JP2007149987A - Substrate drying apparatus, substrate drying method and method of manufacturing substrate - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the bulge or decoloration of a pattern of a photoresist film due to moisture in a short drying time after development processing of a substrate. <P>SOLUTION: The substrate 1 is mounted on a plurality of rollers 10 and moves by the rotation of the rollers 10 in a substrate moving direction shown by an arrow. Air knives 20a, 20b blow air onto the front or rear surface of the substrate 1. The front and rear surfaces of the substrate 1 are dried by the air blown from the air knives 20a, 20b. Further, a hot air heater 30 blows air heated and dried by a heater wire 31 or hot air containing nitrogen onto the surface of the substrate 1. The dried hot air blown from the hot air heater 30 performs finishing drying of the pattern of the photoresist film formed on the surface of the substrate 1. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a substrate drying apparatus for drying a panel substrate for a flat panel display device, a substrate drying method, and a method for manufacturing a substrate using the same, and in particular, a pattern of a photoresist film is formed on the surface by development processing. The present invention relates to a substrate drying apparatus suitable for drying a substrate, a substrate drying method, and a substrate manufacturing method using them.

In the process of manufacturing a panel substrate for a flat panel display device such as a liquid crystal display device or a plasma display device, a chemical process such as development, etching, and peeling is performed to form a circuit pattern, a color filter, etc. on the substrate. . Before or after the chemical treatment, it is necessary to clean the substrate using a cleaning liquid such as pure water and to dry the substrate after cleaning. Such a series of processes including the cleaning and drying of the substrate is often performed while moving the substrate using a moving means such as a roller conveyor. The drying of the substrate is performed as described in Patent Document 1 or Patent Document 2. In general, the air is blown onto the substrate using an air knife.
JP 2005-251544 A JP 2001-255668 A

  In the manufacturing process of the panel substrate described above, in order to detect defects generated in chemical processing such as development, etching, and peeling, the substrate is inspected after the processing using a pattern inspection apparatus or a defect inspection apparatus. Conventionally, in the inspection of a substrate after development processing in particular, the pattern of the photoresist film formed on the surface of the substrate may have expanded or discolored including moisture. In spite of disappearance, there is a problem that these are detected as defective.

  In order to prevent this, it is necessary to leave the substrate after the development process until the moisture disappears from the pattern of the photoresist film, and there is a problem that the drying time becomes long. Further, in the conventional substrate drying using an air knife, if the flow rate of air is increased in order to increase the drying capability, there is a problem that the pattern of the photoresist film that has become brittle and contains moisture is destroyed.

  An object of the present invention is to eliminate expansion or discoloration of a pattern of a photoresist film due to moisture after the development processing of the substrate in a short drying time. Another object of the present invention is to prevent the detection of defects due to expansion or discoloration of the pattern of the photoresist film and to manufacture the substrate with a short tact time.

  The substrate drying apparatus of the present invention includes an air knife that blows air onto a substrate having a photoresist film pattern formed on the surface by a development process, and an air knife that blows air on the surface. And a moving means for relatively moving the substrate and the air knife and the substrate and the means for finish drying.

  Further, the substrate drying method of the present invention performs drying of the substrate by blowing air from the air knife to the substrate while relatively moving the substrate having the photoresist film pattern formed on the surface by the development process and the air knife, After the air is blown by the air knife, the pattern of the photoresist film formed on the surface of the substrate is further finished and dried.

  After the air is blown by the air knife, the pattern of the photoresist film formed on the surface of the substrate is further subjected to finish drying, so that the expansion or discoloration of the pattern of the photoresist film due to moisture is eliminated in a short drying time.

  Furthermore, in the substrate drying apparatus of the present invention, the means for performing the finish drying has means for blowing hot air that has been dried onto the surface of the substrate. In the substrate drying method of the present invention, the dry hot air is blown onto the surface of the substrate to finish and dry the pattern of the photoresist film. It is possible to easily finish and dry the pattern of the photoresist film in a short time without destroying the pattern of the photoresist film.

  The substrate manufacturing method of the present invention is to dry the substrate using any one of the above-described substrate drying apparatuses or substrate drying methods after the development processing of the substrate. Detection of defects due to expansion or discoloration of the photoresist film pattern is prevented, and the substrate is manufactured with a short tact time.

  According to the substrate drying apparatus and the substrate drying method of the present invention, after the air is blown by an air knife, the pattern of the photoresist film formed on the surface of the substrate is further subjected to finish drying, so that the photo processing is performed after the development processing of the substrate. The expansion or discoloration of the resist film pattern due to moisture can be eliminated in a short drying time.

  Furthermore, according to the substrate drying apparatus and the substrate drying method of the present invention, the pattern of the photoresist film is destroyed by blowing dry hot air onto the surface of the substrate and performing finish drying of the pattern of the photoresist film. The finish drying of the pattern of the photoresist film can be easily performed in a short time.

  According to the substrate manufacturing method of the present invention, it is possible to prevent the detection of defects due to expansion or discoloration of the pattern of the photoresist film and to manufacture the substrate with a short tact time.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a substrate drying apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The substrate drying apparatus includes a plurality of rollers 10, air knives 20 a and 20 b, and a hot air heater 30.

  The substrate 1 is mounted on a plurality of rollers 10 and is moved in the substrate movement direction indicated by an arrow by the rotation of the rollers 10. Each roller 10 is installed at regular intervals in the substrate moving direction, and is rotated at a predetermined speed by a driving means (not shown).

  In the present embodiment, the substrate 1 is moved in a horizontal state. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the substrate 1 is moved in a direction orthogonal to the horizontal direction or a predetermined angle in the substrate movement direction. You may move in an inclined state. Further, instead of moving the substrate 1, by moving the air knives 20a and 20b and the hot air heater 30, the substrate 1 and the air knives 20a and 20b and the substrate 1 and the hot air heater 30 are relatively moved. Also good.

  A substrate processing device and a substrate cleaning device (not shown) are arranged upstream of the substrate 1 moved by the roller 10 in the substrate moving direction. A developing solution is supplied from the substrate processing apparatus to the surface of the substrate 1 to develop the substrate 1. A pattern of a photoresist film is formed on the surface of the substrate 1 by the development process. Subsequently, a cleaning liquid such as pure water is supplied from the substrate cleaning apparatus to the surface of the substrate 1 to clean the substrate 1. After cleaning by the substrate cleaning apparatus, the substrate 1 is sent to the substrate drying apparatus by the roller 10.

  In the substrate drying apparatus, the air knives 20a and 20b are parallel to the substrate 1 over the width in the direction perpendicular to the substrate moving direction of the substrate 1 (the depth direction in the drawing) above and below the substrate 1 moved by the roller 10. Is installed. The air knives 20a and 20b are configured, for example, by forming a pressurizing chamber inside a long casing and providing an air passage leading to the pressurizing chamber in a slit shape in the longitudinal direction. Air is supplied from an air supply source (not shown) to the air knives 20a and 20b. The air knives 20a and 20b uniformly blow air over the longitudinal direction at a predetermined incident angle in the direction opposite to the substrate moving direction from the front end of the air passage to the front or back surface of the substrate 1. The front and back surfaces of the substrate 1 are dried by the air blown from the air knives 20a and 20b.

  Further, on the downstream side of the substrate movement direction, the hot air heater 30 is disposed above the substrate 1 moved by the roller 10 over the width of the substrate 1 in the direction perpendicular to the substrate movement direction (the depth direction in the drawing). It is installed in parallel. The hot air heater 30 is configured by forming a heating chamber inside a long casing, and providing a blow-out port from the heating chamber in a slit shape in the longitudinal direction. Inside the heating chamber, a heater wire 31 is installed over a width in a direction (drawing depth direction) orthogonal to the substrate moving direction of the substrate 1.

  Instead of the heater wire 31, a lamp heater made of a halogen lamp or the like may be used.

  Dry air (containing little water vapor) or nitrogen is supplied from a gas supply source (not shown) to the hot air heater 30. The hot air heater 30 heats the supplied air or nitrogen with a heater wire 31 in the heating chamber, and uniformly delivers the hot air made of heated air or nitrogen from the blowout port to the surface of the substrate 1 in the longitudinal direction. Spray. The dry drying of the pattern of the photoresist film formed on the surface of the substrate 1 is performed by the dry warm air blown from the warm air heater 30.

  In the present embodiment described above, only one air knife 20a, 20b and hot air heater 30 are provided, but two or more air knives 20a, 20b or hot air heater 30 may be provided in the substrate movement direction. Good.

  According to the embodiment described above, after the air is blown by the air knives 20a and 20b, by further performing the finish drying of the pattern of the photoresist film formed on the surface of the substrate 1 using the warm air heater 30, After the development processing of the substrate 1, expansion or discoloration due to moisture of the pattern of the photoresist film can be eliminated in a short drying time.

  Furthermore, according to the embodiment described above, the pattern of the photoresist film is destroyed by blowing the dry warm air from the warm air heater 30 onto the surface of the substrate 1 and performing the final drying of the pattern of the photoresist film. Therefore, the finish drying of the pattern of the photoresist film can be easily performed in a short time.

  FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an example of the manufacturing process of the TFT substrate of the liquid crystal display device. In the thin film forming step (step 101), a thin film such as a conductor film or an insulator film, which becomes a transparent electrode for driving a liquid crystal, is formed on a glass substrate by sputtering, plasma chemical vapor deposition (CVC), or the like. In the resist coating process (step 102), a photosensitive resin material (photoresist) is applied by a roll coating method or the like to form a photoresist film on the thin film formed in the thin film forming process (step 101). In the exposure step (step 103), the mask pattern is transferred to the photoresist film using a proximity exposure apparatus, a projection exposure apparatus, or the like. In the development step (step 104), a developer is supplied onto the photoresist film by a shower development method or the like to remove unnecessary portions of the photoresist film. In the etching process (step 105), a portion of the thin film formed in the thin film formation process (step 101) that is not masked by the photoresist film is removed by wet etching. In the stripping step (step 106), the photoresist film that has finished the role of the mask in the etching step (step 105) is stripped with a stripping solution. Before or after each of these steps, a substrate cleaning step and a drying step are performed as necessary. These steps are repeated several times to form a TFT array on the glass substrate.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an example of the manufacturing process of the color filter substrate of the liquid crystal display device. In the black matrix forming step (step 201), a black matrix is formed on the glass substrate by processes such as resist coating, exposure, development, etching, and peeling. In the colored pattern forming step (step 202), a colored pattern is formed on the glass substrate by a dyeing method, a pigment dispersion method, a printing method, an electrodeposition method, or the like. This process is repeated for the R, G, and B coloring patterns. In the protective film forming step (step 203), a protective film is formed on the colored pattern, and in the transparent electrode film forming step (step 204), a transparent electrode film is formed on the protective film. Before, during or after each of these steps, a substrate cleaning step and a drying step are performed as necessary.

  In the TFT substrate manufacturing process shown in FIG. 2, in the drying process after the development process (step 104), in the color filter substrate manufacturing process shown in FIG. 3, in the black matrix forming process (step 201) and coloring pattern formation. In the drying process after the development processing in the process (step 202), the substrate is dried using the substrate drying apparatus or the substrate drying method of the present invention, thereby preventing detection of defects due to expansion or discoloration of the pattern of the photoresist film. In addition, the substrate can be manufactured with a short tact time.

It is a figure which shows schematic structure of the board | substrate drying apparatus by one embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the manufacturing process of the TFT substrate of a liquid crystal display device. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the manufacturing process of the color filter board | substrate of a liquid crystal display device.

Explanation of symbols

1 Substrate 10 Roller 20a, 20b Air knife 30 Hot air heater 31 Heater wire

Claims (6)

An air knife for drying the substrate by blowing air onto the substrate having a photoresist film pattern formed on the surface by development processing;
Means for performing a finish drying of the pattern of the photoresist film formed on the surface of the substrate after the air is blown by the air knife;
A substrate drying apparatus comprising a substrate, the air knife, and a moving means for relatively moving the substrate and the means for performing the finish drying.   The substrate drying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the means for performing the finish drying includes means for blowing dry hot air onto the surface of the substrate. While relatively moving the substrate having the photoresist film pattern formed on the surface by the development process and the air knife,
Air is blown from the air knife to the substrate to dry the substrate,
A substrate drying method, wherein after the air is blown by an air knife, the pattern of the photoresist film formed on the surface of the substrate is further subjected to finish drying.   4. The substrate drying method according to claim 3, wherein the dry drying of the pattern of the photoresist film is performed by blowing hot air that has been dried onto the surface of the substrate.   A method for producing a substrate, comprising: drying the substrate using the substrate drying apparatus according to claim 1 or 2 after the substrate is developed.   A method for producing a substrate, comprising drying the substrate by using the substrate drying method according to claim 3 or 4 after the development processing of the substrate.

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