers and the tanks 12 to 17 are not contaminated. Thus, the pre-cleaning, the developing process, the intermediate cleaning, and the like can be performed using one developing processor. Note that a shutter 28 is provided in the second substrate insertion port 24. The shutter 28 is closed except when the glass substrate 11a is received, so that the washing water in the first rinsing tank 13 is not discharged to the clean room outside the tank as water droplets or splashes.

In a previous step, a photosensitive coloring layer is transferred to the glass substrate 11 by a laminator (not shown), and a pixel pattern is exposed on the photosensitive coloring layer by a photomask by an exposing machine (not shown). The exposed glass substrate 11 is sent from the first substrate entrance 23 into the developing device 10 by the turntable 25 with the photosensitive coloring layer facing upward.

The substrate transport section 20 includes a number of transport rollers 30
It is composed of As shown in FIG.
In the case of 0, the rotation direction and the rotation speed are individually changed for each of the tanks 13 to 17 by the roller driving unit 31 and are driven to rotate.
Thereby, the glass substrate 11 is sent in the direction of the arrow A or B, and is reciprocated in the developing device 10. Also,
The transport speed in each of the tanks 12 to 17 is changed to an appropriate speed according to the processing speed and the like.

As shown in FIG. 3, a chemical treatment tank 12 has a shower zone 12a for injecting a chemical and a glass substrate 11
And a brush zone 12b for brushing. In the shower zone 12a, a large number of chemical liquid spray nozzles 36 are arranged above so as to face the photosensitive coloring layer of the glass substrate 11. Similarly, brush zone 1
Also in 2b, a plurality of chemical liquid spray nozzles 37 and brush cleaning nozzles 38 are arranged above so as to face the photosensitive coloring layer of the glass substrate 11.

As shown in FIG.
Is composed of a nozzle head 36a arranged along a substrate width direction orthogonal to the feeding direction of the glass substrate 11, and a plurality of nozzle bodies 36b arranged at a predetermined pitch in the substrate width direction of the nozzle head 36a. I have. The other chemical injection nozzles 37 and brush cleaning nozzles 38 are configured similarly to the chemical injection nozzle 36.

The chemical injection nozzle 36 includes a nozzle shift unit 5
7, the glass substrate 11 is reciprocally movable in the width direction, and its amplitude and feed speed can be changed. Further, the transport roller 30 in the chemical solution processing tank 12 is rotated by the roller driving unit 31 in the forward and reverse directions during the ejection of the chemical solution, thereby reciprocating the glass substrate 11 in the feeding direction. As described above, the glass substrate 11 and the chemical solution spray nozzle 3
By swinging, the chemical liquid is evenly and uniformly sprayed onto the glass substrate 11.

As shown in FIG. 3, PD, CD, and S are supplied to the chemical injection nozzle 36 as a developing solution for the photosensitive colored layer.
Each of the liquid supply lines 40, 41, 42 of D is a switching head 45
, And an SD supply line 42 is connected to the chemical liquid ejecting nozzle 37 via a switching head 46. Further, a water supply line 43 and an air supply line 44 for flushing cleaning, which will be described later, are connected to the chemical solution injection nozzles 36 and 37 via switching heads 45 and 46. The brush cleaning nozzle 38 includes a switching head 4.
6, a water supply line 43 is connected. Each liquid or water supply line 40-43 is provided with a storage tank 40a-
43a, pumps 40b to 43b, pipes 40c to 43c, and the like. A compressed air supply source 44a is connected to the air supply line 44, and is sent to the switching heads 45 and 46 via a pipe 44c. In addition, the above-mentioned piping example is an example, and the shower zone 12a and the brush zone 12b
In both cases, the liquids of PD, CD, and SD may be arbitrarily switched and ejected.

The switching heads 45 and 46 are connected to the respective supply lines 4.
It comprises an electromagnetic valve 50a provided between 0 to 44 and the chemical injection nozzles 36 and 37. Each electromagnetic valve 50a is connected to the controller 49. The controller 49 supplies desired chemicals, water, air, and the like to the chemical injection nozzles 36 and 37 by selectively driving the respective electromagnetic valves 50a. Switching head 4 on the collection line 51 side
7 is similarly configured, and by selectively driving each of the electromagnetic valves 50a, the chemical liquid injected into the chemical liquid processing tank 12 is collected via the collection line 51 and the switching head 47 into the storage tanks 40a to 43a, It is collected in a waste liquid tank 52 or the like. As a result, a chemical solution or the like is used in a circulating manner. Note that the gas electromagnetic valves of the switching heads 45 and 46 are connected to the injection nozzle 3.
It is arranged at a position farthest from 6, 37, and improves the efficiency of liquid replacement in the pipe.

As shown in FIG. 1, in the brush zone 12b, two pairs of brush rollers 55 and 56 arranged in the vertical direction are arranged in the substrate feeding direction.
Above 5, 56, the chemical liquid spray nozzle 37 is disposed. As shown in FIG. 3, each brush roller 55a,
The number of rotations and the rotation direction of 55b, 56a, and 56b can be independently changed by the brush driving unit 54. In addition, the interval between the upper and lower brush rollers 55a, 55b, 56a, 56b can be freely changed by the brush driving unit 54. Therefore, the brush rollers 55a, 55
By appropriately changing the intervals b, 56a, 56b, the rotation direction, the number of rotations, and the like, optimal brushing corresponding to the chemical solution and the processing content can be performed.

As shown in FIG. 1, the brush roller pair 55,
Above and below 56, the brush cleaning nozzle 38 is disposed. The brush cleaning nozzle 38 cleans the brush roller pairs 55 and 56 by spraying water when cleaning the chemical treatment tank 12 after brushing is completed.

As shown in FIG. 4, the transport roller 30 includes a roller shaft 30a, a roller body 30b, and a guide flange roller 30c. Although two roller bodies 30b are provided apart from each other in the axial direction of the roller shaft 30a, the number of the roller bodies 30b may be one or three or more. The guide flange roller 30c is configured such that the roller portion contacts the lower surface of both side edges of the glass substrate 11 to support the glass substrate 11, and the flange portion contacts both side edges of the glass substrate, and the glass in the substrate width direction. Substrate 11
Guidance is made so that they do not move. Chemical treatment tank 12
Inside the guide flange roller 30c, the roller shift portion 6
1 allows the glass substrate 11 to move in the width direction, and the guide width is variable according to the size of the glass substrate 11. Further, the guide flange roller 30c of the transport roller 30 disposed in each of the other tanks 13 to 17 is fixed at a width corresponding to the glass substrate 11 of the maximum size. In each of the other tanks 13 to 17 as well, the guide flange roller 30c may be configured to be movable in the axial direction in the same manner as in the chemical treatment tank 12, and may be adapted to each size.

As shown in FIG. 1, the guide flange roller 30 in the transport roller 30 in the brush zone 12b
A nip roller 32 is disposed above c. The nip roller 32 cooperates with the conveyance roller 30 to nip and convey the glass substrate 11 and regulates the displacement of the glass substrate 11 in the width direction when passing through the brush zone 12b. Note that the nip roller 11 may be omitted. Further, the nip roller 32 may be provided on another transport roller 30 as needed.

As shown in FIG. 5, positioning guides 64 are provided in the liquid drain zones 18 and 19 described later.
The positioning guide 64 comes into contact with both side edges of the glass substrate 11 sent from the rinsing tanks 13 and 14 by the transport roller 30 to position the glass substrate 11 in the width direction. The positioning guide 64 includes a guide body 65 and a guide shift section 66. Guide body 65
The guide body 65 is provided with a chemical treatment tank 12, a first rinsing tank 13, and a fourth rinsing tank 14.
When viewed in the vicinity of the boundary from the upper side, they are arranged in a C-shape narrowed in the direction in which the substrate enters the chemical solution treatment tank 12. The guide body 65 is provided with a plurality of, for example, five guide rollers 65a. Guide shift section 6
6 is a transport roller 3 according to the size of the glass substrate 11.
The guide position is changed in conjunction with the width determination of 0. When the glass substrate 11 passes through the positioning guide 64, the glass substrate 11 is positioned from the center and sent to the chemical processing tank 12.

When changing the treatment chemical, after the treated glass substrate 11 is moved to the rinsing tanks 13 and 14,
Chemical injection nozzles 36, 3 via switching heads 45-47
7, air and water are alternately injected from the chemical solution treatment tank 12.
, Brush roller pairs 55 and 56, transport roller 30,
The guide roller 65 and the like are cleaned. Water is sprayed from the brush cleaning nozzle 38 to clean the brush roller pairs 55 and 56.

As shown in FIG. 1, each of the rinsing tanks 13 to 16
Is provided with a water jet nozzle 70 for jetting water toward the glass substrate 11. The water injection nozzle 70 is provided at a position facing the upper surface and the lower surface of the glass substrate 11, and has substantially the same configuration as the chemical liquid injection nozzle 36. In the first and second rinsing tanks 13 and 14, the glass substrate 11 can be stopped and reciprocated in the transport direction by controlling the rotation of the transport roller 30 by the roller drive unit 31. Can be changed. In this way, the glass substrates 11 in the rinsing tanks 13 and 14 are
Is reciprocated so that the glass substrate 11 is washed evenly. The first rinsing tank 13 contains a chemical treatment tank 1.
2, an adhesion promoting treatment liquid injection nozzle 71 is provided. The nozzle 71 is used when receiving and cleaning the glass substrate 11a described later.

In the draining zones 18 and 19, two sets of air jet nozzles 7 arranged so as to sandwich the glass substrate 11 are provided.
5, 76 are provided. One air injection nozzle 75 of the liquid draining zone 19 is arranged so that air is injected toward the first rinsing tank 13, and the other air injection nozzle 76 is arranged such that air is injected toward the chemical processing tank 12. Have been. Therefore, when the glass substrate 11 moves from the first rinsing tank 13 to the chemical processing tank 12, the cleaning water of the first rinsing tank 13 does not enter the chemical processing tank 12. Further, when the glass substrate 11 moves from the chemical processing tank 12 to the first rinsing tank 13, the chemical in the chemical processing tank 12 does not enter the first rinsing tank 13. The second drainage zone 19 is also configured in the same manner as the first drainage zone 18, and each component is denoted by the same reference numeral. Note that the amount of air to be blown can be changed as needed.

In order to efficiently perform air injection, when the glass substrate 11 is sent from the chemical processing tank 12 to the first rinsing tank 13, one of the air injection nozzles 76 is selected so as to blow air into the chemical processing tank 12. , First rinse tank 1
When the glass substrate 11 is sent from 3 to the chemical treatment tank 12, the other air injection nozzle 75 is selected so as to blow air to the first rinsing tank 13. In addition, instead of selecting the air injection nozzles 75 and 76 according to the feeding direction of the glass substrate 11, both air injection nozzles 75 and 76 are used.
Alternatively, air may be sprayed toward the glass substrate 11 to drain the liquid. Note that the amount of air can be changed as needed.

The second rinsing tank 14 has the same configuration as the first rinsing tank 13 and cleans the glass substrate 11 by spraying water from a water spray nozzle 70. At this time, after the conveyance of the glass substrate 11 is stopped,
1 is reciprocated in the substrate feeding direction. Thereby, the glass substrate 11 is washed evenly.

The third rinsing tank 15 and the fourth rinsing tank 16 are basically constructed in the same manner as the first and second rinsing tanks 13 and 14, however, because the entire apparatus needs to be compactly arranged, and Since most of the cleaning is performed in the second rinsing tanks 13 and 14, the length of the glass substrate 11 in the feed direction is shortened, and the size is reduced. This length is approximately half the length of the first and second rinsing tanks 13 and 14 in the third rinsing tank 15, and the third rinsing tank 16 is
It is almost half of the rinsing tank 15. First to third rinse tank 1
In 3 to 15, the pure water in the tank is circulated to stabilize the water temperature and save water. Also, the fourth rinsing tank 16
Pure water is supplied directly from the pure water production apparatus via a pipe to finish the washing. The number, length, etc. of each of these rinsing tanks may be changed as appropriate. For example, the third
Also, the fourth and fourth rinsing baths 15 and 16 may be formed with the same length as the first and second rinsing baths 13 and 14.

The air knife tank 17 contains the glass substrate 11
The air knife 80 is arranged so as to sandwich it from above and below. The air knives 80 have their air injection nozzles 80a and 80a intersecting with the feeding direction of the glass substrate 11.
b is arranged obliquely when viewed from above. By this oblique arrangement, water adhering to the glass substrate 11 is blown out toward the side edge of the glass substrate 11 in the width direction, and the liquid is efficiently drained.

Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described. In the present embodiment, the chemical treatment tank 12 and the first to fourth rinsing tanks 13 are used.
In addition to the selective use of No. to No. 16, the chemical solution to be supplied to the chemical solution processing tank 12 is switched, so that, in addition to the developing process for the glass substrate 11 having the exposed photosensitive colored layer, receiving cleaning and intermediate Alternatively, the final cleaning and the like can be performed by one developing processor 10.

As shown in FIG. 6, the chemical treatment in the development will be described. 6 to 8, the flow of the glass substrate 11 is indicated by an arrow, a solid line arrow indicates a case where processing is performed, and a dashed line arrow indicates that the processing simply passes without being processed. ing. First, the glass substrate 1 is placed on the turntable 25 by the substrate transfer unit 95.
1 is placed. In the present embodiment, the substrate transfer section 95
Although a three-dimensionally movable robot hand is used, any type of transferring the glass substrate 11 may be used, and various transfer devices may be used. The hand body of the robot hand includes a suction pad, and places the glass substrate 11 on the turntable 25 with the lower surface of the glass substrate 11 being suctioned. The turntable 25 is provided with a transport roller 25a so as to avoid interference with the hand main body. After the glass substrate 11 is placed on the transport roller 25a, the turntable 25 is slightly lowered downward. Pulled out of 25.

The glass substrate 11 is rotated by a turntable 25 as necessary, and the direction of insertion into the developing machine 10 is changed. The glass substrate 11 placed on the turntable 25 is sent to the developing device 10 by the transport rollers 25a of the turntable 25. A photosensitive coloring layer is transferred to the glass substrate 11 by a laminator (not shown), and a pixel pattern is exposed on the photosensitive coloring layer by an exposing machine (not shown). The developing device 10 performs a developing process on the exposed glass substrate 11. The glass substrate 11 is set on the turntable 25 with the photosensitive coloring layer facing upward so as not to damage the photosensitive coloring layer.

In the development processing, three types of chemicals PD, CD,
SD is used. The chemical PD removes the thermoplastic resin layer and the oxygen barrier layer of the photosensitive coloring layer. The chemical solution CD develops the photosensitive resin layer of the photosensitive coloring layer. The chemical solution SD is for removing residues in the non-pixel portion, and is used in combination with brushing. The chemical solution, the photosensitive colored resin sheet, and the like are described in detail in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H11-149011.

First, by driving the substrate transport section 20, the glass substrate 11 passes through the air knife tank 17, the fourth and second rinsing tanks 16 to 14, and reaches the chemical processing tank 12.
In the transfer of the glass substrate 11, the glass substrate 11 is positioned near the center by a positioning guide 64 as shown in FIG. In the chemical processing section 12, the guide flange roller 30c is
The glass substrate 11 is guided so as not to move in the width direction by contacting both side edges of the substrate 1.

Shower zone 12a in chemical solution treatment tank 12
Is passed through the glass substrate 11, the chemical PD is ejected from the chemical injection nozzle 36. At this time, the chemical injection nozzle 36
Is reciprocated in the width direction of the glass substrate 11. When the glass substrate 11 is completely set in the shower zone 12a, the glass substrate 11 stops moving and then moves back and forth by a predetermined amount in the feeding direction. Thereby, the thermoplastic resin layer and the oxygen blocking layer of the photosensitive coloring layer of the glass substrate 11 are efficiently dissolved and removed with the chemical PD.
The processing may be performed while the glass substrate 11 is conveyed without stopping or reciprocating as needed. Also,
The glass substrate 11 may be moved in addition to or in addition to the reciprocating motion.
It may swing in the width direction.

When the chemical treatment by the chemical PD is completed, the glass substrate 11 is sent to the first rinsing tank 13. At this time, the glass substrate 11 passes through the liquid drain zone 18.
In the liquid draining zone 18, air is injected from the air injection nozzles 75 and 76. Glass substrate 11 is chemical processing tank 1
When it is sent from 2 to the first rinsing tank 13, air is jetted from the air jet nozzle 76 on the chemical liquid processing tank side toward the chemical liquid processing tank 12. Therefore, the chemical treatment tank 12
The chemical solution inside and the chemical solution attached to the glass substrate 11 are returned to the chemical solution treatment tank 12 without reaching the first rinsing tank 13, so that the amount of the chemical solution brought into the next tank is suppressed.
When the air injection pressure for draining the liquid is high, unevenness in the processing surface may occur. In this case, the occurrence of planar unevenness is suppressed by reducing the air injection pressure to zero or as small as possible.

The entire surface of the glass substrate 11 is covered with the first rinsing tank 13.
Is reached, water is sprayed from the water spray nozzle 70 to wash the glass substrate 11 with water. At this time, the glass substrate 11 is moved back and forth by the transport roller 30 in the first rinsing tank 13, so that the cleaning is performed evenly. Note that the length and the number of forward and backward movements of the glass substrate 11 are set to optimal values.

While the glass substrate 11 is being cleaned in the first rinsing bath 13, flushing cleaning is performed in the chemical treatment bath 12.
Chemical solution spray nozzles 36 and 37 and their piping, chemical solution treatment tank 1
2 is cleaned. In the flushing cleaning, water and air are alternately jetted, and the inside of the pipe and the inner wall surface are efficiently cleaned. This washing water is sent to the waste liquid tank 52 via the switching head 47 as shown in FIG.

When the cleaning of the glass substrate 11 is completed, the glass substrate 11 is sent to the chemical processing tank 12 by the transport roller 30. Also during this feeding, when the glass substrate 11 passes through the liquid draining zone 19, the air jet nozzle 75,
Air is injected from 76. At this time, the air is injected toward the first rinsing tank 13 toward the first rinsing tank 13 and toward the chemical processing tank 12 via the air injection nozzle 76 toward the first rinsing tank 13. In addition, the liquid is reliably drained, the washing water and the chemical are not mixed, and the chemical is prevented from being diluted or reduced.

While transporting the glass substrate 11 while the glass substrate 11 is passing through the shower zone 12 a of the chemical treatment tank 12, the chemical liquid CD is applied to the glass substrate 1 by the chemical injection nozzle 36.
The exposed portion of the photosensitive colored layer is removed by the chemical liquid CD. Also during the shower development, the chemical liquid ejecting nozzle 36 is swung in the substrate width direction, and the glass substrate 11 is moved back and forth in the substrate feeding direction, similarly to the chemical liquid PD. Thereby, the developing process is performed evenly. After the development processing, the glass substrate 11 is sent to the second rinsing bath 14. At this time, the chemical liquid is blown off toward the chemical treatment tank 12 and the cleaning water is blown off toward the second rinsing tank 14 by air injection in the liquid draining zone 19, and the liquid is drained. When the air injection pressure is high and unevenness of the processing surface occurs, the air injection pressure is reduced to zero or reduced as much as possible.

When the entire surface of the glass substrate 11 reaches the second rinsing bath 14, water is supplied from the water injection nozzle 70 to the glass substrate 1.
Then, the glass substrate 11 is washed. This cleaning is performed in the same manner as in the first rinsing tank 13. When the cleaning of the glass substrate 11 is completed, the glass substrate 1
1 is sent toward the chemical treatment tank 12 by the transport roller 30. At this time, when the glass substrate 11 passes through the liquid drain zone 19, the liquid is drained in the same manner as described above. In addition, during the cleaning of the glass substrate 11, the above-described flushing cleaning is performed in the chemical liquid processing tank 12, and preparation for the next chemical liquid injection is performed.

In the system of the present invention, since one chemical processing tank 12 is used to perform a plurality of chemical processings, while one chemical processing is being performed, other chemicals are in a pipe from the tank until the valve is switched. The chemical is cooled. For example, during the treatment with the chemical PD, the liquid CD and the chemical SD remain in the pipe even though the liquid temperature in the tank has reached the set temperature. Decreases,
In some cases, the temperature falls below the processing allowable temperature, which may deteriorate the uniformity of the processing. Therefore, as a method of preventing a decrease in the liquid temperature, a chemical liquid is sprayed from a chemical liquid nozzle in advance before substrate processing, and after the liquid temperature reaches an allowable liquid temperature,
Predischarge of the liquid is performed to perform substrate processing.

As a measure for preventing the liquid temperature from dropping, the inside and / or outside of the pipe is covered with a heat insulating material. Alternatively, wind a sheet heater around the pipe. Alternatively, several heaters are built in the pipe. Alternatively, a return valve to the chemical liquid tank is provided immediately before the chemical liquid switching valve, and the liquid is always circulated in the pipe until the liquid is ejected from the nozzle. These measures for preventing a decrease in liquid temperature may be performed selectively or in combination.

When the glass substrate 11 passes through the brush zone 12 b of the chemical treatment tank 12, the chemical SD is ejected from the chemical ejection nozzle 37 during the passage. Further, the brush roller pairs 55 and 56 rotate to remove the residue on the glass substrate 11 by brushing. Brush roller pair 55,5
6, the number of rotations and the direction of rotation are independently selected, and the distance between the brush rollers of the brush roller pairs 55 and 56 can be varied. Therefore, the optimum brush roller pair 55 and 56 are set in accordance with the size and thickness of the glass substrate 11 and the like, and the residue during the development of the non-pixel portion is efficiently removed by the chemical liquid SD.

Thereafter, the developed glass substrate 11 is
The glass substrate 11 is sent to the rinsing tank 13 in the same manner as described above.
Is washed. At this time, the liquid adhering to the glass substrate 11 is cut off in the liquid drain zone 18. In addition, the glass substrate 11
During the cleaning, flushing cleaning is performed in the chemical treatment tank 12. When the cleaning is completed in the first rinsing bath 13, the glass substrate 11 is sent to the chemical processing bath 12.

The glass substrate 11 is sent to the chemical treatment tank 12.
When the entire surface of the glass substrate 11 reaches the second rinsing bath 14 through the process, water is jetted from the water jet nozzle 70 of the second rinsing bath 14 to wash the glass substrate 11.
Thereafter, the third rinsing bath 15, the fourth rinsing bath 15, and the glass substrate 11 pass through, and the glass substrate 11 is cleaned. 4th
The glass substrate 11 that has passed through the rinsing tank 15 is drained by the air knife tank 17 and discharged to the turntable 25 from the first substrate entrance 23. At the time of discharging, the glass substrate 11 is neutralized by the neutralization bar 27.

The embodiment at the time of development is not limited to the above-described processing.
You can select and use the required functions in the. The pressure and flow rate of the air, the washing water, and the chemical in the chemical treatment tank 12 and the nozzle pipes of the rinse tanks 13 to 16 can be adjusted as needed. Further, the transfer speed of the glass substrate 11 can be changed for each of the tanks 12 to 17. Further, in the chemical treatment tank 12, the brush zone 12b is
When 1 passes, the glass substrate 11 may be passed without rotating the brush roller pairs 55 and 56 in accordance with the chemical solution treatment.

In addition to the development processing, the development processing machine 10 is used for intermediate and final cleaning, and cleaning for receiving the glass substrate 11.
May be used. FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a processing procedure in the intermediate or final cleaning. In this intermediate or final cleaning, first, the glass substrate 11 is inserted from the turntable 25 into the development processing machine 10 through the first substrate entrance 23. When the entire surface of the glass substrate 11 reaches the second rinsing bath 14 by the substrate transfer unit 20, water is supplied to the water injection nozzle 7.
By spraying from 0, the glass substrate 11 is cleaned.

When the cleaning of the glass substrate 11 is completed in the second rinsing bath 14, the glass substrate 11 is sent to the chemical processing bath 12. While the glass substrate 11 is passing through the brush zone 12b, the chemical liquid SD is jetted from the chemical jet nozzle 37, and at the same time, the brush rollers 55 and 56 are rotated to rotate the glass substrate 11.
Is washed with a chemical solution SD. When the glass substrate 11 reaches the shower zone 12a, the transport direction of the glass substrate 11 is switched and reversed. At this time, only the brush zone 12b is allowed to pass, and when the glass substrate 11 has completely reached the second rinsing bath 14, cleaning water is sprayed, and the glass substrate 11 is reciprocated in the transport direction to clean the glass substrate. I do.

Subsequently, water is sprayed from the water spray nozzle 70 toward the glass substrate while the glass substrate 11 is passing through the third rinsing bath 15 and the fourth rinsing bath 16 for cleaning. Then, while the glass substrate 11 is passing through the air knife tank 17, air is blown toward the glass substrate 11 by the air knife 80 to drain the water. Thereafter, when the glass substrate 11 passes through the first substrate entrance 23, the glass substrate 1 is
1 is neutralized.

FIG. 8 shows the receiving and cleaning of the glass substrate.
The processing is performed according to the following processing procedure. In the receiving cleaning of the glass substrate, cleaning and spraying of an adhesion promoting treatment liquid are performed on the glass substrate 11a, and a pretreatment for transferring the photosensitive coloring layer to the glass substrate 11a is performed by a laminator. In this case, in order to prevent the substrate transport unit 30 from being contaminated by the glass substrate 11a before cleaning, the glass substrate 11 is inserted through the second substrate entrance 24 through the roller conveyor 26.
Input a. Then, when the entire surface of the glass substrate 11a reaches the first rinsing tank 13, the shutter 28 is closed to close the second substrate entrance 24, and then water is injected from the water injection nozzle 70 to clean the glass substrate 11a. I do.

While the glass substrate 11a is passing through the liquid drain zone 18, air is blown out to drain the glass substrate 11a. Next, when the glass substrate 11a passes through the brush zone 12b of the chemical processing tank 12, the chemical liquid SD is injected from the chemical injection nozzle 37 and the brush roller pair 55,5 is used.
6, the glass substrate 11a is washed with the chemical solution SD. While the glass substrate 11a is passing through the liquid draining zone 19, the glass substrate 1 is
The draining of 1a is performed.

The entire surface of the glass substrate 11a is covered with the second rinse tank 1.
At time point 4, water is sprayed from the water spray nozzle 70 toward the glass substrate 11a to clean the glass substrate 11a. After the cleaning of the glass substrate 11 a is completed in the second rinsing bath 14, the glass substrate 11 a is sent toward the chemical processing bath 12. While the glass substrate 11a is passing through the shower zone 12a in the chemical treatment tank 12, water is sprayed from the chemical spray nozzle 36 toward the glass substrate 11a to perform cleaning. Then, while the glass substrate 11a passes through the liquid drain zone 18,
Draining of the glass substrate 11a is performed in the same manner as described above.

While the glass substrate 11a is passing from the chemical processing bath 12 to the first rinsing bath 13, the treatment liquid for promoting adhesion is sprayed toward the surface of the glass substrate 11a. The injection of the adhesion promoting treatment liquid is performed from the adhesion promoting treatment liquid injection nozzle 71 in the first rinsing tank 13 on the side of the chemical treatment tank 12. After spraying the adhesion promoting treatment liquid on the entire surface of the glass substrate 11a, the cleaning is performed while the glass substrate 11a is reciprocated in the transport direction in the first rinsing bath 13.

Next, the transport direction of the glass substrate 11 a is switched by the substrate transport section 30, and the glass substrate 11 a is sent to the chemical treatment tank 12 and the second rinsing tank 14. In the chemical treatment tank 12, the glass substrate 11a is passed through, and when the entire surface of the glass substrate 11a reaches the second rinsing tank 14, water is injected from the water injection nozzle 70 to wash the glass substrate 11a. Hereinafter, the third rinsing tank 15, the fourth rinsing tank
After cleaning the glass substrate 11 a in the rinse tank 16, the glass substrate 11 a is drained in the air knife tank 17. The drained glass substrate 11 a is discharged to the turntable 25 after being discharged by the discharging bar 27. In the turntable 25, the glass substrate 11a is stored in a substrate cassette (not shown) by a transfer device such as a robot hand.
As described above, in the receiving and cleaning of the uncleaned glass substrate 11a, the glass substrate is directly inserted into the first rinsing bath 13 and the glass substrate 11a is cleaned via the first rinsing bath 13 and the chemical treatment bath 12. In addition, the substrate transfer section 30 and the like on the side of the first substrate inlet / outlet 23 that receives normal development processing, intermediate or final cleaning will not be contaminated with the uncleaned glass substrate 11a.

In the above embodiment, the air knife 80 is used for draining the liquid. However, the air knife 80 may be any gas knife, and the gas used is not particularly limited. For example, in addition to air, various gases such as nitrogen, hydrogen, and oxygen may be used. Similarly, the gas discharged from the liquid drain zones 18 and 19 is not particularly limited, and various gases may be used. Further, the substrate on which the developing process, the receiving cleaning, and the like are performed are not limited to the glass substrates 11 and 11a, and may be various substrates.

[0059]

According to the present invention, a plurality of chemical treatments are performed by using one chemical treatment tank for performing a chemical treatment on a substrate and a cleaning tank for cleaning the substrate and switching the chemical to one chemical treatment tank. Is performed, a plurality of chemical processing tanks are not required as in the related art, and the installation space for the developing processor is reduced. Therefore, it is possible to save space in a clean room in which the development processing machine is installed, and it is possible to reduce equipment costs and running costs. In addition, the chemical solution treatment tank includes the substrate cleaning brush and the chemical solution nozzle, thereby enabling efficient chemical solution treatment according to the chemical solution.

Further, a plurality of cleaning tanks are provided so as to sandwich one chemical processing tank in the substrate feeding direction, and the chemical liquid switching unit performs cleaning of the chemical processing tank and switching of the chemical liquid while cleaning the substrate in one cleaning tank. Therefore, the chemical solution treatment can be performed efficiently. In addition, one cleaning tank is used as a receiving tank for receiving and cleaning glass substrates, and the other cleaning tank is used for other chemical processing and intermediate cleaning processing. The substrate receiving and cleaning and the developing process can be used in one processing machine without contaminating the transfer device, the cassette, and the like. Therefore, it is possible to save the space for the chemical solution treatment including the substrate cleaning.

The cleaning gas and the cleaning liquid are alternately ejected several times from the nozzle of the chemical tank into the chemical tank to wash the chemical processing tank, thereby efficiently cleaning the nozzle pipe and the inner wall of the chemical tank and contaminating the chemical. It is possible to perform the chemical solution treatment efficiently and to reduce the chemical solution switching time. Further, by reciprocating the substrate in the chemical processing tank and the cleaning tank, efficient chemical processing can be performed. By providing a spray nozzle for the adhesion promoting treatment liquid in the first cleaning tank and injecting the adhesion promoting treatment liquid toward the substrate during the receiving cleaning, the substrate cleaning and the adhesion promoting treatment can be efficiently performed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view schematically showing a developing machine of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a chemical treatment tank.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view showing a chemical cleaning tank and a chemical switching unit.

FIG. 4 is a front view showing an example during injection of a chemical solution.

FIG. 5 is a plan view showing a transport roller and a positioning guide in a chemical solution processing tank.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a procedure of a developing process of the glass substrate.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory view showing a glass substrate cleaning process in intermediate or final cleaning.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory view showing cleaning for receiving a glass substrate.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Developing machine 11 Glass substrate 12 Chemical treatment tank 12a Shower zone 12b Brush zone 13-16 Rinse tank (washing tank) 17 Air knife tank 18, 19 Drainage zone 20 Substrate transport part 21 Chemical liquid switching part 23, 24 Substrate entrance 25 Turntable 26 Roller conveyor 27 Static elimination bar 28 Shutter 30 Transport roller 36, 37 Chemical liquid injection nozzle 38 Brush cleaning nozzle 40-42 Liquid supply line 43 Water supply line 44 Air supply line 45-47 Switching head 51 Recovery line 55, 56 Brush roller Pair 64 Positioning guide 70 Water injection nozzle 71 Adhesion promoting treatment liquid injection nozzle 75, 76 Air injection nozzle 80 Air knife

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) B08B 3/10 B08B 3/10 Z 7/04 7/04 A G02B 5/20 101 G02B 5/20 101 H01L 21/304 642 H01L 21/304 642B 643 643C 643B 648 648K 648L 651 651G 651L F-term (Reference) 2H048 BA43 BA45 BB42 2H096 AA27 GA22 GA25 GA26 3B116 AA02 AB14 AB37 BA02 BA14 BB24 CC03 BB25 BB23 CC02 BA02 BA14 BB23 BB33 BB82 BB90 BB92 BB93 CA01 CB15 CB25 CC01 CC12 CD22 CD23

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A chemical processing tank for performing chemical processing on a substrate, a cleaning tank disposed adjacent to the chemical processing tank for cleaning the substrate, and a chemical switching unit for switching a chemical supplied to the chemical processing tank. A cleaning unit for cleaning the chemical processing tank. 2. The chemical processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the chemical processing tank includes a substrate cleaning brush, a chemical nozzle, and a cleaning nozzle. 3. The cleaning section alternately ejects a cleaning gas and a cleaning liquid a plurality of times from a nozzle of the chemical bath into the chemical bath,
3. The chemical processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the cleaning is performed. 4. A plurality of the cleaning tanks are provided so as to sandwich the chemical processing tank in the substrate feeding direction, and the chemical switching unit includes:
4. The chemical processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein cleaning and switching of the chemical processing tank are performed while the substrate is being cleaned in one of the cleaning tanks. 5. One of the plurality of cleaning tanks is a first cleaning tank and the other is a second cleaning tank. The first cleaning tank is a receiving tank for receiving and cleaning a glass substrate. 5. The chemical processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein a substrate for receiving and cleaning is inserted from the substrate entrance and another substrate for chemical processing or intermediate cleaning is inserted from the second cleaning tank side. 6. The chemical processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein an injection nozzle for an adhesion promoting treatment liquid is provided in the first cleaning tank, and the adhesion promoting treatment liquid is injected toward the substrate during the receiving cleaning. . 7. The chemical processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the substrate is reciprocated in the chemical processing tank or the cleaning tank. 8. A liquid drainage zone is provided between the chemical liquid treatment tank and the cleaning tank, and an injection nozzle for blowing gas toward the substrate toward the chemical liquid treatment tank is arranged on the chemical liquid treatment tank side in the liquid drainage zone. At the same time, an injection nozzle for blowing gas toward the cleaning tank is disposed on the cleaning tank side in the liquid draining zone, and the gas is selectively or simultaneously blown from the injection nozzle in accordance with the passing direction of the substrate. The chemical liquid treatment apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein: 9. A chemical solution, wherein one chemical solution processing tank for performing chemical processing on a substrate and a cleaning tank for cleaning a substrate are used, and a plurality of chemical solutions are performed by switching the chemical solution to the chemical processing tank. Processing method.