JP2003229346A - Substrate-holding method, substrate-holding plate, and method and device for heat treatment - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a substrate-holding method, a substrate-holding plate, and method and device for heat treatment, capable of effectively preventing the occurrence of transfer. <P>SOLUTION: A substrate (61) on which a resist is coated is held on a substrate-holding plate (60) by the substrate-holding method. The substrate is placed on the substrate-holding plate where a suction groove (76) whose width is larger than 0 and equal to or smaller than a prescribed value while a depth is larger than 0 and equal to or smaller than a prescribed value is provided so that a thermal distribution is not provided on the substrate which causes transfer. The substrate-holding plate sucks and holds the substrate. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a substrate heat treatment apparatus for heat-treating a substrate to be treated, and more particularly to a substrate heat treatment apparatus for heating a substrate coated with a resist solution to perform a baking treatment. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a manufacturing process of a liquid crystal display (LCD) device, a thin film of ITO, an electrode pattern, or the like is formed on an LCD substrate. To this end, photolithography techniques similar to those used in semiconductor manufacturing processes are used.

That is, the LCD substrate which is the object to be processed is
First, after being cleaned by the cleaning device, the treatment surface is subjected to hydrophobic treatment in the adhesion processing device. Then, after the photoresist solution is formed in the resist coating device, it is heated (baking process) in the heat treatment device.
By doing so, a sublimate such as a solvent is evaporated from the resist liquid film. Then, the LCD substrate is conveyed to an exposure device, the resist solution film is exposed to a predetermined pattern, and finally, a developing solution is applied and developed in a developing apparatus, and then the developing solution is washed away with a rinse solution, A series of processing ends.

In the above process, the baking process is performed by a substrate heat treatment apparatus having a heating table called a hot plate in which a heater is embedded. The hot plate of this heat treatment apparatus is provided with transfer pins that can project and retract the substrate to be processed on the heating table so that the substrate can be heated.

[0005]

By the way, in recent years, for example, so-called super TF for increasing the field of view by increasing the aperture ratio.
With the introduction of T liquid crystal displays and the like, the patterns formed on LCD substrates have become finer and more precise. Along with this, the problem of so-called “transfer” has been highlighted.

[0006] The transfer means that the resist coating film is varied in quantity and quality due to some cause during the photophysography process, mainly during the heat treatment. The cause of this transfer is not yet clear, but at least when the substrate after the resist solution is applied to the heat treatment apparatus having the above-mentioned configuration, due to the temperature difference between the transfer pin and the substrate,
It is known that the film thickness of the resist solution applied on the front side of the portion held by the transfer pins is affected, which contributes to the transfer.

As described above, as the pattern formed on the LCD substrate becomes finer and finer, a transfer problem occurs even in a temperature environment which has not been a problem in the past.

Particularly in the case of an LCD, in the finished product, the film thickness variation portion remains as a so-called “transfer trace” and is visually observed through the glass substrate. Therefore, a means for effectively preventing the transfer is required. There is. In addition, large area LC
In the case of D, it is necessary to deal with the problem of warpage caused by the temperature difference.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a substrate holding method, a substrate holding plate, a heat treatment method, and a heating method capable of effectively preventing the occurrence of warpage and transfer. It is to provide a processing device.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a substrate holding method, a substrate holding plate, a heat treatment method and a heat treatment apparatus which can effectively prevent the occurrence of warpage and transfer without lowering the throughput. Especially.

[0011]

In order to solve the above problems, a substrate holding method according to a first aspect of the present invention is a substrate holding method for holding a substrate coated with a resist on a substrate holding plate. Therefore, the substrate is placed on a substrate holding plate provided with suction grooves whose width is more than 0 and less than a predetermined value and whose depth is more than 0 and less than a predetermined value so as not to give a heat distribution to the substrate. The substrate is placed, and the substrate is held by suction on the substrate holding plate.

A substrate holding method according to another aspect of the present invention is the substrate holding method described above, wherein the suction groove has a width of more than 0 and 0.5 mm or less and a depth of more than 0 and 0.3 mm.
It is the following.

The substrate holding plate according to the first aspect of the present invention is a substrate holding plate for holding a substrate, and the substrate holding plate has a suction groove for mounting and holding the substrate by suction. The suction groove provided has a width of more than 0 and 0.5 mm or less and a depth of more than 0 and 0.3 mm or less.

A substrate holding plate according to another aspect of the present invention is a substrate holding plate for holding a substrate coated with a resist, and the substrate holding plate mounts and holds the substrate by suction. The suction groove is provided to prevent the heat distribution that would cause transfer to the substrate.
Width exceeds 0 and 0.5 mm or less, depth exceeds 0 and 0.3
mm or less.

The heat treatment method according to the first aspect of the present invention is a heat treatment method of heating a substrate coated with a resist on a heating table, and does not give a heat distribution such as transfer to the substrate. As described above, the substrate is placed on a heating table provided with a suction groove having a width of more than 0 and a predetermined value or less and a depth of more than 0 and a predetermined value or less, and the substrate is sucked and held on the heating table to heat the substrate. To do.

A heat treatment method according to another aspect of the present invention is the heat treatment method described above, wherein the adsorption groove has a width of more than 0 and 0.5 mm or less and a depth of more than 0 and 0.3 mm.
It is the following.

The heat treatment apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention is a heat treatment apparatus that adsorbs and holds a substrate coated with a resist on a heating table and heats the substrate. Adsorption grooves having a width of more than 0 and 0.5 mm or less and a depth of more than 0 and 0.3 mm or less are provided so as not to give such a heat distribution.

[0018]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Next, an embodiment of a heat treatment apparatus according to the present invention will be described by way of example in which it is applied to an LCD substrate coating and developing treatment system 1 shown in FIG.

The coating and developing system 1 coats an LCD substrate with a resist solution and then transfers it to an exposure system (EXP) 2 shown in FIG. It is received again and the developing process is performed.

In order to perform such a series of processes, the coating and developing system 1 performs the substrate cleaning process and the loader / unloader unit (L / UL) 3 for loading and unloading the LCD substrate. The first
1 Process part 4 and application of resist liquid (coating)
And a second process unit 5 for performing the peripheral edge resist removing process, and a third process unit 6 for performing the developing process.
An interface unit (I / F) 7 for transferring a substrate to and from the exposure system 2 is provided.

The loader / unloader section 3 comprises a cassette mounting table 10 and a carrying section (C / S) 11. Two types of cassettes C1 and C2 are mounted on the cassette mounting table 10. An unprocessed LCD substrate is stored in the first cassette C1, and an unprocessed LCD is stored in the second cassette C2.
The board is stored.

Further, the transport section 11 is provided with a first sub-arm mechanism 13. The first sub-arm mechanism 13 has an arm 14 capable of holding a substrate, and by rotating the arm 14 to move it back and forth, the first cassette C
The substrate stored in 1 can be taken out and handed over to the first process unit 4 side. The substrate for which all the processing has been completed is stored by the first sub-arm mechanism 13 from the first process unit 4 side into the second cassette C2.

The first process section 4 has a first main arm mechanism 15 for receiving a substrate from the first sub-arm mechanism 13. This main arm mechanism 15 is
It is provided with a base 17 that runs on a first central conveyance path 16 that extends along the direction, and an arm 18 that rotates on this base 17 and is driven back and forth.

To the side of the first main arm mechanism 15, two cleaning units (SCR) 19 composed of brush scrubbers and a heating / heating unit (HP / HP) equipped with a hot plate are provided along a central conveyance path 16. ) 20, a dry cleaning unit (UV) 21 including an ultraviolet cleaning device, and a cooling unit (COL) including a cooling plate
22 are provided respectively.

Here, "heating / heating unit (HP / H
The notation "P)" indicates that the heating units having hot plates are stacked and installed, for example, in two upper and lower stages (hereinafter the same). Further, in the figure, the numbers (“HP <U> 1 </ U>”, “COL <U> 1 </ U>”, etc.) added after HP indicating the heating unit and COL indicating the cooling unit are
The type or order of heat treatment or cooling treatment is shown.

The first main arm mechanism 15 inserts the substrate received from the loader / unloader unit 3 into each of the processing units 19 to 20 and after performing the necessary processing, the substrate is taken out and sequentially separated. Processing unit 19-
20 or the second process unit 5.

On the other hand, the second process section 5 runs on the second central conveying path 23 extending along the Y direction.
The main arm mechanism 24 is provided. The second main arm mechanism 24 has a base 25 and an arm 26 that are configured similarly to the first main arm mechanism 15.

On the side of the second main arm mechanism 24, a resist coating / peripheral resist removing unit (CT / ER) 28 for coating the substrate with the resist and removing the unnecessary resist in the peripheral portion. An adhesion / cooling unit (AD / COL) 29 for performing a hydrophobic treatment on the substrate surface, and a heating / heating unit (HP
/ HP) 30, heating / cooling unit (HP / COL) 3
1 is arranged.

The second main arm mechanism 24 inserts the substrate received from the first process unit 4 into each of the processing units 28 to 31, performs the necessary processing, and then takes out the substrate and sequentially. It is adapted to be conveyed to another processing unit 28-31 or the third process unit 6 side.

The third process section 6 is provided with a third main arm mechanism 34 which runs on a third central conveyance path 33 which extends along the Y direction. The third main arm mechanism 34 has a base 35 and an arm 36 that are configured similarly to the first and second main arm mechanisms 15.

Beside the third main arm mechanism 34, three development processing units (DEV) 38 for developing the LCD substrate after the exposure processing and a titler 39 for performing the titling are provided. A heating / heating unit (HP / HP) 40 and a heating / cooling unit (HP / COL) 41 are provided.

The third main arm mechanism 34 transfers the substrate coated with the resist solution received from the second process section 5 to the exposure system 2 side (interface section 7), and at the same time, transfers the exposed substrate. Exposure system 2
Receive from the side. Then, the exposed substrate is inserted into each of the processing units 38 to 41 to perform necessary processing, and then the substrate is taken out and sequentially processed into another processing unit 38 to 41.
41 or to the second process unit 5 side.

As shown in this figure, cooling units (COL) 42, 43 are provided between the first, second, and third process parts 4, 5, 6. These cooling units 42 and 43 are used to temporarily hold the substrate under processing.

The interface section 7 includes a buffer cassette (BC) and a second sub-arm mechanism 46.
And a transfer unit 49 having a transfer table (not shown) for transferring the substrate between the second sub-arm mechanism 46 and the exposure system 2.

The interface section 7 exposes the resist-coated substrate received from the second process section 5 through the third main arm mechanism 34 to the exposure system 2.
Side and transfer the exposed substrate to the exposure system 2
It has the function of receiving from and passing to the third process unit 6.

Next, a processing procedure in the coating and developing processing system configured as described above will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. It should be noted that the alphabetical symbols in the flow chart mean that they are performed by the units to which the same symbols in FIG. 1 are attached.

First, the unprocessed substrate stored in the first cassette C1 on the mounting table 10 is transferred from the loader / unloader unit 3 to the first process unit via the transfer unit (C / S) 11. 4 to the first main arm mechanism 15 (steps S1 and S2). Next, this substrate is cleaned with ultraviolet rays by a dry cleaning device (UV) 21 (step S3), and then the cooling unit 22 first
Is cooled (COL1) (step S4).

Next, if brush cleaning (SRC) is performed by the wet cleaning device 19, after heating and drying by the first heating process (HP1) by the heating unit 20 (step S6), the cooling unit 21 is used. Is cooled by the second cooling process (step S).
7). Then, this substrate is the first main arm mechanism 15
From the second main arm mechanism 24 of the second process unit 5
To be delivered to.

The substrate transferred to the second process section 5 is subjected to surface hydrophobic treatment (AD) by the adhesion processing unit 29 (step S8), and then the third process.
The cooling process (COL3) is performed (step S9).
Then, the substrate after the hydrophobic treatment is introduced into a resist solution coating / peripheral resist removing device 28 to apply resist (CT).
Also, unnecessary resist solution on the peripheral edge of the substrate is removed (ER).

The application of this resist solution is performed by an apparatus called a spin coater. In this spin coater, an LCD substrate is housed in a closed cup, and while the resist solution is being supplied to the surface of the substrate, the cup is rotated at a high speed to form a film of the resist solution.

The method of applying the resist solution while rotating the substrate is also used when forming a circuit pattern on a semiconductor wafer. However, in LCD manufacturing, it is sometimes difficult to form a uniform resist film as compared with a wafer because the LCD substrate is large and rectangular.

In particular, since the four corners have a distance from the center, the peripheral speed of this part becomes considerably high, and there is a possibility that turbulence will occur around the substrate.
Further, in order to evenly diffuse the resist solution to the corners of the substrate, it is necessary to prevent the solvent contained in the resist solution from volatilizing as much as possible and make the diffusion rate constant. For this reason, in the LCD substrate manufacturing apparatus, not only the substrate is rotated, but this substrate is rotated at a high speed together with the cup for hermetically storing the substrate, so that the volatilization of the solvent and the generation of the turbulent air flow are prevented.

On the other hand, the removal of the peripheral edge resist is to remove the resist film rising at the edge of the substrate by using a tool called an edge remover.

The substrate thus treated is inserted into the heating units 30 and 31 and baked (HP).
2) is performed (step S11). As a result, the solvent contained in the resist solution applied to the substrate is volatilized. Then, this substrate is inserted into the cooling unit 31 and cooled to approximately room temperature (COL4) (step S1).
2). Next, this substrate is transferred from the second main arm mechanism 24 to the interface section 7 via the third main arm mechanism 34, and transferred to the exposure system 2 (step S13). And this exposure system 2
At step S1, exposure processing (EXP) is performed.
4).

The substrate subjected to the exposure process is inserted into the titler 39 through the interface section 7 and the third main arm mechanism 34, and the titling process is performed (step S15).

After that, the substrate is introduced into the development processing device 38 and subjected to development processing (DEV) (step S1).
6). The developing processing unit 38 performs development by rotating the substrate while supplying the developing solution onto the substrate, rinses the developing solution with a rinse solution, and then shakes it off to dry it.

Finally, this substrate is heated by the heating / heating unit 40 or the heating / cooling unit 4 facing the substrate.
1 and is heated and dried by the third heat treatment (HP3) (step S17), and then the fifth cooling treatment (C).
It is cooled by OL5) (step S18).

The substrate on which all the above processing has been completed is transferred from the third main arm mechanism 34 through the second and first main arm mechanisms 24 and 15 to the transfer section 11 (C / C).
It is delivered to the first sub-arm mechanism 13 provided in S) (step S19). Then, it is accommodated in the second cassette C2 placed on the loader / unloader section 10 by the first sub-arm mechanism 13 (step S20).

Next, the structure of the heat treatment apparatus of the present invention used in the coating and developing system will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 (a), 3 (b) and 4.

This heat treatment apparatus is, for example, a heat treatment unit (HP2) 3 of the second process section 5 (FIG. 1).
It is used as 0 and 31 and is used for volatilizing and drying the solvent contained in the resist solution by heating (baking) the substrate coated with the resist solution.

The characteristics of the heat treatment of the present invention are shown in FIG.
The LCD board indicated by 61 is provided with a pair of poles 62, respectively.
This is to be held on three thin wires 63 that are horizontally stretched in between and to be transferred onto a hot plate indicated by 60 in the figure. By adopting the wire 63, which can hold the LCD substrate 61 with a small contact width, as the substrate transfer means, it is possible to prevent the LCD substrate 61 from being rapidly heated, and to warp the substrate 61 or to generate a so-called “transfer trace”. Effectively prevent. In order to achieve such a function, it has the following configuration.

First, as shown in FIG. 3A, this heat treatment apparatus has a main body 65 provided with an opening 64 for allowing the substrate 61 to be taken in and out by the second main arm mechanism 24. Inside the main body 65, the hot plate 60 for holding the substrate 61 on the upper surface and performing main heating is fixed on a frame 67 which is erected from the bottom surface of the main body 65. The hot plate 60 is formed of, for example, an aluminum alloy or the like, and a heater 68 is embedded inside the hot plate 60.

The heater 68 is temperature-controlled by a heater heating temperature controller (not shown), and heats the hot plate 60 to a high temperature of 120 ° C. to 150 ° C., for example.

In the main body 65, a wire 63 for holding the substrate 61 to be heated and the wire 63 are provided.
A pair of poles 62 that are horizontally installed while applying a constant tension, a holder 71 that holds the base end portion of the poles 62, and an elevating mechanism 72 for vertically moving the wire through the holder 71. Is provided.

The wire 63 has, for example, a diameter of 0.1 mm to
It is made of stainless steel with a small diameter of about 0.5 mm. The diameter of the wire 63 is arbitrarily determined so as not to cause a resist film thickness variation that causes transfer when the LCD substrate 61 is held by the wire 63.

That is, one cause of the variation in the resist film thickness is
It was found that the temperature difference between the substrate 61 and the wire 63 when transferring the substrate 61 to the wire 63 affects the resist liquid film depending on the contact width (wire diameter) between the wire 63 and the substrate 61. ing. Therefore, in the present invention, by reducing the width of the wire 63 to a certain value or less, the influence is reduced to the extent that the transfer does not occur, or even if it occurs, it cannot be visually recognized. Such a wire diameter is Φ 0.8 mm or less, but in this embodiment,
A wire 63 having a diameter of 0.5 mm or less is used as a dimension that can obtain more preferable results.

On the other hand, the diameter of the wire 63 is determined based on the number of the wires 63 to be stretched and the tension force so that the held substrate 61 does not bend more than necessary. That is, when the diameter of the wire 63 is small, the substrate 61 is bent and the heating result varies. In this case, it is necessary to increase the wire diameter or increase the number of wires. In this embodiment, the preferable wire diameter is 0.1 mm or more.

In this embodiment, the three wires 63 are used.
However, in the case of a large-sized substrate, a larger number of wires 63 may be provided. Further, in order to prevent the generation of particles due to the contact between the wire 63 and the substrate 61, the wire 63 may be coated with a resin.

On the other hand, the pole 62 extends upward through the hot plate 60 with the base end fixed to the upper surface of the frame 71. The holder 71 is
A guide mechanism (not shown) holds the wire 63 so that it can be moved up and down, and the wire 63 held by the upper end of the pole 62 can be moved up and down horizontally and at the same height.

Further, the elevating mechanism 72 has a timing belt 73 for vertically driving the holder 71, and a stepping motor 74 for driving the timing belt 73. The stepping motor 74 is connected to a control unit (not shown) and can drive the substrate 61 held by the wire 63 at an arbitrary speed.

This heat treatment apparatus gradually lowers the substrate 61 to raise the temperature of the substrate and prevent the substrate from warping due to the temperature difference between the upper surface and the lower surface. Then, the substrate 6 driven downward by the lifting mechanism 72
1 is mounted on the upper surface of the hot plate 60. In this embodiment, the mounted substrate 61 is suction-held on the hot plate 60 in order to increase the throughput of heat treatment.

FIG. 4 is a view of the hot plate 60 seen obliquely from above.

As shown in this figure, the hot plate 60 is provided on its upper surface with three housing grooves 75 for housing the wires 63, and the substrate 61 is sucked between the housing grooves 75. A vacuum chuck groove 76 having a rectangular loop shape for holding is provided.

The vacuum chuck groove 76 communicates with a suction hole 77 opened on the upper surface of the hot plate 60, and the suction hole 77 is connected to a vacuum pump (not shown). Therefore, when the vacuum pump operates, the suction holes 77 and the vacuum chuck groove 76 cause the substrate 61 to move.
The lower surface of the can be held by suction.

The chuck groove 76 and the accommodating groove 75 are formed to have a predetermined width or less and a predetermined depth or less so as not to give heat distribution to the substrate 61.

This will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 shows a state in which the substrate 61 is transferred from the wire 63 onto the hot plate 60. That is, the substrate 61 is attracted onto the hot plate 60 through the vacuum chuck groove 76, and the wire 63 is attached to the substrate 61.
It is housed in the housing groove 75 apart from the lower surface of the.

It has been found that the grooves and holes formed on the hot plate 60 do not cause transfer or can reduce the effect of transfer to the extent that they cannot be visually confirmed if the size is not more than a predetermined size. . In this embodiment, the vacuum chuck groove 76 and the storage groove 75 are designed with the dimensions shown in FIG. 5, assuming that the influence of transfer marks can be reduced particularly when the groove width is 0.5 mm or less and the groove depth is 0.3 mm or less. To do.

That is, the vacuum chuck groove 76 is formed so as to have a groove width of 0.5 mm and a groove depth of 0.3 mm as it is, and the storage groove 75 has a groove width of 0.5 mm when the wire 63 is stored. The groove depth is 0.3 mm.

Further, in this embodiment, in order to more effectively suppress the influence of transfer, the wire 63 is connected to the LC
It is arranged according to the product area of the D substrate 61. That is,
As shown in FIG. 4, when two products are obtained from the LCD substrate 61 (in the case of taking two products), the product area of the LCD substrate 61 is shown by a dotted line 61a in the figure. And
In this embodiment, the wire 63 is arranged so as to hold a region 61b outside the product region of the substrate 61.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 3A, a shutter mechanism 80 for closing the opening 64 of the main body 65 is provided outside the hot plate 60. The shutter mechanism 80 includes a shutter 81 that constitutes a wall in four directions surrounding the hot plate 60, and a drive cylinder mechanism 82 that drives the shutter 81 up and down.

FIG. 3A shows a state in which the shutter 81 is opened and the main arm 24 is accepted. The shutter 81 is closed when the substrate 61 is delivered onto the wire 63, as shown in FIG. Then, the substrate 61 is gradually moved down while being heated in the shutter, and finally placed on the hot plate 60. Note that FIG. 3 (b) is shown by shifting the direction of the vertical section from that of FIG. 3 (a) by 90 degrees.

On the other hand, a stopper 84 for forming a predetermined gap between the shutter 81 and the upper wall 65a is provided on the lower surface of the frame upper wall 65a facing the upper end surface of the shutter 81.

At the center of the upper wall 65a, there is formed an exhaust hole 85 for exhausting the airflow (a) entering through the gap together with the solvent evaporated from the substrate 61 and the like. The main body upper wall 65a is formed in a mortar shape so as to gradually become higher toward the exhaust hole 85, and guides the inflowing airflow (a) so as not to directly hit the substrate 61.

According to the configuration described above, the following effects can be obtained.

That is, in the present invention, the wire 63 capable of holding the substrate with a small contact width is employed as the substrate transfer means in the heat treatment, so that the transfer means can be adjusted according to the contact width with the substrate 61. The influence of the temperature difference on the substrate 61 can be minimized. As a result, it is possible to effectively prevent the influence of warpage or the like of the substrate 61 caused by the temperature difference between the substrate 61 and the transfer means (wire 63).

Particularly in the case of an LCD manufacturing apparatus, since the resist solution coating step is performed in a closed space (cup), the solvent or the like in the resist solution is hardly sublimated before the heat treatment step is introduced. Therefore, when the LCD substrate 61 is suddenly transferred to the transfer means of the heat treatment apparatus having a large temperature difference, only the sublimation of the sublimate in the supported portion is promoted by the temperature change and the resist film thickness fluctuates. It is highly likely to cause "transfer marks".

Therefore, according to the present invention, such a situation can be effectively prevented by adopting the wire 63 as the transfer means, so that a very high effect can be obtained especially in the LCD manufacturing apparatus.

In the above embodiment, in order to improve the throughput of the substrate heat treatment, the LCD substrate 61 is used.
Was adsorbed and held to be in close contact with the upper surface of the hot plate 60, but the present invention is not limited to this. Proximity spacers may be arranged on the hot plate 60 so that a constant gap is provided between the substrate 61 and the hot plate 60. By doing so, there is an effect that peeling charging due to static electricity can be effectively prevented.

Further, in the above-mentioned one embodiment, the LCD
Although the substrate 61 is held by suction on the hot plate 60, the present invention is not limited to this. The substrate 61
Need only be placed on the proximity spacer and not adsorbed and held.

FIG. 6 shows this proximity spacer 87.
It is the perspective view which showed the hot plate 60 'provided with. No suction chuck groove is provided on the hot plate 60 ′, and instead, a large number of proximity spacers 87 are scattered. FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing a state in which the LCD substrate 61 is held via the proximity spacer 87.

In this case, the proximity spacer 87 causes the gap between the substrate 61 and the hot plate 60 'to be zero.
A gap of 1 to 0.2 mm is defined. If the gap defined by the proximity spacer 87 is larger than the wire diameter, it is not necessary to provide the accommodation groove 75 for accommodating the wire 63 on the hot plate 60 ′, but in this embodiment, Since the diameter of the wire 63 is larger than the gap, the storage groove 75 is still formed on the hot plate 60.

Further, in the above-mentioned one embodiment, the tension position of the wire 63 is fixed, but it may be movable as shown in FIG. In this embodiment, slits 88 along the direction orthogonal to the wire 63 are provided on both sides of the hot plate 60 ′ so that the standing position of the pole 62 can be changed. The hot plate 60 ′ is provided with a larger number of storage grooves 75 for the wires 63 than the number of the wires 63, so as to cope with a change in the wire position and an increase in the number of the wires 63.

According to this structure, the substrate 61 to be processed is
There is an effect that it is easy to shift the position of the wire 63 and increase the number of the wires 63 according to the size of the wire, the position of the product area 61a, and the like.

Although the wire position is manually changed in the example of FIG. 6, as shown in FIG. 8, the wire position can be moved by the pole drive mechanism 90 capable of driving the pole 62. good. Then, in this case, the central control unit 91 controls the product area data 92 of the board.
The wire position is determined based on
You may make it control 0.

The structure for holding the wire 63 is not limited to the pole 62, and a plurality of wires 63 may be installed in parallel on the upper ends of a pair of wall-shaped members. .

Finally, in the above-described one embodiment, as an example in which a particularly large effect can be obtained, an example in which it is applied to a coating and developing treatment system of an LCD manufacturing apparatus is shown, but in addition to being applicable to a single heat treatment apparatus, Of course, it can be applied to a prober, an ashing device, an exposure device, and the like. It can also be applied to the case of processing a silicon wafer as a substrate to be processed.

From the present embodiment, the present invention can be configured as the following technical idea.

(1) A heating table for heat-treating a substrate to be processed and a plurality of horizontally stretched wires are provided. The substrate to be processed is held on the wires and transferred onto the heating table. Substrate heat treatment apparatus.

(2) In the substrate heat treatment apparatus described in (1), the heating table is formed with an accommodation groove capable of accommodating the plurality of wires.

(3) The substrate heat treatment apparatus according to (1), further comprising wire moving means capable of moving the wire tension position.

(4) In the substrate heat treatment apparatus described in (1), the wire has a diameter such that the temperature difference between the wire and the substrate to be processed does not cause a change in the film thickness of the liquid film applied to the upper surface of the substrate to be processed. A substrate heat treatment apparatus, which is characterized in that:

(5) In the substrate heat treatment apparatus described in (1), a storage groove for storing the wire is formed on the heating table, and the storage groove has a dimension after the wire is stored. A substrate heat treatment apparatus, which is formed in a size that does not affect a liquid film applied to the surface of the substrate.

(6) In the substrate heat treatment apparatus described in (3), a wire moving mechanism capable of moving the stretched position of the wire so as to hold a portion of the substrate to be processed outside the product formation region is provided. Characteristic substrate heat treatment equipment.

(7) In the substrate heat treatment apparatus described in (6), the wire moving mechanism determines a moving amount of the wire based on the data of the product area, and the wire moving mechanism based on the determination of the determining means. And a drive unit for moving the substrate.

(8) A step of placing the substrate to be processed on a plurality of horizontally stretched wires, and moving the wires on which the substrate to be processed is moved toward the heating table to obtain the substrate to be processed. And a step of heat treating the substrate to be processed by placing the substrate on or near a heating table.

(9) The substrate heat treatment method according to (8), wherein the wire is supported outside the product region of the substrate to be processed.

(10) The substrate heat treatment method described in either one of (8) and (9), wherein the heat treatment step is performed in a state where the wire is separated from the back surface of the substrate.

(11) The wire is formed in a diameter such that a temperature difference between the wire and the substrate to be processed does not cause a change in film thickness of the liquid film applied to the upper surface of the substrate to be processed. The substrate heat treatment method according to any one of (8) to (10).

Based on the present invention, means for solving the above problems can be described as follows.

The present invention has a heating table for heat-treating a substrate to be processed, and a plurality of horizontally stretched wires. The substrate to be processed is held on the wires and transferred to the heating table. There is provided a substrate heat treatment apparatus having a transfer means for mounting.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention places a substrate to be processed on a plurality of horizontally stretched wires and heats the wires on which the substrate to be processed is mounted. And a step of heat-treating the substrate to be processed by placing the substrate to be placed on or close to a heating table by moving in the direction of the table to provide a substrate heat treatment method.

This substrate heat treatment apparatus exerts more preferable working effects particularly when a substrate having a resist solution coated on its upper surface is processed as the substrate to be processed. More specifically, it is preferably used for a baking treatment performed after coating the resist solution.

According to such a structure, by adopting a wire capable of holding the substrate with a small contact width as the substrate transfer means in the heat treatment, the transfer means can be adjusted according to the contact width with the substrate. The influence of the temperature difference on the substrate can be minimized. As a result, it is possible to effectively prevent the influence of the warp or the like of the substrate caused by the temperature difference between the substrate and the transfer means.

In particular, when the resist solution coating step is performed in a closed space, the amount of solvent or the like in the resist solution before the introduction of the heat treatment step is small. When it is suddenly transferred to the transfer means, a temperature difference occurs between the supported portion and the unsupported portion due to the temperature change, and the resist film thickness fluctuates due to this temperature difference, which causes so-called "transfer marks". I am afraid.

According to the present invention, such a situation can be effectively prevented by employing the wire as the transfer means, so that a very high effect can be obtained especially in the LCD manufacturing apparatus.

The diameter of the wire is determined so that the temperature difference between the wire and the substrate to be processed does not change the film thickness of the resist liquid film applied on the upper surface of the substrate to be processed. Is required, and specifically, 0.1 to 0.
It is preferably formed to 8 mm.

It is preferable that a storage groove for storing the wire is formed on the heating table. When processing a substrate after applying the resist solution as the substrate to be processed, this storage groove has a dimension after the wire is stored,
It is necessary to have a size that does not affect the resist liquid film applied to the surface of the substrate.

Further, it is preferable to employ a wire moving mechanism capable of moving the position where the wire is stretched. When processing the LCD substrate, it is possible to minimize the influence of "transfer" by holding the portion outside the product formation area.

Further, in this case, it is more preferable that the movement amount of the wire is determined based on the data of the product area and the wire is moved based on the determination of the determining means.

[0110]

According to the structure of the present invention described above,
Since the substrate is sucked by using the mounting table provided with the suction groove having a predetermined shape, it is possible to effectively prevent the problem of so-called "transfer trace" of the resist liquid film.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram for explaining a coating and developing treatment system for an LCD substrate to which an embodiment of the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining a series of processing steps for LCD manufacturing.

FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a substrate heat treatment apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing an essential part of the substrate heat treatment apparatus.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing a state in which the substrate to be processed is attracted and held on the hot plate.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing another example of the substrate heat treatment apparatus.

7 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which a substrate to be processed is suction-held on a hot plate by the substrate heat treatment apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining a modified example of the substrate heat treatment apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

1. Coating and developing treatment system (LCD manufacturing device), 60
... hot plate (heating table), 61 ... LCD substrate (substrate to be processed), 61a ... product area, 61b ... outside product area, 63 ... wire, 68 ... heating heater (heating means), 71 ... holder, 72 ... lifting mechanism (Transfer means), 75 ... Storage groove, 76 ... Vacuum chuck groove, 77
... Suction hole, 80 ... Shutter mechanism, 87 ... Proximity spacer

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A substrate holding method for holding a substrate coated with a resist on a substrate holding plate, wherein the substrate is not provided with a heat distribution that causes transfer.
Placing the substrate on the substrate holding plate provided with suction grooves having a width of more than 0 and not more than a predetermined value and a depth of more than 0 and not more than a predetermined value, and sucking and holding the substrate on the substrate holding plate. A method for holding a substrate, comprising: 2. The suction groove has a width exceeding 0 and 0.5 mm.
The substrate holding method according to claim 1, wherein the depth is more than 0 and 0.3 mm or less. 3. A substrate holding plate for holding a substrate, wherein the substrate holding plate is provided with a suction groove for mounting and holding the substrate by suction. The suction groove has a width of 0. A substrate holding plate having a depth of more than 0 and 0.5 mm or less and a depth of more than 0 and 0.3 mm or less. 4. A substrate holding plate for holding a substrate coated with a resist, wherein the substrate holding plate is provided with a suction groove for mounting and holding the substrate by suction. In order not to give a heat distribution that causes transfer,
The substrate holding plate is characterized in that the suction groove has a width of more than 0 and 0.5 mm or less and a depth of more than 0 and 0.3 mm or less. 5. A heat treatment method of heating a substrate coated with a resist on a heating table, wherein the substrate is not provided with a heat distribution that causes transfer.
The substrate is placed on the heating table provided with suction grooves having a width of more than 0 and a predetermined value or less and a depth of more than 0 and a predetermined value or less, and the substrate is sucked and held on the heating table. A heat treatment method, which comprises heating. 6. The suction groove has a width exceeding 0 and 0.5 mm.
The heat treatment method according to claim 5, wherein the depth is more than 0 and 0.3 mm or less. 7. A heat treatment device for adsorbing and holding a substrate coated with a resist on a heating table and heating the substrate, wherein the heating table is not provided with a heat distribution that would cause transfer to the substrate. A heat treatment apparatus having suction grooves having a width of more than 0 and 0.5 mm or less and a depth of more than 0 and 0.3 mm or less.