JP2003077883A - Substrate-drying method and substrate-drying equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a substrate-drying method and substrate-drying equipment where the consumption of air can be reduced and irregularities of drying can be restrained. SOLUTION: The quantity of air spouted from air knives 53a, 53b is made greater than that of the time of waiting, and treatment liquid stuck on a region Ga in the vicinity of a front end of a substrate G is removed. After a prescribed time has passed starting from when a sensor S detects the front end of the substrate, at a region Gc except the regions in the vicinities of the front end and a rear end of the substrate, air is spouted whose spouting quantity is smaller than that of the region Ga, and the treatment liquid is removed. After a prescribed time has passed again from when the sensor S detects the front end of the substrate, the treatment liquid stuck on a region Gb in the vicinity of the rear end of the substrate G is removed. As a result, the removal is enabled completely all over the whole surface of the substrate without generating irregularities, and the generation of drying nonuniformity can be prevented. Further, the spouting quantity of air in the region Gc can be reduced.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display (Liquid Crystal D) in a manufacturing process of a liquid crystal device.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a substrate drying method and a substrate drying apparatus for drying a glass substrate after performing a predetermined liquid treatment on a glass substrate used for isplay (LCD) or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In the process of manufacturing an LCD, in order to form a thin film of ITO (Indium Tin Oxide) or an electrode pattern on a glass substrate for LCD, a photolithography technique similar to that used for manufacturing a semiconductor device is used. Used. In the photolithography technique, a photoresist is applied to a glass substrate, which is exposed and further developed.

A series of these resist coating, exposing and developing processes have been conventionally carried out by a coating and developing system which carries out various processes such as coating, developing, baking and washing.

In the developing process and the cleaning process in this coating and developing system, for example, while the substrate is being conveyed substantially horizontally by a roller-type conveying roller, a developing solution, a cleaning liquid or the like is supplied to the substrate to perform the developing process. Cleaning process is being performed. Then, after that, for example, an air knife nozzle arranged on the downstream side of the transfer ejects high-pressure air onto the substrate to remove (drain) the processing liquid on the substrate and perform a drying process.

[0005]

However, in the conventional drying process, since a constant air flow is ejected from the air knife, even if the liquid can be sufficiently drained near the center of the glass substrate, for example, the substrate In the vicinity of the end portion, there was a problem that the liquid could not be drained accurately with the constant air volume, and the treatment liquid remained near the end portion.

Therefore, in order to uniformly dry one substrate with a constant air flow, the air flow should be blown over the entire surface of the substrate so that the processing liquid does not remain near the center or the edge of the substrate. Inevitably, the amount of air consumed was increasing. In addition, the amount of air consumed tends to increase more and more from the viewpoint of recent enlargement of glass substrates.

In view of the above circumstances, it is an object of the present invention to provide a substrate drying method and a substrate drying apparatus capable of reducing air consumption and suppressing drying unevenness.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, a substrate drying method according to a first aspect of the present invention is a substrate drying method in which a substrate is dried while being transported.
(A) a step of ejecting air with a first air volume to a region near the front end and the rear end of the conveyed substrate; and (b) the region other than near the front end and the rear end of the substrate, And a step of ejecting air at a second air volume different from the first air volume.

With such a structure, according to the present invention, it is possible to completely remove the processing liquid which could not be completely removed by a constant air volume in the prior art, without variation and to prevent the occurrence of uneven drying. Can be prevented. For example, by setting the first air volume to be larger than the second air volume, it is possible to remove the processing liquid that may remain near the front end and the rear end of the substrate.

Further, in the prior art, in order to completely remove the processing liquid, the air volume was increased over the entire surface of the substrate and the air was ejected at a constant air volume, but in the present invention, except for the vicinity of the front end and the rear end of the substrate. In this region, the amount of air blown out is reduced. Therefore, for example, it is possible to reduce the power consumption of the air supply source and also reduce the air consumption, which contributes to energy saving.

Further, by reducing the air flow rate in a region other than the vicinity of the front end and the rear end of the substrate, compared with the case of a constant high air flow, for example, turbulent air flow in the drying processing chamber can be suppressed and scattered mist-like processing The amount of liquid can be reduced. As a result, the mist does not adhere to the substrate again and the drying performance is improved.

According to one aspect of the present invention, the step (a) includes: (c) detecting a front end of the substrate to be conveyed,
Based on this detection, a step of ejecting air in a region near the front end with a first air volume, and (d) after detecting the front end,
And ejecting air with a first air volume to the region near the rear end after a predetermined time has elapsed. For example, it is possible to detect the step (c) by an optical sensor. On the other hand, it is also possible to detect the step (c) based on the fluctuation of the “sound” when the air is applied to the substrate by the first air volume. For example, by changing the substrate transfer speed based on changes in the "sound" intensity, frequency, timbre, etc., it is possible to completely remove the processing liquid over the entire surface of the substrate and prevent uneven drying. can do.

A substrate drying method according to a second aspect of the present invention is a substrate drying method in which air is blown onto a substrate at a predetermined position to dry the substrate while the substrate is being conveyed.
And (b) the vicinity of the front end and the vicinity of the rear end of the substrate are set to the predetermined speed when the vicinity of the front end and the rear end of the conveyed substrate reach the predetermined position. After passing through the position of
And a second speed different from the above speed.

According to this structure, the processing liquid can be completely removed without variation over the entire surface of the substrate by setting the first transfer speed to be slower than the second transfer speed, and uneven drying occurs. Can be prevented.
In particular, it is possible to remove the processing liquid that may remain near the front end and the rear end of the substrate.

According to an aspect of the present invention, the step (a) includes (c) detecting a front end of the substrate to be transferred,
The method further includes the steps of setting the substrate transfer speed to a first speed based on the detection, and (d) setting the substrate transfer speed to the first speed after a predetermined time has elapsed after detecting the front end. For example, the step (c) can be performed by an optical sensor, or can be performed based on a change in sound when the substrate is hit with air by the first air volume.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an elongated nozzle which ejects the air and has a predetermined angle with respect to one side of the front end or the rear end of the substrate. In the above, the air volume of the air ejected from the portion closer to the front end of the substrate is different from the air volume ejected from the portion closer to the rear end of the substrate. For example, by making the amount of air blown from the portion closer to the rear end of the substrate larger than the amount of air blown from the portion closer to the front end, the air blown from the side closer to the rear end is scattered. The treatment liquid can be farther than the treatment liquid scattered by the air blown from the side close to the rear end, and the drying treatment can be performed efficiently.

A substrate drying apparatus according to a first aspect of the present invention comprises a carrier means for carrying a substrate, an air jetting means for jetting air to the substrate carried by the carrier means to dry the substrate, The air volume of the air jetted from the air jetting means is set to a first air volume near the front end and the rear end of the conveyed substrate, and the first air flow is set in an area other than near the front end and the rear end. And a means for controlling the second air volume different from the above.

With such a structure, according to the present invention, it is possible to completely remove the processing liquid which could not be completely removed by a constant air flow amount in the past, without variation, and to prevent uneven drying. Can be prevented. In particular, by setting the first air volume to be larger than the second air volume, it is possible to remove the processing liquid that may remain near the front end and the rear end of the substrate.

Further, in comparison with the prior art, in order to completely remove the processing liquid, the air volume was increased over the entire surface of the substrate to eject the air at a constant air volume, but in the present invention, except near the front end and rear end of the substrate. In this region, the amount of air blown out is reduced. Therefore, for example, it is possible to reduce the power consumption of the air supply source and also reduce the air consumption, which contributes to energy saving.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a substrate drying device, which comprises a transport means for transporting the substrate, and an air spray means for spraying air onto the substrate transported by the transport means to dry the substrate. When the vicinity of the front end and the vicinity of the rear end of the substrate to be conveyed reaches the predetermined position, the conveyance speed of the substrate is set to a first speed, and the vicinity of the front end and the rear end passes through the predetermined position. , A means for setting a substrate transfer speed to a second speed different from the first speed.

According to this structure, the processing liquid can be completely removed over the entire surface of the substrate without variation by making the first transfer speed slower than the second transfer speed, and uneven drying occurs. Can be prevented.
In particular, it is possible to remove the processing liquid that may remain near the front end and the rear end of the substrate.

Further features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent with reference to the accompanying drawings and the description of the embodiments of the invention.

[0023]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an LC to which the carrier of the present invention is applied.
It is a top view which shows the coating development processing system of D board, FIG. 2 is the front view, and FIG. 3 is the rear view.

The coating / developing system 1 includes a cassette station 2 for mounting a cassette C containing a plurality of glass substrates G, and a plurality of processing units for performing a series of processes including resist coating and development on the substrates G. And the interface unit 4 for transferring the substrate G to and from the exposure apparatus 32. The cassette station 2 and the interface unit 4 are arranged at both ends of the processing unit 3, respectively. There is.

The cassette station 2 has a carrying mechanism 10 for carrying the LCD substrate between the cassette C and the processing section 3. And cassette station 2
In, the loading and unloading of the cassette C is performed. Further, the transfer mechanism 10 includes a transfer arm 11 that can move on a transfer path 12 provided along the arrangement direction of the cassettes, and the transfer arm 11 can transfer the substrate G between the cassette C and the processing unit 3. Done.

The processing section 3 has a vertical direction (X direction) in the arrangement direction (Y direction) of the cassettes C in the cassette station 2.
Direction), and a main transfer section 3a extending in the
An upstream part 3b in which each processing unit including a resist coating processing unit (CT) is arranged in parallel, and a downstream part 3c in which each processing unit including a development processing unit (DEV) 18 is arranged in parallel. There is.

The main transport section 3a is provided with a transport path 31 extending in the X direction and a transport shuttle 23 configured to be movable along the transport path 31 and transporting the glass substrate G in the X direction. ing. The transport shuttle 23 is configured to hold and transport the substrate G by, for example, support pins. In addition, at the end of the main transfer section 3a on the interface section 4 side, the substrate G is provided between the processing section 3 and the interface section 4.
A vertical transport unit 7 is provided for delivering and receiving.

A scrubber cleaning processing unit (SCR) 20 for cleaning the substrate G is provided at an end of the upstream portion 3b on the side of the cassette station 2. The scrubber cleaning processing unit (SCR) 20 is provided above the substrate G. Excimer UV treatment unit (e-
UV) 19 is provided.

Scrubber cleaning processing unit (SCR) 20
Next to the heat treatment system blocks 24 and 2 in which units for performing heat treatment on the glass substrate G are stacked in multiple stages.
5 are arranged. These heat treatment system blocks 24 and 2
The vertical transfer unit 5 is arranged between the blocks 5 and 5, and the transfer arm 5a is movable in the Z direction and the horizontal direction and is rotatable in the θ direction. The substrate G is transferred by accessing the heat treatment system unit. The vertical transport unit 7 in the processing section 3 has the same configuration as the vertical transport unit 5.

As shown in FIG. 2, the heat treatment system block 24
In the figure, two baking units (BAKE) for performing a heat treatment on the substrate G before resist application and an adhesion unit (AD) for performing a hydrophobic treatment with an HMDS gas are sequentially laminated from the bottom. On the other hand, heat treatment system block 25
Is a cooling unit (C
OL) is stacked in two layers, and an adhesion unit (AD) is stacked in order from the bottom.

A resist processing block 15 is extended in the X direction adjacent to the heat treatment system block 25. The resist processing block 15 includes a resist coating processing unit (CT) for coating the substrate G with a resist and a reduced pressure drying unit (V) for drying the coated resist by reducing the pressure.
D) and an edge remover (ER) for removing the resist on the peripheral portion of the substrate G are integrally provided. The resist processing block 15 is provided with a sub arm (not shown) that moves from the resist coating processing unit (CT) to the edge remover (ER).
The substrate G is carried in the resist processing block 15 by this sub-arm.

A multi-stage heat treatment system block 26 is disposed adjacent to the resist processing block 15. The heat treatment system block 26 includes a prebaking unit (PREBAK) for performing a heat treatment after applying the resist to the substrate G.
E) is laminated in three stages.

In the downstream portion 3c, as shown in FIG. 3, a heat treatment system block 29 is provided at the end portion on the interface portion 4 side, which includes a cooling unit (COL), a post-exposure developing treatment. Post-exposure baking unit (PEBAK)
E) is laminated in two stages in order from the bottom.

A development processing unit (DEV) 18 for performing development processing is provided adjacent to the heat treatment system block 29 in the X direction. Next to the development processing unit (DEV) 18, heat treatment system blocks 28 and 27 are arranged, and between these heat treatment system blocks 28 and 27, the same structure as that of the vertical transfer unit 5 is provided, and both blocks are provided. 28 and 2
A vertical transport unit 6 that can access each heat treatment system unit 7 is provided. Further, the i-line processing unit (i
-UV) 33 is provided.

In the heat treatment system block 28, a cooling unit (COL) and a post-baking unit (POBAKE) that heats the substrate G after development are stacked in two stages in order from the bottom. On the other hand, similarly, in the heat treatment system block 27, a cooling unit (COL) and a post-baking unit (POBAKE) are laminated in two stages in order from the bottom.

The interface section 4 has a titler and a peripheral exposure unit (Tiler / EE) 2 on the front side.
2, an extension cooling unit (EXTCOL) 35 is provided adjacent to the vertical transport unit 7,
Further, a buffer cassette 34 is arranged on the back side, and these titler and peripheral exposure unit (Titl).
er / EE) 22, the extension cooling unit (EXTCOL) 35, the buffer cassette 34, and the vertical transfer unit 8 that transfers the substrate G between the adjacent exposure devices 32. The vertical transport unit 8 also has the same configuration as the vertical transport unit 5.

In the processing steps of the coating and developing processing system 1 configured as described above, the substrate G in the cassette C is first transported to the upstream portion 3b of the processing portion 3. In the upstream portion 3b, the excimer UV processing unit (e-UV) 1
Surface modification / organic substance removal processing is performed at 9, and then cleaning processing and drying processing are performed at the scrubber cleaning processing unit (SCR) 20 while the substrate G is being transported substantially horizontally. Subsequently, the substrate G is taken out by the transfer arm 5a in the vertical transfer unit at the lowermost stage of the heat treatment system block 24, heat-treated by the baking unit (BAKE) of the heat treatment system block 24, and by the adhesion unit (AD). Hydrophobized and heat treated block 2
The cooling process by the cooling unit (COL) 5 is performed.

Next, the substrate G is transferred from the transfer arm 5a to the transfer shuttle 23. Then, after being transferred to a resist coating processing unit (CT) and subjected to resist coating processing, a reduced pressure drying processing unit (VD) performs reduced pressure drying processing, and an edge remover (ER) sequentially performs resist removal processing on the peripheral edge of the substrate. Done.

Next, the substrate G is transferred from the transfer shuttle 23 to the transfer arm of the vertical transfer unit 7, and the prebaking unit (PREB) in the heat treatment system block 26 is transferred.
After the heat treatment is performed by AKE), the cooling treatment is performed by the cooling unit (COL) in the heat treatment system block 29. Subsequently, the substrate G is cooled by the extension cooling unit (EXTCOL) 35 and exposed by the exposure device.

Next, the substrate G is transferred to the vertical transfer units 8 and 7.
Is transferred to the post-exposure baking unit (PEBAKE) of the heat treatment system block 29 via the transfer arm, and the heating process is performed there, and then the cooling process is performed in the cooling unit (COL). Then, the substrate G is subjected to a developing process, a rinsing process and a drying process while being transported in a substantially horizontal direction in the developing processing unit (DEV) 18 via the transport arm of the vertical transport unit 7.

Next, the substrate G is transferred from the lowermost stage of the heat treatment system block 28 by the transport arm 6a of the vertical transport unit 6 and subjected to heat treatment by the post baking unit (POBAKE) of the heat treatment system block 28 or 27. The cooling process is performed in the cooling unit (COL). Then, the substrate G is transferred to the transfer mechanism 10 and accommodated in the cassette C.

FIG. 4A is a schematic side view showing the scrubber cleaning processing unit (SCR) 20. The scrubber cleaning processing unit (SCR) 20 has a glass substrate G
A plurality of roller type transport rollers 38 for transporting the sheet are provided. At both ends of the transfer roller 38, transfer pins 39 for transferring the substrate to / from another processing unit by an ascending / descending operation are arranged. Between the transfer pins 39, the upstream side of the transfer of the substrate ( From the left side in the drawing, a roll brush cleaning chamber 36, a spray cleaning chamber 37, and a drying processing device 40 according to the present invention are sequentially arranged. The roll brush cleaning chamber 36 is provided with a roll brush 45, and the spray cleaning chamber 37 is provided with a spray type nozzle 46 for ejecting a cleaning liquid. The spray type nozzle 46 may be arranged not only on the front surface side of the substrate as shown in the drawing but also on the back surface side of the substrate.

Such a scrubber cleaning processing unit (S
In the CR) 20, first, the roll brush cleaning chamber 36 removes and cleans relatively large dust on the substrate, and then the spray cleaning chamber 37 removes and cleans fine dust, and the drying treatment device 4
It is dried at 0.

FIG. 4B shows the development processing unit (D
It is a schematic side view which shows EV) 18. Similar to the scrubber cleaning processing unit (SCR) 20, the developing processing unit (DEV) 18 is provided with a roller type conveyance roller 38 and a delivery pin 39. Between the two transfer pins 39, from the upstream side of conveyance (left side in the figure),
The pre-wet processing chamber 41, the development processing chamber 42, the rinse processing chamber 43, and the same drying processing device 40 according to the present invention as described above.
Are arranged in order. In the pre-wet processing chamber 41,
A pre-wet nozzle 47 is provided, and a developing solution nozzle 48 for ejecting a developing solution is provided in the development processing chamber 42.
A rinse nozzle 49 is provided in the rinse processing chamber 43.

Such a development processing unit (DEV) 1
In No. 8, first, the substrate is pre-wet in the pre-wet processing chamber 41 in order to reduce the impact on the substrate at the time of discharging the developing solution, and then the developing solution is discharged and developed in the developing processing chamber 42, and The developing solution is washed away in the rinse processing chamber 43, and finally dried by the drying processing device 40.

In the developing chamber 42, in order to secure the developing time, the carrying roller 38 is reversely rotated and the substrate G is reciprocated to perform the developing process.

5 and 6 are a plan sectional view and a side sectional view of the drying processing apparatus 40 according to the first embodiment. The space in the chamber 51 of the drying processing apparatus 40 is partitioned by a partition plate 63 from the upstream side (the left side in FIGS. 5 and 6) of conveyance. Openings 51a and 51b for loading and unloading the substrate G are formed at the upstream end and the downstream end of the chamber 51, respectively.

The clean air is jetted to the substrate G conveyed to the lower end cutout portion 63a of the partition plate 63 to blow the substrate G.
Long air knife nozzles 53a and 5 for drying
3b are arranged above and below so as to sandwich the substrate G to be conveyed. The air knives 53a and 53b are the substrate G.
On the other hand, it is arranged at an angle of, for example, 40 ° or more from the vertical direction, and the air is jetted at an angle of 40 ° or more with respect to the vertical direction of the substrate surface.

As shown in FIG. 7A, both air knives 5
3a and 53b have the same structure, for example, have a buffer chamber 73 in which the air supplied from the supply port 72 is temporarily retained, and the air is linearly supplied from the buffer chamber 73 to the substrate G. A slit 74 for ejecting is formed.

Each of the transport rollers 38 has, for example,
A plurality of gears 75 are attached to one end of the shaft center member,
Gears 68 that mesh with these gears 75 are attached to the shaft members 44, respectively. This shaft member 44
Is rotated by driving the motor 71, and the transport roller 38 is rotated by driving the motor 71 to transport the substrate G.

Referring to FIG. 6, air knives 53a, 53
Air is supplied to b from the blower fan 60 via the filter part 59 and the supply pipe 66.
The blower fan 60 takes in air, for example, in a clean room or outside. The filter unit 59 is provided with, for example, a pre-filter 61 for coarse particles and a ULPA filter 62 for fine particles. The ULPA filter 62 may be a HEPA filter.

As described above, by providing the blower fan 60, it is not necessary to use a high pressure air compressor in a factory, and it is possible to reduce factory power and save energy. In particular, as the size of the substrate G increases, the utility tends to increase, so that the effect of using the blower fan is great. Further, the blower fan is economically extremely advantageous as compared with the air compressor.

The control system 50 has a CPU 56, a memory 57 and an inverter circuit 58, and the blower fan 60 is frequency-controlled by the control system 50. For example, the flow rate of the air discharged from the blower fan 60 is controlled based on the measurement result of the flow meter 65 provided in the supply pipe 66 and measuring the flow rate of the air in the pipe. As a result, even if the flow rate of the air supplied to the air knives 53a and 53b is reduced due to clogging of the filter portion 59 or the like, the flow meter 65 can be used.
By feeding back the measurement result of 1, the air can be constantly supplied to the air knives 53a and 53b at a desired flow rate.

An opening is formed in the upper part on the downstream side of the chamber 51, and a fan filter unit 52 is installed therein. The fan filter unit 52 cleans, for example, the air inside or outside the clean room and takes it into the chamber 51, and exhausts the taken-in air from exhaust ports 55a and 55b provided at the upper and lower portions of the upstream side of the conveyance. . The exhaust ports 55a and 55b are connected to a vacuum device or the like (not shown). As a result, the atmospheric pressure in the chamber 51 is controlled to decrease from the downstream side toward the upstream side, and the processing liquid on the substrate G due to the drainage can be efficiently discharged by controlling the atmospheric pressure. .

An optical sensor S having, for example, a light emitting section Sa and a light receiving section Sb is arranged upstream of the air knives 53a and 53b in the conveying direction. For example, when the light of the optical sensor S is blocked by the substrate G, the information is transmitted to the control system 50, and the blower fan 6 is based on this information.
By controlling the frequency of 0, the amount of air supplied to the air knives 53a and 53b can be adjusted.

For example, when the sensor S detects the front end of the substrate G, as shown in FIG.
The amount of air blown from a and 53b is set to be larger than that in the standby state, and the processing liquid attached to the region Ga near the front end of the substrate G is removed. The region Ga near the front end is, for example, a portion whose distance from the front end of the substrate G is 1 cm to 5 cm. The amount of air ejected in this region Ga is 1000 (l / min) when the width of the substrate is 700 mm, for example.

Then, after a lapse of a predetermined time after the sensor S detects the front end of the substrate, in a region Gc other than near the front end and the rear end of the substrate, as shown in FIG.
7C, the processing liquid is removed by jetting air at a smaller amount than the jetting amount of the substrate G, and as shown in FIG. The processing liquid adhering to the region Gb near the rear end, which is a portion having a distance from the end of 1 cm to 5 cm, is removed. A predetermined time after the sensor S detects the front end of the substrate is a predetermined value depending on the substrate transport speed and the size of the substrate G, and this value is input to the control system 50 in advance.

Here, the amount of air ejected in the region Gc is
For example, it is 800 (l / min) in the case of 700 mm, and the amount of air ejected in the region Gb is, for example, 700 mm.
In the case of, it is 1300 (l / min).

As a result, according to the present embodiment, the processing liquid which could not be completely removed by a constant air flow rate in the prior art can be completely removed without variation over the entire surface of the substrate, and the occurrence of uneven drying can be prevented. it can. Therefore, it is possible to remove the processing liquid that may remain particularly near the front end and the rear end of the substrate.

Further, in contrast to the conventional method in which the air volume is increased over the entire surface of the substrate and the air is ejected at a constant air volume in order to completely remove the processing liquid, in the present embodiment, the area G is used.
In c, the air volume of the jetted air is reduced. Therefore, the power consumption of the blower fan 60 can be reduced and the air consumption can also be reduced, which contributes to energy saving.

Further, by reducing the air flow rate in the region Gc of the substrate, compared to the case of a constant high air flow rate,
Turbulent airflow in the chamber 51 can be suppressed, and the amount of mist-like processing liquid scattered in the chamber 51 can be reduced. As a result, the mist does not adhere to the substrate G again and the drying performance is improved.

Since there is a loss in the response time of the air amount changed by the blower fan 60 to the air knife, for example, the position of the sensor S should be separated from the air knives 53a and 53b by a predetermined distance in FIG. Is preferred.

In the area Ga, the amount of air may be decreased stepwise or linearly from 1000 (l / min), or the air may be decreased stepwise or linearly from the area Gc to the area Gb. For example, 800
The flow rate may be increased from (l / min) to 1300 (l / min), and by controlling in this way, it is possible to suppress turbulence of the air flow near the substrate and generation of mist due to a rapid change in the air amount.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 8, the same components as those in FIGS. 5 and 6 are designated by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted.

In this embodiment, the sensor S is the substrate G.
When the front end of the conveyance roller 38 is detected, this information is transmitted to the motor control unit 69 that controls the rotation speed of the motor 71.
Slow down the rotation speed of. As a result, the transfer of the substrate G is decelerated, and air is supplied to the region Ga near the front end of the substrate G, and then the transfer speed is increased to the region Gc after a predetermined time, as in the case shown in FIG. Air is supplied, and further after a predetermined time elapses, the transport speed is decelerated so as to be the same speed as when air is supplied to the area Ga, and the air is supplied to the area Gb. Then, after the rear end of the substrate G has passed the air knives 53a and 53b, the transport speed is increased again. Here, a predetermined time after the sensor S detects the front end of the substrate is a predetermined value depending on the substrate transport speed and the size of the substrate G, and this value is input to the motor control unit 69 in advance. Note that, for example, the amount of air blown is constant in the regions Ga, Gc, and Gb.

In this way, the transport speed of the substrate G when air is supplied to the regions Ga and Gb is made slower than that when air is supplied to the other regions Gc, so that the entire surface of the substrate is It can be completely removed without variation over the entire length. Therefore, it is possible to remove the processing liquid that may remain particularly near the front end and the rear end of the substrate.

The transport speed of the substrate G when air is supplied to the area Gb may be slower than the transport speed of the substrate G when air is supplied to the area Ga. In this case, the front edge of the substrate is It is possible to improve the removal performance of the processing liquid near the rear end where the liquid is likely to remain.

FIG. 9 shows a third embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 9, the same components as those in FIG. 8 are designated by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted.

In this embodiment, for example, a microphone 70 is used as a sensor for detecting the front end of the substrate G. This is a phenomenon that when the substrate G approaches the air knife while the air is ejected from the air knives 53a and 53b, the air starts to hit the substrate, so that the sound gradually becomes stronger and the frequency becomes higher. Is used.

The "sound" becomes strong and the frequency thereof is high in the vicinity of the area Ga of the substrate shown in FIG. 7, but in the area Gc, it becomes weaker and the frequency becomes higher than that of the area Ga. It tends to be low. Then, in the area Gb, the "sound" becomes strong and the frequency becomes high, that is, the sound becomes high, similarly to the area Ga. That is, the strength and frequency of the “sound” are Ga≈Gb> Gc.

As in the second embodiment, the transport speed of the substrate G is changed on the basis of the variation of the "sound", so that the entire surface of the substrate can be completely removed without variation. Therefore, it is possible to remove the processing liquid that may remain particularly near the front end and the rear end of the substrate.

Here, "sound" has various "sound quality" and "timbre" depending not only on its strength or frequency but also on, for example, the degree of attenuation, the combination of plural chords, etc. If any variation of "sound" can be detected. , The substrate can be detected.

In this embodiment, the "sound" is fed back every time the "sound" is changed to control the transfer speed of the substrate. However, the "sound" at the front end of the substrate is detected only once at the beginning. After that, the conveying speed may be changed after a lapse of a predetermined time from the first detection.

FIG. 10 is a sectional view showing an air knife according to another embodiment. The inside of the air knife 80 is divided into three buffer chambers 73a, 73b and 73c by a partition plate 81.
Are formed. These buffer chambers 73a and 73b
And supply pipe 7 for supplying air to 73c, respectively
7, 78 and 79 are connected to each other, and valves 83, 84 and 85 for adjusting the supply amounts of the respective air are provided.

In the present embodiment, the openings of the valves 83, 84 and 85 are set to large, medium and small, respectively, and the amount of air blown from the buffer chambers 73a, 73b and 73c is set to large, medium and small. And

For example, as shown in FIG. 11, a predetermined angle α = 10 with respect to the transport direction A in order to efficiently drain the liquid to the right side in the drawing on the substrate G transported in the direction indicated by the arrow A.
When the longitudinal direction of the air knife 80 is inclined by 20 ° to 20 °, the amount of air ejected from the buffer chamber 73a is made larger than the amount of air ejected from the buffer chamber 73c, whereby the left side of the substrate G in the drawing. It is possible to remove the treatment liquid in the area further than the right side, and it is possible to perform the drying treatment efficiently. In particular, the position of the exhaust port 55a is in the direction of air ejection by the air knife 80, so the effect is great.

The present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above, and various modifications can be made.

For example, the air flow rate control in the first embodiment and the transport speed control in the second embodiment may be simultaneously performed.

Further, in each of the above embodiments, the optical sensor S or the microphone is used as the sensor for detecting the front end of the substrate to be conveyed, but the present invention is not limited to this, and a pendulum sensor that responds to the weight of the substrate G is used. You can also do it.

Further, in the first embodiment, two identical air knives may be further provided on the downstream side of the air knives 53a and 53b above and below the substrate to be conveyed. In this case, the blower fan is connected to each of the upstream side air knife and the downstream side air knife separately, the size of the substrate to be transported and the transportation speed are stored, and both the blower fans are individually controlled by the inverters. The purpose of can be achieved.

Further, as described above, the air knives 53a and 5a are
When further provided on the downstream side of 3b, the control as described above may be performed on the regions Ga, Gb, Gc for the downstream air knife, and the unit area per unit area for the regions Ga, Gb from the downstream air knife. The air amount may be controlled to be larger than the air amount per unit area for the regions Ga and Gb from the upstream air knife. By doing so, the vicinity of the front end or the rear end of the substrate where the processing liquid is likely to remain can be surely dried. Also, the air knife on the upstream side is the main,
If the downstream air knife has a strong meaning of assistance,
Conversely, by controlling the amount of air per unit area for the regions Ga and Gb from the downstream air knife to be smaller than the amount of air per unit area for the upstream air knife, running costs and mist can be further suppressed. The area G
c is easier to drain than Ga and Gb, and the area Gc
Since the liquid is almost drained by the upstream air knife, the amount of air per unit area for the region Gc from the downstream air knife may be smaller than the amount of air for the region Gc from the upstream air knife.

Further, although the air knife has three buffer chambers in FIG. 10, the number of partition plates 81 may be increased to control the amount of air blown onto the substrate in more detail.

[0084]

As described above, according to the present invention,
The drying process can be performed efficiently over the entire surface of the substrate without leaving the processing liquid. In addition, it is possible to reduce the amount of air consumed and the power consumption, and to save energy.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an overall configuration of a coating and developing treatment system to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the coating and developing treatment system shown in FIG.

3 is a rear view of the coating and developing treatment system shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 (a) Scrubber cleaning processing unit (SCR),
FIG. 3B is a schematic side view showing the development processing unit (DEV).

FIG. 5 is a plan cross-sectional view showing the drying processing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a side sectional view and a conceptual configuration diagram of the drying processing apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 7 is a side view showing a drying operation according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a side sectional view showing a drying processing apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a side sectional view showing a drying processing apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a sectional view showing an air knife according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a plan view showing the drying action when the air knife shown in FIG. 10 is used.

[Explanation of symbols]

G ... Glass substrate S ... Optical sensor Ga, Gb ... Areas near the front and rear edges of the substrate Gc ... Area other than Ga and Gb of substrate A: Transport direction α ... predetermined angle 38 ... Conveyor roller 40 ... Drying treatment device 50 ... Control system 53a, 53b ... Air knife nozzle 60 ... Blower fan 69 ... Motor control unit 70 ... Mike 71 ... Motor 80 ... Air knife 83, 84, 85 ... Valve

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Takashi Nakamitsu             TBS release, 5-3-6 Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo             Sending Center Tokyo Electron Limited (72) Inventor Shigeto Tsuruta             TBS release, 5-3-6 Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo             Sending Center Tokyo Electron Limited F term (reference) 3L113 AA03 AB02 AC31 AC45 AC46                       AC48 AC52 AC63 AC64 AC83                       BA34 CA06 CA20 CB24 CB34                       DA02 DA24

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A substrate drying method for drying a substrate while transporting the substrate, comprising the steps of: (a) ejecting air at a first air volume to a region near a front end and a rear end of the transported substrate; ) In a region other than near the front end and the rear end of the substrate,
A step of ejecting air at a second air flow rate different from the first air flow rate. 2. The substrate drying method according to claim 1, wherein in the step (a), (c) a front end of the transported substrate is detected, and a first area is formed in a region near the front end based on the detection. And a step of: (d) ejecting air with a first air volume to a region near the rear end after a predetermined time has elapsed after detecting the front end. Substrate drying method. 3. A substrate drying method in which air is blown onto a substrate at a predetermined position to dry the substrate while the substrate is being conveyed. (A) The vicinity of the front end and the rear end of the conveyed substrate is the predetermined position. When the board reaches the
And (b) a step of setting a substrate transfer speed to a second speed different from the first speed after the front end portion and the rear end portion have passed the predetermined position. A method for drying a substrate, comprising: 4. The substrate drying method according to claim 3, wherein in the step (a), (c) a front end of the transported substrate is detected, and the substrate transport speed is set to a first speed based on the detection. A method of drying a substrate, comprising: a step of increasing a speed; and (d) a step of setting a conveyance speed of the substrate to a first speed after a lapse of a predetermined time after detecting the front end. 5. The substrate drying method according to claim 2, wherein the detection in the step (c) is performed by an optical sensor. 6. The method for drying a substrate according to claim 4, wherein the detection in the step (c) is performed based on a change in sound when the substrate is hit with air according to the first air volume. Substrate drying method. 7. The substrate drying method according to claim 1, further comprising an elongated nozzle that blows out the air and has a predetermined angle with respect to one side of a front end or a rear end of the substrate. , Making the air volume of the air ejected from the portion of the elongated nozzle closer to the front end of the substrate different from the air amount ejected from the portion closer to the rear end of the substrate. And a method for drying a substrate. 8. A transport means for transporting the substrate, an air jetting means for jetting air to the substrate transported by the transporting means to dry the substrate, and an air volume of the air jetted from the air jetting means. A means for controlling a first air volume in a region near the front end and the rear end of the transported substrate, and a second air volume different from the first air volume in a region other than the front end and the rear end. A substrate drying apparatus characterized by: 9. A transport means for transporting the substrate, an air jetting means for jetting air to the substrate transported by the transport means to dry the substrate, and a front end portion and a rear end portion of the transported substrate. When reaching the predetermined position, the substrate transfer speed is set to a first speed, and the substrate transfer speed is different from the first speed after the front end portion and the rear end portion have passed the predetermined position. A substrate drying apparatus, comprising: a means for setting a second speed. 10. The substrate drying apparatus according to claim 8 or 9, wherein the air jetting means includes a long nozzle having a predetermined angle with respect to one side of the front end or the rear end of the substrate. , Making the air volume of the air ejected from the portion of the elongated nozzle closer to the front end of the substrate different from the air amount ejected from the portion closer to the rear end of the substrate. A substrate drying device characterized by the above.