JP2003124182A - Substrate processor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To uniformly drain liquid by an air knife even in the case of a water- shedding substrate. SOLUTION: A liquid draining part 60 by the air knife is disposed on the downstream side of a wet processing part. A liquid supply nozzle 64 is arranged on the upstream side of the air supply nozzles for air knife 62 and 63 in the liquid draining part 60. The liquid supply nozzle 64 supplies liquid for wet processing to the upper face of the substrate 10 for whole width in a paddle shape. Prior to liquid drainage, liquid for wet processing is placed on the upper face of the substrate for whole width in the paddle shape, and liquid is drained by the air knife in such a state. Consequently, liquid is uniformly removed from the surface and irregularity after liquid drainage is prevented even if the substrate has water shedding property.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a horizontal transfer type substrate processing apparatus preferably used for manufacturing glass substrates for liquid crystal display devices.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A glass substrate used in a liquid crystal display device is manufactured by repeatedly subjecting a surface of a glass substrate, which is a raw material, to chemical treatment such as etching and peeling. The substrate processing apparatus is roughly classified into a dry type and a wet type, and the wet type is divided into a batch type and a single wafer type. Further, the single-wafer type is subdivided into a stationary rotation type and a horizontal conveyance type such as roller conveyance.

Among these substrate processing apparatuses, the horizontal transfer type has a basic structure for supplying the processing liquid to the surface of the substrate while transferring the substrate in the horizontal direction, and since it is highly efficient, it has been etched more than before. It is used for processing and peeling processing.

In a horizontal transfer type substrate processing apparatus used for etching, a substrate generally passes through a receiving section, a liquid avoiding section, an etching section, a water washing section and a water draining section in order. In the etching section, a large number of spray nozzles arranged in a matrix above the substrate transfer line eject the etching liquid in a shower shape, and the substrate passes through the shower, thereby supplying the etching liquid to the entire surface of the substrate. To be done. By this shower treatment, the surface of the substrate is selectively etched except for the portion coated with the masking material.

The substrate that has been subjected to the etching process is subjected to a double-sided cleaning process with a pure water shower in the water washing section, and then sent to the water draining section. Water adhering to both surfaces of the substrate is removed at the water draining portion, and an air knife is known as one of the removing methods. When draining with an air knife,
Air is ejected in a thin film form from a pair of upper and lower slit nozzles provided on both sides of the substrate transfer line, and the air knife is made to collide with both sides of the substrate to remove water from both sides. The jet direction of air is inclined to the upstream side in the substrate transport direction in a side view and to the side in a plan view in order to enhance the efficiency of removing water.

[0006]

The water draining by the air knife has a smaller device scale than the water draining by the rotation,
Excellent space efficiency. In addition, since it is arranged directly in the transfer line and does not need to be taken in and out by a robot, it is highly efficient, and in this respect as well, it is excellent in space efficiency. Due to these advantages, it is drawing attention as a drying means after washing with water in a horizontal transfer type substrate processing apparatus.

However, in addition to these advantages, there is a problem that it is difficult to uniformly remove moisture depending on the type of substrate, and stains are likely to occur. That is, the water-repellent substrate is frequently used with the recent increase in size and thickness of the substrate. When shower cleaning is performed on the surface of the water-repellent substrate, cleaning water partially remains on the surface of the substrate due to surface tension. If water is drained with an air knife in this state, the drainage becomes uneven, and stains remain on the surface after draining.

The same problem occurs when the liquid is drained by the air knife after the chemical liquid treatment such as etching.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a horizontal transfer type substrate processing apparatus capable of uniformly draining liquid even with a water repellent substrate.

[0010]

In order to achieve the above object, the substrate processing apparatus of the present invention conveys a substrate in a horizontal direction and passes it through a plurality of processing sections, and at least one of the plurality of processing sections is used. In a horizontal transfer type substrate processing apparatus that performs wet processing and has a liquid cutting part by an air knife on the downstream side of the wet processing part, in the liquid cutting part, on the upstream side of the air supply nozzle for the air knife, on the upper surface of the substrate A liquid supply nozzle for supplying the liquid for the wet treatment in the form of a paddle is provided all over.

In the substrate processing apparatus of the present invention, liquid removal by an air knife is performed following wet processing such as chemical solution processing or water cleaning processing. Prior to this drainage, the liquid for wet processing is placed on the upper surface of the substrate in a paddle shape over the entire width. By performing liquid draining with the air knife in this state, even if the substrate is water repellent, the liquid is uniformly removed from the surface thereof, and unevenness after draining is prevented.

[0012]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of a substrate processing apparatus showing an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view of a main part of the substrate processing apparatus.

The substrate processing apparatus of this embodiment is an etching apparatus used for manufacturing glass substrates for liquid crystal display devices. This substrate processing apparatus, as shown in FIG.
Receiving section 20, liquid avoiding section 30, etching section 40, water washing section 50, and draining section 6 arranged in order in the transport direction of
It has 0. Each unit includes a large number of transport rollers 21, 31, 41, which horizontally support the substrate 10 and transport the substrate 10 in the horizontal direction.
Equipped with 51 and 61 respectively.

The liquid avoiding portion 30 provided between the receiving portion 20 and the etching portion 40 is a buffer (buffer portion) for preventing the etching liquid from entering the receiving portion 20 from the etching portion 40.

In the etching section 40, a shower unit 42 for supplying the etching liquid in a shower shape from above is provided on the upper surface of the substrate 10 at a position above the transfer line of the substrate 10.

In the water washing section 50, a first shower unit 52 for spraying pure water from above on the upper surface of the substrate 10 and a second shower unit 52 for spraying pure water on the lower surface of the substrate 10 from below. The shower unit 53 is provided so as to sandwich the transfer line for the substrate 10.

The liquid draining section 60 is a drying section for removing water from both surfaces of the substrate 10 which has been washed with water. The liquid draining unit 60 is provided with a pair of upper and lower slit nozzles 62 and 63 arranged so as to sandwich the transfer line of the substrate 10 from above and below. The upper slit nozzle 62 blows air on the upper surface of the substrate 10 in a thin film shape over the entire width,
It is an air nozzle for an air knife that removes water droplets and water from the upper surface of the substrate 10 after cleaning. Lower slit nozzle 6
Reference numeral 3 denotes an air nozzle for an air knife that removes water droplets and water from the cleaned lower surface of the substrate 10 by blowing a thin film of air onto the lower surface of the substrate 10.

The upper and lower slit nozzles 62 and 63 are shown in FIG.
As shown in, for the purpose of improving the removal efficiency of water droplets / water, the substrate 10 is inclined to the upstream side in the conveyance direction of the substrate 10 in a side view and is inclined to the side in a plan view.

On the upstream side of the upper slit nozzle 62,
Still another slit nozzle 64 is the slit nozzle 62.
It is installed close to. The slit nozzle 64 is a liquid supply nozzle that supplies pure water over the entire width of the upper surface of the substrate 10 after washing with water, and more specifically, a so-called paddle shape in which pure water is placed on the upper surface of the substrate 10 over the entire width by surface tension. Is a liquid supply nozzle for a paddle that gently supplies a small amount of pure water. The interior of the water draining portion 60 is partitioned into a wet region on the upstream side and a dry region on the downstream side by a partition wall 65 provided in the vicinity of the water draining positions of the air nozzles 62 and 63. The partition wall 65 is provided with an opening for passing the substrate 10. The slit nozzle 64 is arranged in the dry region downstream of the partition wall 65.

In the substrate processing apparatus of this embodiment, the substrate 10 passes through the receiving portion 20, the liquid avoiding portion 30, the etching portion 40, the water washing portion 50 and the liquid draining portion 60 in this order to etch the upper surface of the substrate 10. After the treatment is performed and the upper and lower surfaces are washed, it is dried.

In the drying process in the liquid draining section 60, first, pure water is placed on the entire upper surface of the substrate 10 and the substrate 10 moves between the slit nozzles 62 and 63 on the downstream side in this paddle state. Then, pressurized air is blown in a thin film form from the slit nozzles 62 and 63 on both surfaces of the substrate 10. The blowing direction is inclined to the upstream side and the lateral side in the transport direction of the substrate 10.

When the substrate 10 is water-repellent, the upper surface immediately after the washing with water is in a state in which pure water is partially deposited and uneven. When pressurized air is blown from the slit nozzle 62 to the upper surface in this state, unevenness in drying occurs on the upper surface. However, in this embodiment, pure water is placed over the entire width immediately before draining with the air knife using the slit nozzle 62. By draining water with an air knife in this state, the water remaining on the upper surface of the substrate 10 is removed sideways without remaining.

Since the lower surface of the substrate 10 is the back surface,
It is not a big problem that some drying unevenness remains after draining.

In the above embodiment, pure water was placed before draining after washing, but when draining is performed after etching,
Even if the etching liquid is placed before the drainage, uniform drainage can be performed.

[0025]

As described above, the substrate processing apparatus of the present invention supplies the wet processing liquid in a paddle shape over the entire width of the upper surface of the substrate upstream of the air supply nozzle for the air knife in the liquid draining section. By providing the liquid supply nozzle, the even liquid repellant substrate can be uniformly drained by the air knife.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of a substrate processing apparatus showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a main part of the substrate processing apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 substrates 20 Reception Department 30 liquid avoidance part 40 Etching part 50 Water Wash Department 60 drainer 62, 63 slit nozzle (air supply nozzle) 64 slit nozzle (liquid supply nozzle) 65 bulkhead

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    F term (reference) 2H088 FA17 FA21 FA30 MA20                 2H090 HC18 JB02 JC19                 3B201 AA02 AB14 BB24 BB93 CC12                 5F043 EE40 GG10

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A substrate is conveyed in a horizontal direction and passed through a plurality of processing sections, wet processing is performed in at least one of the plurality of processing sections, and a liquid draining section by an air knife is provided on the downstream side of the wet processing sections. In the horizontal transfer type substrate processing apparatus, a liquid supply nozzle for supplying the wet processing liquid in a paddle shape over the entire width of the upper surface of the substrate is provided upstream of the air supply nozzle for the air knife in the liquid draining section. And a substrate processing apparatus. 2. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the wet treatment is a water washing treatment and / or a chemical treatment. 3. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the air supply nozzle is a slit nozzle. 4. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the liquid supply nozzle is a slit nozzle.