JP2003275576A - Ultraviolet ray irradiation device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an ultraviolet ray irradiation device capable of easily measuring the intensity of ultraviolet rays radiated from a light irradiation window in a lamp house. <P>SOLUTION: This ultraviolet ray irradiation device comprises: the lamp house housing an excimer lamp and having the light irradiation window for radiating the ultraviolet rays from the excimer lamp; a carrying mechanism for carrying a material to be treated through a carrying path extended along the light irradiation window; an ultraviolet ray monitor detected in an area on the opposite side of the lamp house regarding the carrying path for detecting the intensity of the ultraviolet ray from the light irradiation window; and a moving mechanism for moving the ultraviolet ray monitor in the direction of approaching the light irradiation window over the carrying path. It is preferable that the ultraviolet ray irradiation device is provided with a detection means for detecting the no presence of the material to be processed on the carrying path by the carrying mechanism. <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 an ultraviolet irradiation device for irradiating an object to be processed with ultraviolet rays from an excimer lamp.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, in a cleaning process of a glass of a liquid crystal display panel by irradiating ultraviolet rays, or an irradiating step of ultraviolet rays in a photochemical reaction, an ultraviolet irradiating device having an excimer lamp for emitting ultraviolet rays as excimer light is used. ing.

Conventionally, in an example of an ultraviolet irradiation device,
For example, as shown in FIG. 4, a lamp house 41 including a plurality of rod-shaped excimer lamps 42 arranged side by side and having a light irradiation window 43 for irradiating the ultraviolet rays emitted from the excimer lamps 42 to the outside. Below the light irradiation window 43
A transport mechanism that transports the object to be processed 45 is provided by a transport roller 44 that forms a transport path P that extends along. Reference numeral 46 is a processing chamber provided below the transfer mechanism.

However, so-called vacuum ultraviolet rays having a wavelength of 200 nm or less, which are emitted from the excimer lamp 42, are absorbed by oxygen in the atmosphere. Is formed in a state in which the distance G to the light irradiation window 43 is 1 to 5 mm.

In such an ultraviolet irradiator 40, it is required that the object 45 to be processed is irradiated with ultraviolet light at a constant intensity. It is possible to measure the intensity of the ultraviolet rays actually radiated to the object to be treated 45 at an appropriate time such as at the end of the irradiation process and to control the intensity of the ultraviolet rays emitted from the excimer lamp 42 according to the measurement result. Has been done.

In order to eliminate the influence of oxygen in the air, it is necessary to measure the intensity of the ultraviolet ray with the light receiving portion of the ultraviolet ray detector close to or in close contact with the light irradiation window 43. Therefore, for example, as shown in FIG. 5, one end side of the lamp house 41 is lifted upward and displaced, thereby forming a space S under which the ultraviolet monitor 47 can enter below the light irradiation window 43. In this state, the ultraviolet ray monitor 47 is brought close to or in close contact with the light irradiation window 43, and the intensity of ultraviolet rays is measured. This is because the ultraviolet monitor 47 has a considerable volume.

[0007]

However, such a method requires an operation of displacing the lamp house to form the space S below the light irradiation window, and further, the excimer is kept in a state where the lamp house is lifted. Since the lamp is turned on, ultraviolet rays are radiated around the ultraviolet irradiating device, and there is a problem that it is necessary to give consideration to workers and the like.

The present invention solves the above problems,
An object of the present invention is to provide an ultraviolet irradiation device capable of easily measuring the intensity of ultraviolet light emitted from a light irradiation window in a lamp house accommodating an excimer lamp.

[0009]

An ultraviolet irradiating device of the present invention is a lamp house which houses an excimer lamp for radiating ultraviolet rays and has a light irradiation window for irradiating the ultraviolet rays from the excimer lamp to the outside. With a transport path extending along the light irradiation window, a transport mechanism for transporting an object to be processed, and a light irradiation window of the lamp house arranged in a region on the opposite side of the lamp house with respect to the transport path. It is characterized by comprising an ultraviolet monitor for detecting the intensity of ultraviolet rays, and a moving mechanism for moving the ultraviolet monitor in a direction approaching the light irradiation window of the lamp house over the transportation path by the transportation mechanism. . Further, it is preferable that the ultraviolet irradiation device includes a detection unit that detects that there is no object to be processed on the conveyance path of the conveyance mechanism.

[0010]

According to the ultraviolet irradiating device of the present invention, the ultraviolet monitor can be moved closer to the light irradiation window of the lamp house by moving the ultraviolet monitor over the conveying path, so that the lamp house is not displaced. Therefore, the intensity of ultraviolet rays from the light irradiation window can be easily measured.

[0011]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The present invention will be described in detail below. FIG. 1 is an explanatory sectional view showing a configuration of an ultraviolet irradiation device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an explanatory sectional view showing a state where an ultraviolet monitor is in a measurement position in the ultraviolet irradiation device of FIG. is there. The ultraviolet irradiation device 10 includes, for example, a lamp house 11 having a light irradiation window 13 made of quartz glass on a lower surface thereof, and a conveyance path P extending along the light irradiation window 13 below the lamp house 11.
For example, it is configured by a transport mechanism that transports a plate-shaped object 20 and a processing chamber 19 that is provided below the transport mechanism and has an open upper surface.

Inside the lamp house 11, a plurality of (five in the example of FIG. 1) rod-shaped excimer lamps 1 are provided.
2 is housed in such a manner that its tube axis extends in a direction perpendicular to the direction of the conveyance path P, and above this excimer lamp 12, a reflection mirror that reflects the ultraviolet rays emitted from the excimer lamp 12. (Not shown). The inside of the lamp house 11 is continuously filled with or filled with an inert gas such as nitrogen. As the excimer lamp 12, for example, a dielectric barrier discharge excimer lamp which mainly emits vacuum ultraviolet rays having a wavelength of 200 nm or less is used.

The transport mechanism in the illustrated example is a lamp house 11.
It is constituted by a plurality of transport rollers 14 disposed below the light irradiation window 1.
A conveyance path P extending in parallel is formed at a level close to 3.

The processing chamber 19 has a function of blocking the ultraviolet rays radiated from the light irradiation window 13, and an ultraviolet ray monitor 15 is provided inside the processing chamber 19 in a region opposite to the lamp house 11 with respect to the transport path P. Therefore, it is arranged at an intermediate position between the two transport rollers 14 adjacent to each other. The ultraviolet ray monitor 15 has a cylindrical shape as a whole, and a light receiving portion 151 is formed on the uppermost surface thereof.
Are arranged so as to face the light irradiation window 13 via the transport path P. Further, the ultraviolet monitor 15 is supported at its lower end by a support 161 via a buffer member 152 made of a coil spring.
1 is configured to be moved in the vertical direction by a lifting mechanism 16 composed of an air cylinder.

In other words, the ultraviolet monitor 15 as a whole is located below the level of the transport path P in the "retracted position" where it does not interfere with the transport path P, and above and below the level of the transport path P by the elevating operation of the elevating mechanism 16. The light receiving part 151 is movable above and below the “measurement position” close to the light irradiation window 13.

The type of the ultraviolet monitor 15 is not particularly limited, and it is possible to use, for example, a device that converts ultraviolet light into visible light by a phosphor and detects the visible light. As such an ultraviolet detector, specifically, those disclosed in JP-A-8-136339 and JP-A-9-210771, or various ultraviolet absorbing gases by using an inert gas It is possible to use, for example, the ultraviolet ray detector disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8-233650, which performs the detection while reducing the influence of the absorption of the ultraviolet ray caused by the above.

An inlet side object sensor 17 is disposed adjacent to the lamp house 11 on the inlet side (left side in the figure) of the object 20 to be processed in the transfer path P, and the transfer path P is also provided. An exit-side processed object sensor 18 is disposed adjacent to the lamp house 11 on the exit side of the processed object 20 in FIG. These inlet-side processed object sensor 17 and outlet-side processed object sensor 18 are detection means for detecting the processed object 20, and there is no processed object 20 on the conveyance path P between them. It is for confirmation.

In the ultraviolet irradiation device 10 described above, it is preferable that the light receiving portion 151 of the ultraviolet monitor 15 at the measurement position is in close contact with the light irradiation window 13. Since the light receiving unit 151 is in close contact with the light irradiation window 13 at the measurement position, accurate measurement can be performed.

Further, in the retracted position, the light receiving section 151
However, it is preferable that the position is away from the light irradiation window 13 by, for example, at least 100 mm or more, and particularly 100 to 20.
It is preferable that the positions are separated by 0 mm. As a result, most of the ultraviolet rays from the light irradiation window 13 are absorbed before reaching the light receiving section 151, so that the ultraviolet rays are substantially detected by the ultraviolet monitor 15 at the retracted position. Therefore, it is not necessary to protect the light receiving section 151 from ultraviolet rays.

An example of the carrying roller 14 constituting the carrying mechanism is one having a diameter of 50 to 80 mm, and the distance between the two carrying rollers 14 adjacent to each other in which the ultraviolet monitor 15 is disposed. The distance d is set to be large enough for the ultraviolet monitor 15 to move in the vertical direction, for example, 30 mm or more, particularly preferably 30 to 70 mm.

In the ultraviolet irradiating device 10 having the above structure, the excimer lamp 12 is turned on and the transfer mechanism is driven while the ultraviolet monitor 15 is in the retracted position, so that the object 20 to be processed is transferred to the transfer path P. The object 2 to be processed is conveyed in a region facing the light irradiation window 13.
0 is irradiated with ultraviolet rays to perform required processing, for example, cleaning processing of glass of the liquid crystal display panel by ultraviolet irradiation.

In the above-mentioned ultraviolet irradiating device 10, the conveyance path P between the two is provided by the detecting means including the inlet side processed object sensor 17 and the outlet side processed object sensor 18.
It is confirmed that the object to be processed 20 does not exist on the upper side, and then the elevating mechanism 16 which is a moving mechanism is driven to cause the ultraviolet monitor 15 to move the moving space formed by the gap formed between the transport rollers 14. Reaches the measurement position via the light receiving unit 15
1 is brought into close contact with the light irradiation window 13. At this time, the ultraviolet monitor 15 comes into contact with the light irradiation window 13, but since the ultraviolet monitor 15 is supported by the support 161 via the cushioning material 152, the impact is mitigated.

The ultraviolet monitor 15 thus moved to the measurement position measures the intensity of the ultraviolet rays emitted from the excimer lamp 12 in the lighting state and emitted from the light irradiation window 13. After the measurement is completed, the elevating mechanism 16 is driven to lower the ultraviolet monitor 15 to move it to the retracted position, so that the ultraviolet irradiation process can be started again. In the above,
The movement of the ultraviolet monitor 15 may be performed while the rotation driving state of the transport roller 14 is maintained or stopped.

According to the ultraviolet irradiating device of the present invention, the ultraviolet monitor rises from the retracted position and crosses the conveying path upward through the space formed in the conveying mechanism to the light receiving portion formed at the tip thereof. However, by moving to a measurement position close to the light irradiation window irradiated with ultraviolet rays, it is possible to measure the intensity of ultraviolet rays irradiated from the light irradiation window, and therefore,
The intensity of the ultraviolet rays with which the object to be processed is irradiated can be constantly kept constant by means of adjusting the power supplied to the excimer lamp in accordance with the fluctuation.

Although the present invention has been described based on the specific embodiment, the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned examples, and various modifications can be added. For example, in FIG.
As shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, the transport mechanism includes a plurality of support rollers 32 and a plurality of openings 31 supported by the support rollers 32 and carrying an object to be processed 34 on the upper surface thereof. Can be configured by the transport belt 30 formed so as to be aligned in the transport direction.

In the ultraviolet irradiating apparatus having such a structure, the transfer mechanism is provided with the opening 31 having the ultraviolet monitor 33.
The UV monitor 33
Can be made to reach the measurement position by moving so as to project upward through the opening 31.

As described above, in the present invention, it is sufficient that the ultraviolet monitor can be moved beyond the transfer path along which the object to be processed is transferred, and the transfer mechanism is such a movement of the ultraviolet monitor. It is only necessary that the moving space has a moving space that allows the moving space or that the moving space is formed as necessary. For example, as described above, when the transport mechanism is configured by the plurality of transport rollers 14, the moving space is formed by the gap between the adjacent transport rollers, and the transport mechanism is configured by the transport belt 30. A moving space is formed by the opening 31. In addition, the transport mechanism may be configured by a transport belt having no opening, and the transport space may be formed by laterally shifting the transport belt itself.

Further, the lifting mechanism for moving the ultraviolet monitor is not limited to the one using the air cylinder,
For example, it may be driven by a motor. The ultraviolet monitor may be provided with a shutter mechanism for protecting the light receiving unit from ultraviolet rays during non-measurement.

[0029]

According to the ultraviolet irradiating device of the present invention, the lamp is moved by moving the ultraviolet monitor over the conveying path through the space formed in the conveying mechanism and forming the opening. Since it is possible to approach the light irradiation window of the house, it is possible to easily measure the intensity of ultraviolet rays from the light irradiation window without changing the lamp house.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory sectional view showing a configuration of an ultraviolet irradiation device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory cross-sectional view showing a state where an ultraviolet ray monitor is in a measurement position in the ultraviolet ray irradiation device of FIG.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory cross-sectional view showing a part of the configuration of an ultraviolet irradiation device according to another example of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory cross-sectional view showing an example of a conventional ultraviolet irradiation device in a cross section perpendicular to a conveyance path.

5 is an explanatory cross-sectional view showing a state in which the intensity of ultraviolet rays is measured in the ultraviolet irradiation device in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 UV irradiation device 11 lamp house 12 excimer lamp 13 Light irradiation window 14 Conveyor rollers 15 UV monitor 151 Light receiving part 152 cushioning member 16 Lifting mechanism 161 support 17 Inlet side sensor 18 Outlet side sensor 19 Processing room 20 Object to be processed 30 conveyor belt 31 opening 32 Support roller 33 UV Monitor 34 Object to be processed 40 UV irradiation device 41 Lamp House 42 excimer lamp 43 Light irradiation window 44 Conveyor roller 45 Object to be processed 46 Processing room 47 UV Monitor

Front page continuation (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI theme code (reference) H01L 21/304 645 H01L 21/304 645D F term (reference) 2H088 FA21 FA30 MA20 2H090 JC06 JC19 4G075 AA22 AA30 AA65 BA04 BB10 CA33 DA02 EB31 ED11

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A lamp house that houses an excimer lamp that emits ultraviolet rays and has a light irradiation window that irradiates the ultraviolet rays from the excimer lamp to the outside, and a transport path that extends along the light irradiation window, A transport mechanism for transporting the object to be processed, an ultraviolet ray monitor for detecting the intensity of ultraviolet rays from the light irradiation window of the lamp house, which is arranged in an area on the opposite side of the lamp house with respect to the transport path, An ultraviolet irradiation device comprising: a moving mechanism that moves the ultraviolet monitor in a direction of approaching a light irradiation window of the lamp house over a conveyance path of the conveyance mechanism. 2. The ultraviolet irradiation device according to claim 1, further comprising a detection unit that detects that there is no object to be processed on the conveyance path of the conveyance mechanism.