JP2003303807A - Apparatus and method for treatment of substrate - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a treatment apparatus for the prompt and uniform treatment of a substrate with treating liquid. <P>SOLUTION: In a treatment apparatus for the treatment of substrates with treating liquid, there are provided carrier shafts 11 with carrier rollers 12 for carrying the substrates, a treatment chamber 5 for treating the substrates carried in by the shafts, a dipping tank 31 for dipping the substrates carried in the chamber by the shafts provided in the chamber, shower pipes 38 for injecting treating liquid to the substrates carried in the chamber, and shutters 33 for controlling the level of the liquid in the tank and dipping the substrates carried in the tank. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus and method for processing a substrate with a processing liquid in a processing chamber.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A circuit pattern is formed on a glass substrate used for a liquid crystal display device. A lithographic process is used to form a circuit pattern on a substrate.
In the lithographic process, as is well known, a resist is applied to the substrate, and the resist is irradiated with light through a mask on which a circuit pattern is formed.

Next, a part of the resist which is not irradiated with light or a part which is irradiated with light is removed, a part of the substrate where the resist is removed is etched, and the resist is removed after etching. By repeating this, a circuit pattern is formed on the substrate.

In such a lithographic process, a step of treating the substrate with a treatment solution such as a developing solution, an etching solution or a stripping solution for removing a resist after etching, and a step of cleaning with a washing solution after the treatment with the treatment solution. Is required.

Conventionally, when a plate surface of a substrate is treated with a treatment liquid, for example, the substrate is carried into a treatment chamber by a conveyance roller, and the treatment liquid is sprayed onto the substrate by a shower pipe in the treatment chamber, whereby the substrate is treated. It is performed that a board surface is processed.

When the processing liquid is jetted by the shower pipe to process the substrate, the replacement speed of the processing liquid on the plate surface of the substrate is high, and the processing speed of the substrate is increased in accordance with the replacement speed. Have. However, since it is difficult to uniformly supply the processing liquid to the entire plate surface of the substrate, uneven processing may occur that the entire plate surface is not uniformly processed. In particular, when the treatment liquid is an etching liquid, the treatment speed is so high that it may be difficult to control the film thickness.

[0007]

In order to improve the uniformity of treatment with the treatment liquid, instead of spraying the treatment liquid onto the substrate, the substrate is treated by immersing it in a dipping tank in which the treatment liquid is stored. Is done. By immersing the substrate in the treatment liquid, the treatment liquid acts uniformly on the entire surface of the substrate, so that the uniformity of treatment can be achieved.

However, simply immersing the substrate in the treatment liquid hardly replaces the treatment liquid acting on the plate surface of the substrate, that is, the treatment liquid does not flow on the plate surface of the substrate, and thus the treatment speed becomes slow. There is.

An object of the present invention is to provide a substrate processing apparatus and a processing method capable of achieving uniform processing of a substrate with a processing liquid and improvement of processing efficiency.

[0010]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, in a processing apparatus for processing a substrate with a processing liquid, a transfer means for transferring the substrate, and a processing chamber into which the substrate transferred by the transfer means is loaded. An immersion tank provided in the processing chamber, into which the substrate carried into the processing chamber by the transfer means is introduced, and a processing liquid ejecting means for ejecting a processing liquid to the substrate carried into the processing chamber,
A substrate processing apparatus, comprising: a liquid surface control means for controlling the liquid surface of the processing liquid in the immersion tank and immersing the substrate introduced into the immersion tank in the processing liquid.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the dipping tank is formed with an opening for loading and unloading the substrate carried by the carrying means into the dipping tank, and the liquid level control means comprises:
The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, which is an opening / closing unit that opens / closes the opening.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the liquid level control means comprises:
It is height adjusting means for changing the liquid level of the processing liquid in the processing tank by raising the dipping tank or lowering the conveying means with respect to the plate surface of the substrate held by the conveying means. According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a substrate processing apparatus.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the carrying means has a carrying shaft provided with a carrying roller, and a bearing body rotatably supporting both ends of the carrying shaft, and the carrying tank has a width direction. Outside the both sides, an auxiliary tank is provided for temporarily storing the processing liquid flowing out from the upper end of the processing tank and discharging the processing liquid, and the portion of the transfer shaft supported by the bearing body is accommodated in the auxiliary tank. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein:

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided, on the upstream side of the processing liquid ejecting means, a liquid supply means for supplying the processing liquid over the entire length in the width direction intersecting the transport direction of the substrate. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, the first transfer height changing portion for lowering the transfer height of the substrate carried into the processing chamber, and the higher transfer height of the substrate carried out of the processing chamber. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a second transfer height changing unit.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in a processing method of processing a substrate in a processing chamber with a processing liquid, the step of loading the substrate into the processing chamber, the step of spraying the processing liquid onto the substrate in the processing chamber, And a step of immersing the substrate in a processing liquid in the processing chamber.

The invention according to claim 8 further comprises the step of previously supplying the treatment liquid to the entire surface of the substrate before the treatment liquid is sprayed onto the substrate. On the way.

The invention of claim 9 comprises the steps of lowering the transfer height of the substrate carried into the processing chamber, and increasing the transfer height of the substrate carried out of the processing chamber. The substrate processing method according to claim 7, wherein:

According to the present invention, after the processing liquid is sprayed onto the substrate, the substrate is immersed in the processing liquid, so that the processing speed can be improved and the processing uniformity can be improved.

[0020]

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

1 and 2 show a processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, which has a main body 1. Inside the main body 1, a partitioning chamber 2 sequentially defines a loading chamber 3, a first processing chamber 4, a second processing chamber 5, a cleaning chamber 6, a drying chamber 7 and an unloading chamber 8.

In the main body 1, a plurality of transfer shafts 11 constituting a transfer means are arranged at predetermined intervals with the axes parallel to the six chambers. FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the second processing chamber 5. As shown in this figure, each of the transport shafts 11 is provided with a plurality of transport rollers 12 at predetermined intervals in the axial direction. Of the transport rollers 12, the transport rollers 12 provided at both ends in the axial direction include a stepped portion 12a on one side surface for receiving the end portion in the width direction of the substrate W for a liquid crystal display device, as shown in an enlarged view in FIG. Are formed. As a result, the substrate W is prevented from meandering in the width direction, which is the direction intersecting the transport direction, by the step portion 12a of the transport roller 12.

Both ends in the axial direction of the transport shaft 11 are bearings 1.
It is rotatably supported by 3. This bearing 13
Are attached to support members 14 provided upright in both widthwise ends of each chamber. The bearing 13 and the support member 14
And constitute the bearing body of the present invention.

A first spur gear 15 is fitted and fixed to one end of the transport shaft 11 projecting from one bearing 13. A second spur gear 16 meshes with the first spur gear 15. The width dimension of the second spur gear 16 is set to be half or less of that of the first spur gear 15.

The second spur gear 15 is slidably attached and fixed to one end of the power transmission shaft 17. A midway portion of the power transmission shaft 17 is rotatably supported by a bearing 18 provided on the side wall 1a of each chamber, and the other end portion projects outward from the side wall 1a. The bearing 18 has a liquid-tight structure.

A driven pulley 19 is fitted and fixed to the other end of the power transmission shaft 17. Each power transmission shaft 17 is rotationally driven by a drive source (not shown) via the driven pulley 19. When the power transmission shaft 17 is rotationally driven, the rotation is transmitted to the transport shaft 11 via the second spur gear 16 and the first spur gear 15. Thereby, the substrate W supported by the transport roller 12 of the transport shaft 11 is transported in a predetermined direction. The rotation drive of the transport shaft 11 can be controlled for each chamber by a controller (not shown).

The second spur gear 16 is slidably attached to the power transmission shaft 17. Therefore, when the second spur gear 16 is slid in the direction shown by the arrow in FIG. 5 to release the meshing state with the first spur gear 15, the carrier shaft 11 supported by the support member 14 together with the bearing 13 is released. It can be removed from the support member 14. That is, since the transport shaft 11 can be easily removed, maintenance such as repair and replacement of the transport shaft 11 and the transport roller 12 provided on the transport shaft 11 can be easily performed.

The power transmission shaft 17 is set to a length such that it will not hit the first spur gear 15 when the transport shaft 11 is removed.

The substrate W is formed on the first and second processing chambers 4, 4.
5, in the cleaning chamber 6 or the drying chamber 7, etc., in order to prevent the transfer roller 12 from floating.
The widthwise end of the transport roller 12 engaged with the step 12a may be held by the pressing roller 20 shown by the chain line in FIG. The press roller 20 is fitted on the press shaft 21. A bearing 22 is provided at one end of the pressing shaft 21, and the bearing 22 is screwed and fixed to the upper end of the support member 14.

A third spur gear 23 is fitted and fixed to one end of the pressing shaft 21 projecting from the bearing 22. Like the second spur gear 16, the third spur gear 23 is formed thinner than the first spur gear 15. As a result, the third spur gear 23 is meshed with the first spur gear 15 together with the second spur gear 16, so that the first spur gear 15 also transmits power to the conveying shaft 11 and the holding shaft 21. can do.

A partition wall 2 for partitioning the main body 1 into each chamber
The opening 2a is formed in each of the openings 2a
It can be opened and closed by 4. The unprocessed substrate W is loaded into the loading chamber 3.

The substrate W is transferred from the loading chamber 3 to the first processing chamber 4. The first processing chamber 4 is provided with a first liquid supply device 25 as a liquid supply means for supplying the processing liquid substantially uniformly over the entire length in the width direction intersecting the transfer direction of the upper surface of the substrate W to be transferred. ing.

The first liquid supply device 25 has a container 26 whose upper surface is open and in which the processing liquid is supplied. The processing liquid supplied into the container 26 overflows from one side of the opened upper surface of the container 26, and is supplied to the upper surface of the substrate W along a guide member 27 provided on one side surface thereof.
The processing liquid is supplied substantially uniformly over the entire length in the width direction of the substrate W, and is also guided by the guide member 27 toward the downstream side in the transport direction of the substrate W. As a result, the processing liquid is almost uniformly supplied to the entire surface of the substrate W, and the substrate W is prevented from flowing out to the loading chamber 3 on the upstream side in the transport direction.

In the first processing chamber 4, a plurality of first shower pipes constituting a processing liquid spraying means for spraying a processing liquid toward the upper surface of the substrate W transported in the chamber 4. 28 are arranged at predetermined intervals along the transport direction. Each first shower pipe 28 is provided with a plurality of nozzle mouths 28a at predetermined intervals along the axial direction. As shown in FIG. 2, the nozzle mouths 28a of the adjacent shower pipes 28 are staggered in the axial direction. As a result, the processing liquid can be almost uniformly sprayed from the first shower pipe 28 onto the entire upper surface of the substrate W.

A developing solution, an etching solution, a stripping solution or the like is used as the processing solution, and the etching solution is used in this embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 1, the axis of the transport shaft 11 provided with the transport roller 12 for transporting the substrate W is arranged so as to be lower from the loading chamber 3 toward the first processing chamber 4. There is. That is, the transfer shaft 11 located on the most downstream side of the loading chamber 3 forms the first transfer height changing means of the present invention.

As a result, the substrate W transferred from the loading chamber 3 to the first processing chamber 4 inclines lower in the transfer direction, so that the processing liquid supplied to the upper surface of the substrate W in the first processing chamber 4 is processed. Are prevented from flowing over the upper surface of the substrate W in the direction opposite to the transport direction and out of the first processing chamber 4.

On the upper surface of the substrate W carried into the first processing chamber 4 from the loading chamber 3, compressed air is jetted by the air knife 29 toward the downstream side in the transport direction of the substrate W. This prevents the processing liquid supplied to the upper surface of the substrate W in the first processing chamber 4 from flowing on the upper surface of the substrate W to the upstream side in the transport direction.

A dipping bath 31 is provided in the second processing chamber 5.
Is provided. As shown in FIG. 3, the dipping bath 31 has a box shape with an open upper surface, and the transport roller 12 is provided on one side wall and the other side wall in the longitudinal direction along the transport direction of the substrate W.
An opening 32 is formed for introducing the substrate W transported by the above into and out of the immersion bath 31.

Each opening 32 is opened / closed by a shutter 33 which constitutes an opening / closing means of the liquid level control means. Shutter 3
3 is driven up and down by a cylinder 34, for example, as shown in FIG. The shutter 33
Is rotatably provided on the side wall of the immersion tank 31 and is rotationally driven by a rotary cylinder or the like, so that the opening 3
2 may be opened and closed.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, auxiliary baths 35 are provided on both outer sides in the width direction of the dipping bath 31. Bearing 13 that rotatably supports the transport shaft 11 and the bearing 1
The support member 14 provided with 3 is located in the auxiliary tank 35. The side wall 35 a of the auxiliary tank 35 is the immersion tank 3 described above.
It is set lower than the first side wall 31a. Transport shaft 11
The end part of the liquid-tightly penetrates the seal member 36 provided on the side wall 31 a of the immersion tank 31.

As shown in FIG. 3 and FIG.
The processing liquid is supplied to the substrate through the supply pipe 37. Immersion tank 3
A baffle plate 37 a is provided so as to face the opening of the supply pipe 37 opened in the inside 1. As a result, the treatment liquid is supplied while being diffused in the immersion tank 31.

When the shutter 33 is lowered as shown by the solid line in FIG. 4 and the pair of openings 32 formed in the immersion tank 31 is open, the liquid level of the treatment liquid in the immersion tank 31 is the above-mentioned opening. It is maintained at the same level as the lower end of the part 32. When the shutter 33 is raised as shown by the chain line and the opening 32 is closed, the liquid level rises to the upper end of the immersion tank 31, and overflows from the upper end of the side wall 31a to the auxiliary tank 35.

The height of the lower end of the opening 32 is set to be slightly lower than the lower surface of the substrate W carried by the carrying roller 12, and the height of the upper end of the side wall 31a of the dipping tank 31 is held by the carrying roller 12. It is set higher than the upper surface of the substrate W. Therefore, when the opening 32 of the dipping tank 31 is closed and the processing liquid is supplied from the supply pipe 37, the substrate W can be immersed in the processing liquid.

When the opening 32 is closed and the processing liquid is supplied to the immersion tank 31, the processing liquid overflows from the immersion tank 31 to the auxiliary tank 35. As a result, the bearing 13 in the auxiliary tank 35 is in a state of being immersed in the treatment liquid. When the processing liquid further overflows from the immersion tank 31 to the auxiliary tank 35, the processing liquid flows out from the side wall 35a of the auxiliary tank 35 into the second processing chamber 5 and is recovered through a recovery pipe (not shown).
It is reused after being purified.

The bearing 13 supporting the transport shaft 11 is attached to the auxiliary tank 3
5, the processing liquid stored in the auxiliary tank 35 is allowed to overflow, so that dust generated from the bearing 13 can be prevented from adhering to the substrate W introduced into the immersion tank 31. it can. Moreover, since the processing liquid overflowing from the dipping bath 31 to the auxiliary bath 35 does not return to the auxiliary bath 35, the substrate W is not contaminated by the processing liquid soiled in the auxiliary bath 35.

The substrate W processed by the processing liquid in the second processing chamber 5 as described later is carried into the cleaning chamber 6. As shown in FIG. 1, a transfer shaft 11 that transfers the substrate W from the second processing chamber 5 to the cleaning chamber 6.
The shaft center of is installed high toward the cleaning chamber 6. That is, the transfer shaft 11 of the cleaning chamber 6 is arranged with its axis higher than that of the transfer shafts 11 of the first and second processing chambers, and forms the second transfer height changing means of the present invention. .

As a result, the substrate W is transported with a high inclination toward the cleaning chamber 6, so that the processing liquid remaining on the upper surface of the substrate W flows toward the rear end side in the transport direction of the substrate W and the second Drop into the processing chamber 5. That is, it is possible to suppress the amount of the processing liquid attached to and remaining on the substrate W and carried out to the cleaning chamber 6.

In the second processing chamber 5, a plurality of second shower pipes 38 constituting a processing liquid ejecting means are arranged above the immersion bath 31 in parallel along the transfer direction of the substrate W. There is. Nozzle mouths 38a are provided on the second shower pipe 38 at predetermined intervals in the axial direction.

The nozzle mouths 38a of the second shower pipes 38 adjacent to each other are provided so as to be displaced in the axial direction so as to be staggered. From the second shower pipe 38,
The processing liquid is sprayed onto the upper surface of the substrate W that has been loaded into the second processing chamber 5 and introduced into the immersion tank 31.

When the substrate W is carried into the first processing chamber 4, the processing liquid is supplied to the upper surface of the substrate W by the first liquid supply device 25. As a result, the entire upper surface of the substrate W is uniformly wetted with the processing liquid.

The processing liquid is jetted by the first shower pipe 28 onto the substrate W whose upper surface is supplied with the processing liquid by the first liquid supply device 25. Since the upper surface of the substrate W is preliminarily uniformly and uniformly wetted by the first liquid supply device 25, even if the processing liquid is not uniformly sprayed onto the upper surface by the first shower pipe 28, It is difficult for uneven processing conditions to occur.

When the substrate W is transferred from the first processing chamber 4 to the second processing chamber 5, it is introduced into the immersion tank 31 provided in the second processing chamber 5 and the transfer is stopped there. The substrate W is reciprocated in the immersion tank 31 by alternately rotating the transport shaft 11 in the forward rotation direction and the reverse rotation direction. The processing liquid is jetted from the second shower pipe 38 onto the upper surface of the substrate W carried into the immersion tank 31. Thereby, the processing of the upper surface of the substrate W progresses rapidly.

Particularly, when the substrate W is reciprocated in the immersion tank 31, the processing speed of the processing liquid can be further increased. Power transmission to the transport shaft 11 is performed by the power transmission shaft 1
The second spur gear 16 provided on the No. 7 meshes with the first spur gear 15 provided on the transport shaft 11 to perform the operation.

Therefore, unlike the prior art in which power is transmitted by the worm and the worm wheel, no force is applied to the transfer shaft 11 in the axial direction. Therefore, even when the substrate W is reciprocated, the transfer shaft 11 is reciprocated. Does not move in the axial direction. Therefore, there is no possibility that the side edges of the substrate W ride on the stepped portion 12a of the conveying roller 12 provided at the end of the conveying shaft 11 to prevent the substrate W from being smoothly conveyed.

After the processing liquid is jetted by the second shower pipe 38 for a predetermined time, the shutter 33 is driven to close the pair of openings 32 of the immersion tank 31. In that state,
When the processing liquid is supplied from the supply pipe 37 into the dipping tank 31, the liquid surface rises and the lower surface of the substrate W supported by the transport rollers 12 is supported.
Is immersed in the treatment liquid. As a result, the substrate W is uniformly processed on the entire plate surface by the processing liquid.

In other words, the processing liquid is uniformly supplied to the upper surface of the substrate W by the first liquid supply device 25 of the first processing chamber 4, and thereafter the first and second showers are performed.
Even if the processing liquid is sprayed onto the upper surface of the substrate W by the pipes 28 and 38, the processing can be promptly promoted without causing large unevenness in the processing state of the upper surface of the substrate W.

Then, by immersing the substrate W in the treatment liquid in the dipping bath 31, the treatment of the substrate W can be made to proceed uniformly and slowly. Therefore, the first and second shower pipes 28, 28, It is possible to remove the unevenness of the processing caused by the injection of the processing liquid from 38, or to control the film thickness with high accuracy in the case of etching processing, for example.

The processing chamber is divided into a first processing chamber 4 and a second processing chamber 5, and the first processing chamber 4 includes a first liquid supply device 41 and a first shower pipe 28.
Although the first shower pipe 28 is provided, the first shower pipe 28 may be omitted. In that case, the first processing chamber 4 is eliminated,
The first processing chamber 5 is provided on the upstream side of the immersion tank 31 of the second processing chamber 5.
The liquid supply device 25 may be provided.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, on the upstream side of the cleaning chamber 6 in the transfer direction of the substrate W, a cleaning liquid such as pure water is supplied to the downstream side of the transfer direction of the substrate W. Liquid supply device 41 and third and fourth cleaning liquids supplied from one side in the width direction intersecting the transport direction of the substrate W to the other side.
Liquid supply devices 42 and 43, and an upper nozzle pipe 44 and a lower nozzle pipe 45 that are provided on the downstream side in the transport direction of the substrate W and that inject the cleaning liquid at high pressure on the upper surface and the lower surface of the substrate W.

The second liquid supply device 41 supplies the processing liquid to the upper surface of the substrate W over the entire length in the width direction intersecting the transport direction of the substrate W, and the third and fourth liquid supply devices 42 and 43 supply the substrate. The processing liquid is supplied from the entire length of one side of W in the width direction that intersects with the transport direction, that is, the entire length in the longitudinal direction. The upper nozzle pipe 44 and the lower nozzle pipe 45 are inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to the width direction of the substrate W, and supply the processing liquid toward the upstream side in the transport direction.

The second, third and fourth liquid supply devices 41, 4
Similarly to the first liquid supply device 23, the reference numerals 2 and 43 each include a container 46 and a guide member 47 provided on one side of the container 46, and the processing liquid is supplied to the inside of the container 46 to perform the processing. The liquid overflows from the upper opening of the container 46 and flows out along the guide member 47.

Although the third and fourth liquid supply devices 42 and 43, which are divided into two, are provided on one side in the width direction of the substrate W, the number may be one without dividing.

When the substrate W is carried into the cleaning chamber 6 from the second processing chamber 5, the cleaning liquid is supplied from the second liquid supply device 41 to the upper surface of the substrate W. Second liquid supply device 41
Supplies the cleaning liquid to the entire length of the upper surface of the substrate W in the width direction, and further supplies the cleaning liquid toward the downstream side in the transport direction of the substrate W.

As a result, the substrate W is carried into the cleaning chamber 6 and at the same time, the cleaning liquid is rapidly supplied to the entire surface of the substrate W, so that the processing reaction by the processing liquid remaining on the upper surface of the substrate W can be performed quickly. Can be stopped. Moreover, since the cleaning liquid is supplied to the upper surface of the substrate W toward the downstream side in the transport direction of the substrate W, the cleaning liquid can be prevented from flowing along the upper surface of the substrate W and flowing into the second processing chamber 5. it can.

When the substrate W is loaded into the cleaning chamber 6, the transfer of the substrate W is stopped, the supply of the cleaning liquid from the second liquid supply device 41 is stopped, and the third and fourth liquid supply devices are supplied. The cleaning liquid is supplied from 42 and 43.

As a result, on the upper surface of the substrate W, the substrate W in which the cleaning liquid is orthogonal to the supply direction of the second supply device 41 is supplied.
Is supplied along the width direction. That is, since the cleaning liquid is supplied to the upper surface of the substrate W along the transfer direction and then is supplied in the direction orthogonal to the transfer direction, the cleaning liquid is uniformly supplied to the upper surface of the substrate W. Therefore, the cleaning liquid is uniformly washed.

After the cleaning liquid has been supplied from the third and fourth liquid supply devices 42 and 43 for a predetermined time, the supply is stopped and the substrate W is unloaded from the cleaning chamber 6. At this time, the cleaning liquid is applied from the upper nozzle pipe 44 and the lower nozzle pipe 45 to the upper surface and the lower surface of the substrate W, for example, 0.5 to
The cleaning liquid is sprayed at a high pressure of about 1.5 MPa.

As for the cleaning liquid, the pattern P of the cleaning liquid sprayed on the substrate W from the nozzle holes of the nozzle pipes 44 and 45 is diffused into an elliptical shape as shown in FIG. The fuel is jetted at a predetermined angle θ toward the upstream side in the transport direction indicated by X.

The injection direction A of the cleaning liquid injected at a high pressure from the upper nozzle pipe 44 is the second to fourth liquid supply device 41.
From 43 to 43, the cleaning effect on the upper surface of the substrate W can be enhanced.

Moreover, the cleaning liquid is jetted from the upper nozzle pipe 44 at a predetermined angle θ with respect to the upstream side in the transport direction of the substrate W as shown by an arrow A. Therefore, the cleaning liquid supplied to the upper surface of the substrate W drops from one corner E of the rear end on the downstream side in the transport direction of the substrate W, and therefore, the droplets are sprayed as in the case of dropping from the entire length of the rear edge. It falls smoothly without raising it. The lower surface of the substrate W is cleaned by the cleaning liquid sprayed from the lower nozzle pipe 45.

Since the cleaning liquid is supplied from each of the nozzle pipes 44 and 45 at a pressure higher than that of the second to fourth liquid supply devices 41 to 43, the cleaning liquid is supplied from each of the liquid supply devices 41 to 43. It is possible to remove stains that could not be removed with.

When the substrate W is unloaded from the cleaning chamber 6, the cleaning liquid may be supplied to the substrate W from the fourth liquid supply device 41 to enhance the cleaning effect.

The substrate W carried out from the cleaning chamber 6 is carried into the drying chamber 7. A fifth liquid supply device 51 is arranged in the drying chamber 7 at a predetermined angle with respect to the width direction of the substrate W. A pair of upper and lower air knives 52 for supplying compressed air to the upper and lower surfaces of the substrate W are provided downstream of the fifth liquid supply device 51 in the transport direction of the substrate W.
It is arranged in parallel with the liquid supply device 51.

Like the first to fourth liquid supply devices, the fifth liquid supply device 51 includes a container 53 having an open top surface and a guide member 54 provided on one side of the container 53. The guide member 54 is provided so as to face the upstream side of the substrate W in the transport direction.

When the substrate W cleaned in the cleaning chamber 6 is carried into the drying chamber 7, pure water is supplied to the upper surface of the substrate W by the fifth liquid supply device 51. As a result, the pure water is applied to the upper surface of the substrate W almost uniformly over the entire surface.

The substrate W having the upper surface supplied with pure water by the fifth liquid supply apparatus 51 passes between the pair of upper and lower air knives 52. As a result, the pure water attached to the substrate W is dried and removed.

Before the substrate W is dried by the air knife 52, pure water is supplied to the upper surface of the substrate W by the fifth liquid supply device 51. Therefore, the upper surface of the substrate W is almost uniformly wet with the air knife 52.
Since it is dried by the method, it is possible to prevent uneven drying as in the case of drying in a partially dry state.

The substrate W dried in the drying chamber 7 is transferred to the unloading chamber 8 and is transferred to the next step or stacked and stored in a stocker or the like.

The upper wall of each chamber 3-8 is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG.
Is openable and closable. Thereby, the inside of each of the chambers 3 to 8 can be inspected from either side in the width direction of the main body 1.

As described above, according to the processing apparatus of the present invention, when processing the substrate W with the processing liquid, first, the substrate W is processed.
Are transferred to the first processing chamber 4, so that the processing liquid is uniformly supplied to the entire surface of the substrate W by the first liquid supply device 25 provided in the first processing chamber 4. Then,
Of the first shower pipe 28 provided in the first processing chamber 4 and the second shower pipe 38 provided in the second processing chamber 5, at least the second shower pipe 38 is used to feed the substrate W. The processing liquid is sprayed on the upper surface.

As a result, the upper surface of the substrate W is showered.
Since the treatment with the treatment liquid rapidly progresses due to the ejection of the treatment liquid from the pipes 28 and 38, and the upper surface of the substrate W is preliminarily and uniformly wetted by the first liquid supply device 25, the treatment liquid is ejected. Even if the processing liquid is not uniformly sprayed onto the upper surface of the substrate W by the shower pipes 28 and 38,
It is possible to suppress variations in processing.

The substrate W is transferred to the second processing chamber 5 and introduced therein from the opening 32 of the immersion tank 31 provided in the second processing chamber 5. Then, after the processing liquid is sprayed onto the substrate W by the second shower pipe 38, the pair of openings 32 of the immersion tank 31 is closed by the shutter 33, and then the processing liquid is supplied from the supply pipe 37 to the immersion tank 31. To be done.

As a result, the liquid level in the dipping tank 31 rises and the substrate W supported by the transport rollers 12 is dipped in the processing liquid, so that the substrate W is dipped in the processing liquid. When the substrate W is immersed in the treatment liquid for treatment, the treatment liquid comes into uniform contact with the entire surface of the substrate W, so that the treatment for the substrate W is also performed uniformly.

When the substrate W is immersed in the treatment liquid for treatment,
Since there is almost no flow of the processing liquid, the processing speed becomes slower than when the processing liquid is sprayed. Therefore, it is possible to precisely control the treatment with the treatment liquid. For example,
When the processing liquid is an etching liquid, it is possible to precisely control the etching amount of the metal film.

The second processing chamber 5 has a second shower.
A pipe 38 and a dipping tank 31 are provided. Therefore, if the substrate W is carried into the dipping bath 31, the substrate W can be rapidly immersed in the treatment liquid after the treatment liquid is sprayed onto the substrate W by the second shower pipe 38 in that state. Therefore, the homogenization and speeding up of the treatment can be promoted also by that.

As described above, when the substrate W is treated with the treatment liquid, the treatment liquid is sprayed onto the substrate W and then the substrate W is immersed in the treatment liquid. Therefore, the substrate W is simply immersed in the treatment liquid. It is possible to improve the processing efficiency as compared with the case of performing the processing in step 1, and it is possible to perform the processing in a uniform state and with a desired accuracy as compared with the case of performing the processing only by injecting the processing liquid onto the substrate W. Become.

In the above-described one embodiment, the case where the opening / closing shutter is used as the opening provided in the immersion tank as the liquid level control means has been described. However, the liquid level control for controlling the liquid level of the processing liquid in the immersion tank is described. The means may be height adjusting means which is provided with a dipping tank that can be moved up and down, and by moving the dipping tank up and down, the liquid level of the processing liquid is displaced with respect to the substrate supported by the transport rollers. .

Further, instead of moving the dipping tank up and down, by moving the transport shaft supporting the substrate in the dipping tank up and down,
It may be height adjusting means for controlling the liquid level of the processing liquid with respect to the substrate.

[0090]

As described above, according to the present invention, when the substrate is treated with the treatment liquid, the treatment liquid is sprayed onto the substrate and then the substrate is immersed in the treatment liquid.

Therefore, the processing speed of the substrate can be improved and the processing uniformity can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the processing apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged side view of a second processing chamber.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a second processing chamber.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged view showing a support structure of one end and the other end of the transport shaft.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a pattern of a cleaning liquid supplied to a substrate by a nozzle pipe provided in a cleaning chamber.

[Explanation of symbols]

4 ... First processing chamber 5 ... Second processing chamber 13 ... Bearing (bearing body) 14 ... Support member (bearing body) 25 ... First liquid supply device (liquid supply means) 28 ... First shower pipe (treatment liquid injection means) 31 ... Immersion tank 33 ... Shutter (liquid level control means) 35 ... Auxiliary tank 38 ... Second shower pipe (treatment liquid injection means)

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI theme code (reference) G03F 7/30 501 H01L 21/304 643B 5F046 H01L 21/027 21/306 J 21/304 643 21/30 569B 572B F term (reference) 2H088 FA21 HA01 MA20 2H090 JC19 2H096 AA28 GA24 GA25 GA26 3B201 AA01 AB14 AB42 BB01 BB22 BB92 CC12 CD43 5F043 AA40 DD13 DD23 DD30 EE07 EE36 GG10 5F046 LA09 LA11 MA12 LA12 LA12 MA12 LA12 MA10

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. In a processing apparatus for processing a substrate with a processing liquid, a transfer means for transferring the substrate, a processing chamber into which the substrate transferred by the transfer means is loaded, and a transfer means provided in the processing chamber for transferring the substrate. An immersion tank into which the substrate carried into the processing chamber is introduced, a processing liquid ejecting means for injecting a processing liquid onto the substrate carried into the processing chamber, and a liquid level of the processing liquid in the immersion tank is controlled to control the liquid level. A substrate processing apparatus, comprising: a liquid level control means for immersing a substrate introduced in an immersion tank in a processing liquid. 2. The dipping tank is formed with an opening for loading and unloading the substrate carried by the carrying means into and from the dipping tank, and the liquid level control means is an opening / closing means for opening and closing the opening. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: 3. The liquid level control means raises or lowers the immersion bath or the transport means with respect to the plate surface of the substrate held by the transport means to control the liquid level of the processing liquid in the processing bath. 2. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, which is height adjusting means for relatively changing the height. 4. The carrying means has a carrying shaft provided with a carrying roller, and a bearing body rotatably supporting both ends of the carrying shaft. An auxiliary tank for temporarily storing and discharging the processing liquid flowing out from the upper end of the processing tank is provided, and a portion of the transfer shaft supported by the bearing body is accommodated in the auxiliary tank. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1. 5. The liquid supply means for supplying the processing liquid over the entire length in the width direction intersecting the transfer direction of the substrate is provided on the upstream side of the processing liquid ejecting means. Substrate processing equipment. 6. A first transfer height changing portion for lowering a transfer height of a substrate carried into the processing chamber, and a second transfer height for increasing a transfer height of a substrate carried out from the processing chamber. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a height changing unit. 7. A processing method for processing a substrate with a processing liquid in a processing chamber, the step of loading the substrate into the processing chamber, the step of spraying the processing liquid onto the substrate in the processing chamber, and the step in the processing chamber. And a step of immersing the substrate in a treatment liquid. 8. The method for treating a substrate according to claim 7, further comprising the step of previously supplying the treatment liquid to the plate surface of the substrate before the treatment liquid is jetted onto the substrate. 9. A method comprising: a step of lowering a transfer height of a substrate carried into the processing chamber; and a step of increasing a transfer height of a substrate carried out from the processing chamber. Item 7. A method for processing a substrate according to item 7.