JP2006289240A - Treatment apparatus and treatment method of substrate - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a treatment apparatus capable of washing a substrate at a high precision in the case the substrate is slantingly conveyed. <P>SOLUTION: The apparatus comprises a washing chamber, a conveyer roller for conveying a substrate W to the inside of the washing chamber while slanting the substrate W at a prescribed angle to the direction rectangular to the conveying direction, and a plurality of nozzles arranged in a row along the direction rectangular to the conveying direction of the substrate and above the substrate being conveyed for jetting a washing liquid in thin and long patterns P. The nozzles are arranged in a manner that neighboring patterns of the washing liquid jetted to the substrate are formed without a gap in the direction rectangular to the conveying direction. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus and a processing method for cleaning a substrate with a cleaning liquid.

  A circuit pattern is formed on a glass substrate used in the liquid crystal display device. A lithographic process is employed to form a circuit pattern on the substrate. In a lithography process, as is well known, a resist is applied to the substrate, and light is irradiated through a mask having a circuit pattern formed on the resist.

  Next, by repeating a series of steps such as removing a portion of the resist not irradiated with light or a portion irradiated with light, etching the portion of the substrate where the resist is removed, and removing the resist after etching, a plurality of times. Then, a circuit pattern is formed on the substrate.

  In such a lithography process, the substrate is treated with a processing solution such as a developer, an etching solution, or a stripping solution that removes the resist after etching, and further washed with pure water as a cleaning solution after the treatment with the treatment solution. There is a step to perform, and after the cleaning, a drying step for removing the cleaning liquid remaining on the substrate is required.

  When the above-described series of processing is performed on a substrate, conventionally, the substrate is placed in a horizontal state by a transfer roller arranged with the axis line horizontal, a processing chamber for processing with a processing liquid, a cleaning chamber for processing with a cleaning liquid, and air It is made to convey sequentially in order of the drying chamber which dries with a knife.

  Recently, glass substrates used in liquid crystal display devices tend to be larger and thinner. For this reason, when the substrate is horizontally transported, the bending of the substrate between the transport rollers becomes large, so that processing in each processing chamber cannot be performed uniformly over the entire plate surface of the substrate.

  Moreover, since the substrate is unloaded from the processing section with a large amount of processing liquid remaining on the upper surface of the substrate, when the processing liquid is recovered and reused, the consumption of the processing liquid increases and running It was one of the causes that led to an increase in cost.

  Therefore, recently, the substrate is transported while being inclined at a predetermined angle so that the processing liquid supplied to the plate surface of the substrate smoothly flows down from the upper surface of the substrate. As a result, the amount of processing liquid taken out of the processing chamber together with the substrate is reduced, or the entire plate surface of the substrate can be processed uniformly.

  In a cleaning chamber for cleaning a substrate, a plurality of nozzles are arranged in a line above the substrate to be transported along a direction intersecting the substrate transport direction. The cleaning liquid is ejected from each nozzle in an oblong and elongated pattern.

  Conventionally, as shown in FIG. 6, the cleaning liquid is ejected from each nozzle in an oval pattern P on the upper surface of the substrate W. That is, each pattern P has an angle indicated by θ in the drawing with respect to the direction intersecting the transport direction indicated by the arrow X of the substrate W in order to prevent the adjacent cleaning liquid patterns P from interfering with each other. It is made to incline with. That is, it has been thought that the cleaning effect is reduced when adjacent patterns P interfere with each other.

  In the direction intersecting the transport direction of the substrate W, the end of the adjacent pattern P apparently has a lapping margin indicated by L in the figure, so that the entire length in the direction intersecting the transport direction X of the substrate W is uniformly distributed. Can be washed with.

  However, when the pattern P of the cleaning liquid ejected from each nozzle is inclined at an angle θ, a gap G is generated between the adjacent patterns P on the substrate W. As described above, the substrate W is transported while being inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to the horizontal line with respect to the direction intersecting the transport direction. Even if the substrate W is transported while being inclined, a part of the processing solution such as a chemical solution used in the processing step before the cleaning step remains on the upper surface of the substrate W. The processing liquid remaining on the substrate contains particles generated during processing.

  Therefore, when the substrate is transported to the cleaning process in an inclined state, a part of the processing liquid remaining on the substrate W is shown in FIG. As indicated by Y, it flows from the upper side to the lower side in the tilt direction of the substrate W. That is, a part of the processing liquid may pass through the gap G and flow into the downstream side in the transport direction from the pattern P on which the cleaning liquid for the substrate W is jetted, that is, the part already cleaned by the cleaning liquid. As a result, the substrate W cleaned with the cleaning liquid may be contaminated again by particles contained in the processing liquid.

  In the present invention, when cleaning is performed with a cleaning liquid sprayed in an elongated pattern while the substrate is transported while being tilted, the cleaned portion of the substrate is re-contaminated by the processing liquid that remains on the substrate and flows downward from the upper side in the tilt direction. It is an object of the present invention to provide a substrate processing apparatus and a processing method which prevent the occurrence of the substrate.

The present invention is a processing apparatus for cleaning a substrate with a cleaning liquid,
A cleaning chamber;
Transport means for transporting the substrate in the cleaning chamber by tilting the substrate at a predetermined angle in a direction intersecting the transport direction;
A plurality of nozzles which are arranged in a line along a direction intersecting the transport direction of the substrate above the substrate to be transported and eject the cleaning liquid on the substrate in an elongated pattern;
The plurality of nozzles are arranged so that a gap does not occur in a direction in which a pattern of adjacent cleaning liquid sprayed on the substrate intersects a transport direction of the substrate. In the device.

The nozzle sprays the cleaning liquid in an oval pattern,
The plurality of nozzles are preferably arranged in a state in which the longitudinal direction of the pattern is along the direction intersecting the transport direction of the substrate and the ends of the adjacent patterns overlap.

A plurality of nozzles arranged in a row are provided in a plurality of rows,
The substrate cleaned in the cleaning chamber is transported to a drying chamber for injecting gas onto the substrate and drying it.
It is preferable that the plurality of nozzles in a row immediately before being transported to the drying chamber are arranged with an axis inclined so as to inject the cleaning liquid toward the upstream side in the transport direction of the substrate.

The present invention is a processing method for cleaning a substrate with a cleaning liquid,
A step of transporting the substrate inclined at a predetermined angle in a direction intersecting the transport direction;
And a step of spraying the cleaning liquid onto the substrate to be transported in a long and narrow pattern with no gap in the direction intersecting the substrate transport direction.

Having a step of drying the substrate cleaned with the cleaning liquid;
It is preferable that the substrate is cleaned with the cleaning liquid at a plurality of locations in the transport path, and the cleaning liquid is sprayed toward the upstream side of the transport direction of the substrate in the cleaning process immediately before the drying process.

  According to the present invention, there is no gap between the patterns of the adjacent cleaning liquid sprayed on the substrate with respect to the direction intersecting the substrate transport direction. Therefore, even if the processing liquid used in the previous process and remaining on the upper surface of the substrate flows downward from above the inclined substrate, the processing liquid flows downstream of the cleaning liquid pattern in the substrate transport direction. Therefore, the portion of the substrate cleaned by the cleaning liquid is not recontaminated.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of a substrate W processing apparatus, which includes a box-shaped main body 1. The inside of the main body 1 is divided into a processing chamber 3, a cleaning chamber 4 and a drying chamber 5 by a partition plate 2.

  In each of the chambers 3 to 5, there is provided transport means 6 that transports the substrate W at a predetermined angle with respect to the direction intersecting the transport direction from the horizontal state. The one end surface and the other end surface of the main body 1 and the partition plate 2 are formed with through-holes 7 through which the substrate W transported by the transport means 6 passes at the same height position. In addition, since the conveyance means 6 provided in each chamber 3-5 is the same structure, only the conveyance means 6 of the washing | cleaning chamber 4 is demonstrated.

  That is, FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the cleaning chamber 4, and receiving members 8 are provided at both ends in the width direction of the cleaning chamber 4. These receiving members 8 support a frame 11 constituting the conveying means 6.

  One end of the frame 11 in the width direction is directly supported by the receiving member 8, and the other end in the width direction is supported via the angle adjusting member 10. Accordingly, the frame 11 is inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to the width direction, for example, an angle within a range of 5 to 15 degrees. Note that the inclination angle of the frame 11 is not limited to the range of 5 to 15 degrees, and may be less than that or more than that.

  The frame 11 is provided with a plurality of transport shafts 12 having axes along the width direction of the frame 11 so as to be rotatable at predetermined intervals along the transport direction of the substrate W intersecting the width direction. A plurality of transport rollers 13 that support the lower surface of the substrate W are provided on the transport shaft 12 at predetermined intervals. Accordingly, the substrate W having the lower surface supported by the transport roller 13 is transported with an inclination at the same angle as the frame 11.

  On the outer surface on one side in the width direction, which is located on the upper end side in the tilt direction of the frame 11, a transmission shaft 14 is installed so as to be rotatable along the axis of the substrate W in the conveyance direction. A driven gear 15 is provided in the middle of the transmission shaft 14. A driving gear 16 is engaged with the driven gear 15. The drive gear 16 is fitted on an output shaft 18 of a drive source 17 provided outside the cleaning chamber 4.

  Although not shown in detail, a first bevel gear is provided at one end of the transport shaft 12 located on the transmission shaft 14 side. The first bevel gear meshes with the second bevel gear provided on the conveying shaft 12. Therefore, when the drive source 17 is operated and the transmission shaft 14 is rotated via the drive gear 16 and the driven gear 15, the transport shaft 12 is rotationally driven via the first and second bevel gears. Is done. As a result, the substrate W supported by the transport roller 13 is transported.

  In the frame 11, a radial roller 19 that supports the lower end surface of the substrate W in the tilt direction, that is, one end in the width direction intersecting the transport direction, is provided at a position corresponding to the lower end portion of the transport shaft 12 in the tilt direction. . Thereby, the substrate W transported by the transport roller 13 is positioned with respect to the direction intersecting the transport direction.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of processing nozzles 20 for injecting a processing solution such as a developing solution, an etching solution, or a stripping solution are processed on the upper surface of the substrate W conveyed in the processing chamber 3. The chamber 3 is regularly arranged along the width direction and the direction intersecting the width direction.

  The substrate W that has been subjected to the predetermined processing with the processing liquid in the processing chamber 3 is carried into the cleaning chamber 4 by the transport means 6. In the cleaning chamber 4, as shown in FIG. 2, a plurality of nozzle pipes 21 along the width direction of the substrate W are disposed above the substrate W transported in the processing chamber 6 at a predetermined interval with respect to the transport direction of the substrate W. In addition, the axis is arranged parallel to the upper surface of the substrate W transported by the transport means 6. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, four nozzle pipes 21 are arranged at a predetermined interval with respect to the transport direction of the substrate W.

  Each nozzle pipe 21 is provided with a plurality of cleaning nozzles 22 at a predetermined interval. As shown in FIG. 1, cleaning nozzles 22 are provided in four rows in the cleaning chamber 4. Each row of the cleaning nozzles 22 is defined as first to fourth rows L1 to L4 from the upstream side toward the downstream side in the transport direction of the substrate W.

  The nozzle pipe 21 is connected to the header pipe 23 via a communication pipe 24. The header pipe 23 communicates with a supply source (not shown) of cleaning liquid such as pure water. Accordingly, the cleaning liquid is ejected from the plurality of cleaning nozzles 22 in each row onto the upper surface of the substrate W transported in the cleaning chamber 4.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the pattern P of the cleaning liquid sprayed from the cleaning nozzles 22 onto the upper surface of the substrate W has an elongated shape along a predetermined direction, and in this embodiment, the spraying of each spray nozzle 22 has an oval shape. A mouth (not shown) is formed. The plurality of cleaning nozzles 22 in each row are set so that the direction of the ejection ports is set so that the pattern P of the respective cleaning liquid is substantially in a row along the direction intersecting the transport direction X of the substrate W on the substrate W. The interval between the adjacent cleaning nozzles 22 is set so that the ends of the matching patterns P are slightly overlapped.

  As shown in FIG. 4, among the first to fourth rows L <b> 1 to L <b> 4 of the cleaning nozzle 22, the cleaning nozzle 22 is carried into the fourth row L <b> 4 that is located on the most downstream side in the transport direction of the substrate W, that is, the drying chamber 5. The cleaning nozzles 22 in the fourth row L4 that clean the substrates W immediately before are arranged with the axis O facing the upstream side in the transport direction of the substrates W.

  As a result, the cleaning liquid sprayed onto the substrate W from the cleaning nozzle 22 in the fourth row L4 is easily reflected toward the upstream side in the transport direction X of the substrate W on the plate surface of the substrate W as indicated by an arrow in FIG. Become. That is, since the cleaning liquid containing the processing liquid of the previous process is hardly reflected on the substrate W toward the drying chamber 5, the cleaning liquid containing particles is scattered in the drying chamber 5 by being reflected on the substrate W. Can be prevented.

  In the drying chamber 5, a pair of air knives 26 for injecting pressurized gas toward the upper and lower surfaces of the substrate W are disposed with the front-side injection ports directed upstream in the transport direction of the substrate W. As a result, the substrate W is transported through the drying chamber 5 to perform a drying process in which the cleaning liquid adhering to the upper and lower surfaces is removed.

  According to the processing apparatus having such a configuration, the substrate W processed with the processing liquid in the processing chamber 3 is cleaned with the cleaning liquid in the cleaning chamber 4, and then dried in the drying chamber 5 and carried out. .

  In the cleaning chamber 4, the substrates W are sequentially cleaned by the cleaning nozzles 22 in the first to fourth rows L1 to L4. From the cleaning nozzles 22 in each of the rows L1 to L4, the cleaning liquid is an oval pattern P as shown in FIG. 3, and the major axis of each pattern P is along the direction intersecting the transport direction X of the substrate W, and It sprays so that the both ends of the adjacent pattern P may overlap.

  Therefore, when the substrate W is cleaned in the cleaning chamber 4, the substrate W is transported at a predetermined angle in a direction crossing the transport direction, so that the processing liquid remaining on the plate surface of the substrate W is transferred to the substrate W. It flows from the upper side to the lower side. However, the processing liquid is prevented from flowing downstream of these patterns P in the transport direction of the substrate W by the pattern P of the cleaning liquid that is continuous without a gap along the direction intersecting the transport direction of the substrate W, as shown in FIG. As indicated by the arrow M, it flows downward in the tilt direction of the substrate W.

  That is, the processing liquid containing particles flowing from the upper side to the lower side in the tilt direction of the substrate W does not flow downstream from the pattern P of the cleaning liquid of the substrate W that has already been cleaned by the cleaning liquid. Therefore, even if the substrate W is transported while being inclined, the substrate W can be reliably cleaned with the cleaning liquid ejected from the cleaning nozzle 22 provided in the cleaning chamber 1.

  The cleaning chamber 4 is provided with four rows L1 to L4 of cleaning nozzles 22. For this reason, the cleaning action described above is repeatedly performed by the cleaning nozzles 22 in each row, so that the substrate W can be precisely cleaned.

  The cleaning nozzles 22 in the fourth row L4 on the most downstream side in the transport direction of the substrate W are arranged with the axis O directed upstream in the transport direction of the substrate W as shown in FIG. Therefore, the cleaning liquid sprayed from each cleaning nozzle 22 and reflected by the plate surface of the substrate W is reflected to the opposite side of the cleaning chamber 4, so that it is difficult to enter the drying chamber 5 adjacent to the cleaning chamber 4. As a result, it is possible to prevent the drying chamber 5 from being contaminated by the cleaning liquid containing particles.

  FIG. 5 is a graph showing experimental results of the cleaning effect when the direction and interval of the pattern P sprayed from the cleaning nozzle 22 onto the substrate W, that is, the arrangement of the cleaning nozzle 22 is shown by AC in the same figure. . The arrangement A is a case where the major axis of the pattern P is along the direction intersecting the transport direction of the substrate W and the end portions of the adjacent patterns P are overlapped. Arrangement B is a predetermined direction in which one end in the major axis direction of adjacent patterns P, that is, one end located below the inclination direction of substrate W is directed upstream in the transport direction of substrate W with respect to the direction intersecting the transport direction of substrate W. This is a case where the gap is inclined at an angle and a gap is formed between adjacent patterns P. The arrangement C is a case where one end of the pattern P is inclined in the opposite direction with respect to the arrangement B toward the downstream side in the transport direction of the substrate W.

  In these three states, the substrate W was cleaned by one row of the cleaning nozzles 22 and the number of particles remaining on the substrate W after the cleaning was counted. As a result, the arrangement A was the smallest, followed by the arrangement B and the arrangement C in this order. That is, it was confirmed that the highest cleaning effect can be obtained by arranging the pattern P of the cleaning liquid ejected from the cleaning nozzle 22 without causing a gap in the direction intersecting the transport direction of the substrate W.

  In the above-described embodiment, four rows of cleaning nozzles are provided in the cleaning chamber. However, the number of the rows is not limited at all, and may be 5 rows or more or 3 rows or less. Further, the case where the processing chamber is provided on the upstream side of the cleaning chamber has been described, but the present invention can be applied even when the substrate is sequentially cleaned with a plurality of chambers with high accuracy.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Schematic explanatory drawing of the processing apparatus which shows one embodiment of this invention. The longitudinal cross-sectional view of a processing chamber. Explanatory drawing which shows the pattern of the washing | cleaning liquid sprayed on a board | substrate. Explanatory drawing which shows the washing | cleaning nozzle of the last line provided in the washing | cleaning chamber. The graph which compared the cleaning effect when wash | cleaning a board | substrate by the system of this invention and the conventional system. Explanatory drawing which shows the pattern of the washing | cleaning liquid which wash | cleans a board | substrate by the conventional system.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 3 ... Processing chamber, 4 ... Cleaning chamber, 5 ... Drying chamber, 6 ... Conveying means, 22 ... Cleaning nozzle, W ... Substrate, P ... Pattern.

Claims (5)

A processing apparatus for cleaning a substrate with a cleaning liquid,
A cleaning chamber;
Transporting means for transporting the cleaning chamber by tilting the substrate at a predetermined angle in a direction intersecting the transporting direction;
A plurality of nozzles which are arranged in a line along a direction intersecting the transport direction of the substrate above the substrate to be transported and eject the cleaning liquid on the substrate in an elongated pattern;
The plurality of nozzles are arranged so that a gap does not occur in a direction in which a pattern of adjacent cleaning liquid sprayed on the substrate intersects a transport direction of the substrate. apparatus. The nozzle sprays the cleaning liquid in an oval pattern,
2. The substrate according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of nozzles are arranged in a state in which a longitudinal direction of the pattern is along a direction intersecting a transport direction of the substrate, and ends of adjacent patterns are overlapped with each other. Processing equipment. A plurality of nozzles arranged in a row are provided in a plurality of rows,
The substrate cleaned in the cleaning chamber is transported to a drying chamber for injecting gas onto the substrate and drying it.
The plurality of nozzles in a row immediately before being transported to the drying chamber are arranged with an axis inclined so as to inject cleaning liquid toward the upstream side of the transport direction of the substrate. Substrate processing equipment. A processing method for cleaning a substrate with a cleaning liquid,
A step of transporting the substrate inclined at a predetermined angle in a direction intersecting the transport direction;
Spraying the cleaning liquid onto the substrate to be transported in a long and narrow pattern with no gap in the direction intersecting the substrate transport direction. Having a step of drying the substrate cleaned with the cleaning liquid;
5. The substrate according to claim 4, wherein the substrate is cleaned with the cleaning liquid at a plurality of locations in the transport path, and the cleaning liquid is sprayed toward the upstream side in the transport direction of the substrate in a cleaning process immediately before being dried. Substrate processing method.

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