JP2002313708A - Edge exposure system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an edge exposure system that can perform good exposure on the edge of a substrate by exposing the edge to the light having a uniform intensity distribution. SOLUTION: The light from a light source unit 31 is made incident to an optical mixing element 34 through a first light guide 33 made of 500 optical fibers. In the optical element 34, the light rays emitted from the optical fibers are mixed (optically mixed) with each other and the light emitted from the light-emitting surface 34a of the element 34 has a nearly uniform intensity distribution. The emitted light having the intensity distribution is introduced to an irradiation head 32 through a second light guide 35 composed of 500 optical fibers and projected upon the edge of the substrate W.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a semiconductor substrate, a glass substrate for a liquid crystal display, a glass substrate for a photomask,
The present invention relates to an edge exposure apparatus that irradiates an edge of an optical disc substrate or the like (hereinafter, referred to as a “substrate”) with light to expose the substrate.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When a resist coating process is performed on a substrate of this type, a resist film is formed on the entire surface of the substrate. At the edge of the substrate, patterns such as semiconductor chips and wiring are formed. Therefore, not only is the resist film unnecessary, but also mechanical contact at the time of transporting the substrate causes dust and the like, so the resist film at the edge of the substrate needs to be actively removed. .

Therefore, many edge exposure apparatuses have been proposed for exposing the edge of the substrate before the development processing.
In a conventional edge exposure apparatus, light (generally, ultraviolet light) from a light source is guided by a light guide in which a plurality of optical fibers are bundled, and the resist film at the edge is exposed by irradiating the edge of the substrate. Edge exposure has been performed.

[0004]

By the way, for example, an ultraviolet lamp is used as a light source, but the light intensity distribution of the light emitted from the light source is generally non-uniform, and the incident light of each optical fiber constituting the light guide is incident. The light intensity at the end face is naturally non-uniform. The light is guided toward the substrate edge by the respective optical fibers, and the intensity of the light emitted from the emission surface is also non-uniform. As a result, the light intensity distribution at the edge of the substrate exposed to the edge through the light guide becomes nonuniform, a part of the resist film at the edge is not sufficiently exposed, and development processing is performed after the edge exposure. Even if it does, there is a problem that the resist film partially remains at the edge.

[0005] Further, as a general technical problem of substrate processing including edge exposure, shortening of tact time and improvement of throughput are mentioned. In particular, in recent years, the diameter of the substrate has been remarkably increased. For example, the diameter of a semiconductor substrate has been increasing to 300 mm or more. “Exposure area”) also increases. Here, when the edge exposure is performed by the conventional apparatus, the tact time required for the edge exposure naturally becomes longer due to the increase in the exposure area. Therefore, a device for reducing the tact time required for the edge exposure is desired.

Here, in order to shorten the takt time required for edge exposure, it is conceivable to provide a plurality of light sources, for example. A problem arises due to the non-uniformity of the light intensity distribution. In addition, when the entire edge is viewed, the following problem occurs. That is, light of the same intensity is not always emitted from each light source, and generally, the light intensity of the light emitted from each light source is often different from each other. In particular, when the light intensity of the emitted light of one light source is lower than that of the other light sources due to the change with time, the unevenness of the light intensity distribution at the edge becomes more remarkable.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has as its object to provide an edge exposure apparatus capable of performing an excellent edge exposure process by exposing an edge portion of a substrate with a uniform light intensity distribution. This is the first purpose.

It is a second object of the present invention to provide an edge exposure apparatus capable of further improving the throughput while achieving the first object.

[0009]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an edge exposure apparatus, comprising: a light source for emitting light; a light source for emitting light; A first light guide formed by bundling a plurality of optical fiber strands for guiding a part of light to the other end face side, and receiving light emitted from the other end face of each of the optical fiber strands, and mixing light therein; And a light mixing optical element for emitting light from one of the light exit surfaces, and a second light guide formed by bundling a plurality of optical fiber wires directly from the light exit surface of the light mixing optical element. The substrate is exposed by irradiating the emitted light toward an edge of the substrate through the substrate.

[0010] In the edge exposure apparatus configured as described above, the light from the light source is guided to the light mixing optical element by the first light guide. At this time, since the light intensity distribution of the light from the light source is non-uniform, the intensity of the light guided by the optical fiber wires constituting the first light guide is non-uniform between these optical fiber wires. . However,
The light emitted from each optical fiber is mixed inside the light mixing optical element, and the light intensity distribution of the light emitted from the light mixing optical element becomes substantially uniform. Then, the substrate is exposed by the emitted light.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in order to achieve the second object, the edge exposure apparatus has n (n ≧ 2) light sources that emit light and one to one with the n light sources. It is provided with n first light guides provided correspondingly, and a light mixing optical element, each of the first light guides having one end face facing a light source corresponding to the first light guide. A plurality of optical fiber strands for guiding a part of the light from the light source to the other end face are formed by bundling a plurality of optical fiber strands, and the light mixing optical element receives light emitted from the other end face of each of the optical fiber strands. After the light is mixed therein, the light emitted from one emission surface is irradiated directly or through a second light guide formed by bundling a plurality of optical fiber wires toward an edge portion of the substrate. The substrate is configured to be exposed.

In the edge exposure apparatus having the above-mentioned structure, the light from the light source is guided to the light mixing optical element by the first light guide, and the light from the light mixing optical element is provided. Since the light is mixed inside, the light intensity distribution of the light applied to the edge portion of the substrate, that is, the light intensity from the exit surface of the light mixing optical element is substantially uniform, and the substrate is exposed by the emitted light. . In addition, since the light from each light source is mixed by the light mixing optical element, the irradiation area can be increased without reducing the light intensity of the emitted light, so that the exposure efficiency can be improved.

The light mixing optical element is preferably formed of the same material as the core of the optical fiber.
With this configuration, light loss between the light mixing optical element and each optical fiber is reduced.

[0014]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the entire configuration of a first embodiment of an edge exposure apparatus according to the present invention.
This figure (and FIG. 4 described later) is provided with an XYZ orthogonal coordinate system in which the XY plane is a horizontal plane and the Z-axis direction is a vertical direction.

The edge exposure apparatus shown in FIG. 1 is an apparatus for performing edge exposure processing by irradiating the edge of the substrate W with light while rotating the substrate W. The rotation processing section 1 mainly rotates the substrate W. A drive processing unit 2 for moving an irradiation position;
An irradiation processing unit 3 for irradiating the edge of the substrate with light and a light receiver 4 are provided.

The rotation processing section 1 includes a spin motor 11, a motor shaft 12, and a spin chuck 13. The spin chuck 13 vacuum-adsorbs the substrate W from the back surface and holds the substrate W in a substantially horizontal posture. The spin chuck 13 is connected to the spin motor 11 via a motor shaft 12. As a result, the rotation operation of the spin motor 11 is transmitted to the spin chuck 13 via the motor shaft 12, and rotates the substrate W held by the spin chuck 13 in a substantially horizontal plane (XY plane). Note that the spin chuck 13 is not limited to a form in which the substrate W is vacuum-sucked, but may be a form in which the substrate W is mechanically held.

The drive processing unit 2 includes an X-direction drive unit 22 and a Y-direction drive unit 24. The X-direction drive unit 22 is fixedly disposed on the edge exposure device, and the Y-direction drive unit 24 disposed on the upper surface thereof is moved to the X direction as shown by an arrow AR1 in the figure.
It has a drive mechanism for driving along the direction. Therefore, when the X-direction drive unit 22 moves the Y-direction drive unit 24 along the X direction, the exposure arm 28 disposed on the upper surface of the Y-direction drive unit 24 also moves along the X direction in conjunction with the movement. .

The Y-direction drive unit 24 has a drive mechanism for driving the exposure arm 28 disposed on the upper surface thereof in the Y direction as indicated by an arrow AR2 in the figure. Thus, the Y-direction drive unit 24 can drive the exposure arm 28 along the Y direction. Therefore, the drive processing unit 2
The exposure arm 28 can be freely moved to any position within the XY plane by the X-direction drive unit 22 and the Y-direction drive unit 24 (however,
(The driving range of the X-direction driving unit 22 and the Y-direction driving unit 24). Note that the X-direction driving unit 2
Various known mechanisms, such as a mechanism using a ball screw or a mechanism using a pulley and a belt, can be adopted as the 2 and Y direction driving units 24.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of an irradiation processing unit in the edge exposure apparatus of FIG. The irradiation processing unit 3
As shown in the figure, a light source unit 31 that emits light,
An irradiation head 32 provided at the tip of the exposure arm 28, and guides light from the light source unit 31 to the irradiation head 32 via the first light guide 33, the light mixing optical element 34, and the second light guide 35. It is configured to be.

The light source unit 31 includes a lamp house 311
, A lamp 312, a reflector 313, a shutter motor 314, and a shutter 315 are provided. As the lamp 312, for example, a 200 W ultraviolet lamp can be used. Then, a part of the light emitted from the lamp 312 is reflected by the reflector 313 and collected at a predetermined position. The shutter 31 is located at this focusing position.
5 is arranged, and is opened and closed by a shutter motor 314 connected to a shutter 315. Also,
At this condensing position, the incident end of the first light guide 33 faces the lamp with the incident end face of the first light guide 33 facing the lamp side by a guide holder (not shown).
11 is fixed.

For this reason, when the shutter 315 is opened by the shutter motor 314, part of the light from the lamp 312 is directly reflected, and the rest is reflected by the reflector 313 and enters the incident end face of the first light guide 33. . On the other hand, when the shutter 315 is closed by the shutter motor 314 (the state in FIG. 2), the light from the lamp 312 is blocked by the shutter 315, and the light is prevented from entering the light guide 33.

The first light guide 33 is formed by bundling a plurality of optical fiber wires using, for example, quartz as a core wire material.
A bundle of zero optical fiber wires (reference numeral 331 in FIG. 3) is used. The light source side end face (incidence end face) of each optical fiber 331 corresponds to the “one end face” of the present invention, and these light source side end faces are arranged flush with each other so that the incident end face of the first light guide 33 is formed. Has formed. Therefore, when the shutter 315 is in the open state, the light from the light source unit 31 enters through the light source side end face of the 500 optical fiber wires 331 and the other end face (reference numeral 33 in FIG. 3).
1b). Thus, in this embodiment,
The light is substantially split into 500 lights, and each split light is transmitted by the corresponding optical fiber 331.

The exit end of the first light guide 33 is connected by a guide holder 361 with its exit end facing the incident surface 34a of the light mixing optical element 34, as shown in FIG. It is fixed to a box 36 (FIG. 1). With such a configuration, the 500 divided light beams transmitted by the respective optical fiber strands 331 are incident on the light mixing optical element 34 via the incident surface 34a.

The light mixing optical element 34 is made of, for example, a quartz rod, and is fixed to the connection box 36 by a guide holder 361 like the first light guide 33. Then, as described above, each optical fiber 3
500 split light transmitted by
When the light enters the quartz rod through 4a, its interior 34
After the light is mixed at 1, the light is emitted as one light from an emission surface 34b provided on the side opposite to the incidence surface 34a.

The light exit surface 34b of the light mixing optical element 34
On one side, similarly to the incident surface 34a side, one end of the second light guide 35 is fixed to the connection box 36 by the guide holder 361 with the one end face facing the emission surface 34b of the quartz rod. ing. The second light guide 35 is configured exactly the same as the first light guide 33. That is, the second light guide 35 is formed of an optical fiber 351 made of quartz as a core wire material.
It is formed in a bundle. Therefore, the light mixing optical element 3
The light emitted from the emission surface 34b of No. 4 is incident via the light source side end surfaces 351a of the 500 optical fiber strands 351 and guided to the irradiation head 32.

The irradiation head 32 is fixed to the tip of the exposure arm 28 (see FIG. 1). Inside the irradiation head 32, a projection lens 321 and a fiber coupling section 322 are provided as shown in FIG.
And a slit mask 323 are provided. The other end of the second light guide 35 is fitted and coupled to the fiber coupling portion 322, and the light transmitted through the optical fiber 351 as described above is emitted toward the slit mask 323. . This slit mask 32
For example, a rectangular slit is formed in 3, and the light passing through the slit is projected from the projection lens 321 onto the edge of the substrate W held by the spin chuck 13. Thus, the edge of the substrate W is irradiated with the light, and the edge exposure of the substrate W is performed.

In this embodiment, a light receiver 4 is provided for determining the illuminance of the irradiation area formed by the irradiation processing unit 3.

Next, the operation of the edge exposure apparatus configured as described above will be described. In this edge exposure apparatus, the lamp 312 is turned on at an appropriate timing. Then, the shutter 315 is closed until the edge exposure is started, thereby preventing light from the lamp 312 from being guided to the irradiation head 32 side. On the other hand, when the edge exposure is started or the illuminance is determined by the light receiver 4, the shutter 315 is opened by the shutter motor 314, and the light from the lamp 312 is guided to the irradiation head 32 side.

Shutter 3 for starting edge exposure
When the light source unit 31 is opened,
Is guided to the light mixing optical element 34 by the first light guide 33, and the inside 34 of the light mixing optical element 34
After light mixing in step 1, light is guided to the irradiation head 32 via the second light guide 35, and exposure of the substrate W is started. Here, the features of the present embodiment will be described in detail by focusing on a change in the light intensity distribution until the light from the light source unit 31 is guided to the irradiation head 32.

The light emitted from the light source unit 31 has an uneven light intensity distribution as described above. Therefore, the intensity of light incident on each of the optical fiber strands 331 constituting the first light guide 33 also reflects the above light intensity distribution, and FIG. The light intensity distribution along the line AA in (a) is non-uniform, for example, as shown in FIG.

When the light from each optical fiber 331 enters the light mixing optical element 34, the inside
The light that is mixed (light-mixed) at this time and emitted from the emission surface 34b of the light-mixing optical element 34 has a substantially uniform light intensity distribution. The outgoing light having such a uniform light intensity distribution is incident on the incident end face of the second light guide 35 composed of the 500 optical fiber strands 351, and therefore, FIG.
The light intensity distribution along the line BB in (a) is substantially uniform, for example, as shown in FIG. Therefore, the light is guided to the irradiation head 32 by the second light guide 35 while maintaining the uniformity of the light intensity distribution.

As described above, according to the first embodiment, even when the light emitted from the light source unit 31 has a non-uniform light intensity distribution, the light is transmitted to a plurality of optical fiber elements. The light intensity distribution of the light can be made uniform before the light is guided to the irradiation head 32 using the line, and the light can be irradiated from the irradiation head 32 to the edge of the substrate W. As a result, the edge portion of the substrate W can be exposed with a uniform light intensity distribution and a favorable edge exposure process can be performed.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the overall configuration of a second embodiment of the edge exposure apparatus according to the present invention. Also,
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of an irradiation processing unit in the edge exposure apparatus of FIG. The second embodiment is significantly different from the first embodiment in that two light source units are provided. Hereinafter, the same components will be denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof will be omitted, and the edge exposure apparatus according to the second embodiment will be described in detail focusing on differences.

In the second embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, two light source units 31a and 31b are provided, and these light source units 31a and 31b are provided.
The first light guides 33a and 33b are provided in one-to-one correspondence. Each of the light source units 31a and 31b has exactly the same configuration as the light source unit 31 of the first embodiment. That is, when the lamp 312 provided inside the lamp house 311 is turned on, a part of the light radiated from the lamp 312 is directly radiated to the condensing position side, and the rest is reflected by the reflector 313 and condensed. It is focused on the position. In the light source unit 31a (31b),
At the light condensing position, the first light guide 33a (33b) faces the lamp with the incident end face facing the lamp.
The incident end of a (33b) is fixed to the lamp house 311 by a guide holder (not shown).

For this reason, each of the light source units 31a, 31b
When the shutters 315 and 315 provided in the light source unit 31a are both opened, the light from the light source unit 31a is incident on the light mixing optical element 34 by the first light guide 33a, and the light from the light source unit 31b is simultaneously transmitted to the first light guide 3
The light is guided to the light mixing optical element 34 by 3b. Also,
When only one of the shutters 315 and 315 provided in each of the light source units 31a and 31b is opened, only the light from the opened light source unit enters the light mixing optical element 34 via the first light guide. Further, shutters 315 provided on each of the light source units 31a and 31b are provided.
When both 315 are closed, each light source unit 31a, 3
In 1b, the light from the lamp 312 is blocked by the shutter 315, and the light is prevented from entering the first light guide.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing a connection state between a light mixing optical element and a light guide according to the second embodiment.
Each of the first light guides 33a and 33b is formed by bundling 500 optical fiber strands 331 similarly to the first embodiment, and the emission ends of the first light guides 33a and 33b are merged with each other. Guide guide 3 each
It is fixed to the connection box 36 (FIG. 4) by 62 and 363. Further, the bundle of light guides thus merged is fixed to the connection box 36 by the guide holder 361 in a state where the emission end surfaces of the respective light guides 33a and 33b face the incident surface 34a of the light mixing optical element 34. With this configuration, the first
The optical fiber 331 on the light guide 33a side
Of the 500 divided lights transmitted by the
Incident on the light mixing optical element 34 through the
The optical fiber 33 is also provided on the light guide 33b side.
1. The 500 divided lights transmitted by the
The light enters the light mixing optical element 34 via a.

The light mixing optical element 34 is made of the same material as that of the core of the optical fiber, that is, a quartz rod made of quartz.
3b, the connection box 3
6 fixed. Then, when the 1000 divided lights transmitted by the respective optical fiber strands 331 are incident on the quartz rod via the incident surface 34a as described above, the light is mixed inside the inside 341 and then the incident surface 34a The light is emitted as one light beam from an emission surface 34b provided on the opposite side to the light.

The light exit surface 34b of the light mixing optical element 34
On one side, similarly to the incident surface 34a side, one end of the second light guide 35 is fixed to the connection box 36 by the guide holder 361 with the one end face facing the emission surface 34b of the quartz rod. ing. The second light guide 35 has the same configuration as the first light guide 33. That is, the second light guide 35 is formed by bundling 1,000 optical fiber strands 351 using quartz as a core wire material. For this reason, the light mixing optical element 34
The light emitted from the emission surface 34b is incident via the light source side end surface 351a of the 1000 optical fiber wires 351 and guided to the irradiation head 32.

Next, the operation of the edge exposure apparatus configured as described above will be described. In this edge exposure apparatus, both lamps 312 are turned on at appropriate timing.
Then, the shutter 315 is closed until the edge exposure is started, thereby preventing light from the lamp 312 from being guided to the irradiation head 32 side. On the other hand, when starting edge exposure or performing illuminance determination by the light receiver 4, the shutter 315 is opened by the shutter motor 314, and light from each lamp 312 is guided to the irradiation head 32 side.

When the two shutters 315 are both opened to start the edge exposure, at the same time, the light from the light source unit 31a is emitted by the first light guide 33a and the light from the light source unit 31b is emitted from the first light guide. After being guided to the light mixing optical element 34 by 33b and being light mixed inside 341 of the light mixing optical element 34,
The light is guided to the irradiation head 32 via the second light guide 35, and the exposure of the substrate W is started. Here, the features of the present embodiment will be described in detail by focusing on a change in the light intensity distribution until the light from the light source units 31a and 31b is guided to the irradiation head 32.

The light emitted from the light source units 31a and 31b has a non-uniform light intensity distribution as described above. Therefore, as described in the first embodiment, the optical fiber 331 shown in FIG.
The light intensity distribution along the line AA in (a) is non-uniform, for example, as shown in FIG. 2B, but the light from each optical fiber 331 is transmitted to the light mixing optical element 34. When the light enters, the light is mixed (light-mixed) in the inside 341 and emitted from the emission surface 34b of the light-mixing optical element 34, and has a substantially uniform light intensity distribution.

The outgoing light having such a uniform light intensity distribution is incident on the incident end face of the second light guide 35 composed of 1000 optical fiber strands 351, and therefore, the incident end of the optical fiber strands 351. The light intensity distribution along the line BB in FIG.
(c) As shown in FIG. Therefore, the light is guided to the irradiation head 32 by the second light guide 35 while maintaining the uniformity of the light intensity distribution.

As described above, according to this embodiment, similarly to the first embodiment, even when the light emitted from the light source units 31a and 31b has an uneven light intensity distribution. The light intensity distribution of the light is made uniform before the light is guided to the irradiation head 32 using a plurality of optical fiber wires, and the light is irradiated from the irradiation head 32 to the edge of the substrate W. it can. As a result, the edge portion of the substrate W can be exposed with a uniform light intensity distribution and a favorable edge exposure process can be performed.

In the second embodiment, two light source units 31a and 31b are provided.
Since the light from a and 31b is collectively irradiated to the edge of the substrate W, the following operation and effect can be obtained. In other words, the amount of light per unit time emitted from the irradiation head 32 is twice as large as that when only one light source unit is used (the first embodiment). This means that the area of the irradiation area can be doubled while maintaining the same illuminance as the light source unit 31 of the first embodiment. Therefore, even if the illuminance is the same, the rotation speed of the substrate W can be doubled by expanding the irradiation area twice, so that the tact time required for edge exposure is reduced to about half, and the throughput is reduced. Can be significantly (about twice) improved.

In the above description, the light source unit 31
Although the description is made on the assumption that the amount of light emitted per unit time from a and 31b is the same, the amount of light from one light source unit becomes smaller than that of the other due to aging or lamp failure. Sometimes. In such a case, the light intensity greatly differs between the light source units 31a and 31b, but according to the second embodiment, the light from both light source units 31a and 31b is
4, the light amount of the light guided to the irradiation head 32 itself decreases as the light amount of one of the optical units decreases, but the light intensity distribution of the light is uniform. By exposing the edge of the substrate with a uniform light intensity distribution, a favorable edge exposure process can be performed.

Further, as described above, one of the lamps 312
In the case where the light intensity from the light source is reduced, the lamp 312 needs to be replaced. In the second embodiment, the lamp can be replaced while continuing the edge exposure. This is because each light source unit 31a. Since the light from the light source 31b is mixed by the light mixing optical element 34, the light from the other light source unit is mixed by the light mixing optical element 34 even if the light emission from one light source unit is interrupted. The light can be emitted from the optical element 34 with a uniform light intensity distribution. Therefore, even during the lamp replacement in one of the light source units, the lamp of the other light source unit is turned on, thereby exposing the edge portion of the substrate W with a uniform light intensity distribution, thereby providing a good light intensity distribution. Edge exposure processing can be performed.

In the second embodiment, the two first
The light guides 33a and 33b are joined by the connection box 36, and the light emitted from each of the first light guides 33a and 33b is incident on the light mixing optical element 34 immediately after the joining. As shown in FIG. 7, a merging box 37 for merging the first light guides 33a and 33b is separately provided, and a connecting box 36 having the same configuration as that of the first embodiment is provided at a position distant from the merging position. May be configured to be incident on the light mixing optical element 34.

In the second embodiment, the case where two light source units 31a and 31b are provided has been described. However, when three or more light source units are provided, the light source unit may be configured in the same manner as in the second embodiment. it can. That is, when n light source units are provided (n ≧ 2), n first light guides are provided in one-to-one correspondence with these light source units, and light is guided by these n first light guides. After the light is mixed by the light mixing optical element, the light may be guided to the irradiation head 32 via the second light guide 35. In this case, the same operation and effect as those of the second embodiment are obtained. be able to.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various changes other than those described above can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the light mixing optical element 34 is formed of a quartz rod, but any optical element formed of any configuration and / or material can be used as long as it can perform optical mixing. Is also good. The light mixing optical element 34 may be formed of, for example, a liquid fiber, or may be formed by combining a plurality of prisms. However, as in the above embodiment, the light mixing optical element is desirably formed of the same material as the core of the optical fiber.
Although light loss is inevitable between the light mixing optical element and each optical fiber, the light mixing optical element 34
Is made of the same material as the core material of the optical fiber strands 331 and 351, that is, quartz, so that light loss between the light mixing optical element 34 and the optical fiber strands 331 and 351 can be minimized. Can be. This means that the exposure process can be performed with the highest possible light amount while minimizing the decrease in the light intensity of the light from the light source unit, which is advantageous in improving the throughput.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the configuration has been described in which the light that enters from the incident surface 34a of the light mixing optical element 34 and is mixed in the inside 341 is emitted as one light from the emission surface 34b. For example, as shown in FIG. 9, the light may be divided into a plurality of light beams from the light exit surface 34b and then emitted, and then merged downstream. Even in the case of such a configuration, the same effect as the above embodiment can be obtained.

In the above embodiment, the connection box 3
6 is provided with a light mixing optical element 34 and an optical fiber 33
1, while the light emitted from the light-emitting surface 34b of the light mixing optical element 34 is guided toward the edge of the substrate W via the second light guide 35. As shown in FIG. 8, the light mixing optical element 34 may be arranged in the irradiation head 32, and the output end of the optical fiber 331 may be extended to the fiber coupling portion 322. In this case, it is not necessary to provide the second light guide 35, and the light emitted from the light exit surface 34b of the light mixing optical element 34 can be guided directly toward the edge of the substrate W.
By omitting the second light guide 35 in this manner, light loss can be reduced, which is advantageous in suppressing a decrease in light intensity of light from the light source unit and improving throughput.

In the above embodiment, the case where the present invention is applied to the edge exposure apparatus that executes the edge exposure processing by moving the substrate W and the irradiation head 32 has been described. The present invention is not limited to this, and the present invention can be applied to any edge exposure apparatus that moves at least one of the substrate W and the irradiation head 32 to execute edge exposure processing.

Further, in the above embodiment, the first light guides 33, 33a, 3
3b, and the second light guide 35 is formed by 500 or 1000 optical fiber strands. However, the number of optical fiber strands constituting each light guide is not limited to these, and is arbitrary. is there.

[0054]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the invention, the light from the light source is guided to the light mixing optical element by the first light guide, and the light is mixed inside the light mixing optical element. After that, the light is emitted to the edge of the substrate, so that even if the light intensity distribution of the light from the light source is not uniform, The intensity distribution can be made substantially uniform. Since the emitted light is applied to the edge of the substrate, the edge of the substrate can be exposed with a uniform light intensity distribution to perform a favorable edge exposure process.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, similarly to the first aspect, the light from each light source is guided to the light mixing optical element by the first light guide, and the light mixing is performed. After the light is mixed inside the optical element, the light from the emission surface is irradiated to the edge of the substrate, so that the edge of the substrate is exposed with a uniform light intensity distribution and a good edge is obtained. An exposure process can be performed. Moreover, since light from a plurality of light sources is guided to the light mixing optical element to be light mixed,
Exposure efficiency can be further improved by increasing the irradiation area without reducing the light intensity of the emitted light, and as a result,
Throughput can be improved.

According to the third aspect of the present invention,
Since the light-mixing optical element is formed of the same material as the core wire of the optical fiber, it is advantageous in reducing the light loss between the light-mixing optical element and each optical fiber and improving the throughput. .

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an overall configuration of a first embodiment of an edge exposure apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of an irradiation processing unit in the edge exposure apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a connection state between a light mixing optical element and first and second light guides and a light intensity distribution in each light guide according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing an overall configuration of a second embodiment of the edge exposure apparatus according to the present invention.

5 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of an irradiation processing unit in the edge exposure apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a connection state between a light mixing optical element and first and second light guides and a light intensity distribution in each light guide according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing another embodiment of the edge exposure apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing another embodiment of the edge exposure apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a view showing still another embodiment of the edge exposure apparatus according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 31, 31a, 31b light source unit 33, 33a, 33b first light guide 34 light mixing optical element 34a incident surface 34b emission surface 35 second light guide 312 lamp (light source) 331, 351 optical fiber element Wire W ... substrate

The continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Kenji Kamei 4 chome, Horikawa-dori-Terauchi, Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto-shi, Kyoto 1 Fukuda-term (reference) 5F046 AA28 CB04

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A first light source comprising: a light source that emits light; and a plurality of optical fiber wires each having one end face facing the light source and guiding a part of the light from the light source to the other end face side. A light guide; and a light mixing optical element that receives light emitted from the other end face of each of the optical fiber wires, mixes the light inside the light guide, and emits light from one emission surface. The substrate is exposed by irradiating the emitted light toward the edge of the substrate directly from the emission surface of the optical element or through a second light guide formed by bundling a plurality of optical fiber strands. Edge exposure apparatus. 2. A light mixing optical element comprising: n light sources (n ≧ 2) for emitting light; n first light guides provided in one-to-one correspondence with the n light sources; Each of the first light guides includes a plurality of optical fiber wires each having one end face opposed to a light source corresponding to the first light guide and guiding a part of the light from the light source to the other end face side. While being formed in a bundle, the light mixing optical element receives light emitted from the other end face of each of the optical fiber wires, mixes the light therein, and then directly or directly emits light from one emission surface. An edge exposure apparatus, wherein the substrate is exposed by irradiating toward an edge of the substrate via a second light guide formed by bundling a plurality of optical fiber strands. 3. The edge exposure apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the light mixing optical element is formed of the same material as a core wire of the optical fiber.