JP2007222754A - Spin washing device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a spin washing device eliminating loss of treating liquid to the rear face of a substrate, and lowering possibility of having adverse affect on treatment of a front surface of the substrate. <P>SOLUTION: In the spin washing device 1 washing a photomask substrate 8, a rear face showering means 7 spraying treating liquid onto the rear face of the photomask substrate 8 is provided with multiple rear face washing nozzles 711, etc., separatedly located from a rotation center of the substrate with different distances and jetting treatment liquid toward the rear face of the substrate, a super-pure water production apparatus 76 supplying the treatment liquid to the rear face nozzles; and a rear face shower control means (a three-way valve 73 or the like) supplying the treatment liquid to the rear face nozzles provided at places spraying the treatment liquid onto the rear face of the rotating substrate, depending on the size of the substrate. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a spin cleaning apparatus, and in particular, includes a plurality of backside nozzles and a three-way valve that supplies a processing liquid to the backside nozzle, and the processing liquid is supplied from a predetermined backside nozzle according to the size of the substrate. The present invention relates to a spin cleaning apparatus that can be sprayed on the back surface.

Photomasks such as LSI photomasks and LCD large photomasks are exposed to various contaminations during the manufacturing process, and are therefore washed during the manufacturing process or in the final product. As this cleaning method, a dip-type cleaning method is generally used.
The dip type cleaning method is a method in which a photomask substrate supported in a vertical direction is sequentially immersed in a cleaning liquid tank, a rinsing tank, and a drying tank arranged in parallel. Various types of chemical solutions used in these tanks, rinses, and drying methods can be used.

  The above-described dip cleaning method is suitable for high throughput because a plurality of substrates can be processed at a time for a substrate having a small mask size such as an LSI photomask. For large substrates such as photomasks, each tank has a large size and a large amount of chemical solution is required. Furthermore, in recent years, the substrate size of display panels such as liquid crystal display panels and photomasks for manufacturing them has been increasing. That is, for example, in the manufacture of a liquid crystal panel, the liquid crystal panel substrate has become larger due to the trend toward multi-cavity and a larger screen, and accordingly, the photomask for producing the liquid crystal panel has also become larger. As the substrate becomes larger and more accurate, it is necessary to perform a dip cleaning because a large amount of chemical is required when cleaning with a large cleaning solution in a large chemical bath. The reality is that has become difficult.

  As a technique for solving the above situation, a single wafer spin cleaning method has been noticed and developed. This single wafer spin cleaning method is a method in which a photomask substrate or the like is held on a rotating substrate holding member, and cleaning, rinsing, and drying are continuously performed while rotating. That is, first of all, a substrate held horizontally in a processing chamber is rotated, and cleaning is performed on the substrate by jetting a cleaning solution as a processing solution, scrub cleaning with a brush or the like (contact cleaning), and a supplied processing solution After performing cleaning such as ultrasonic cleaning that applies ultrasonic waves to ultra pure water, rinsing is performed with ultra pure water or the like, and then drying is performed by rotating the substrate at a high speed for a predetermined time. According to this method, compared to the above-described dip method, a series of processes can be performed in the same processing chamber, so that the apparatus can be miniaturized, less cleaning liquid is required, and cleaning time is shorter (for example, , See Patent Document 1).

In general, in spin cleaning, a processing liquid (such as ultrapure water) is sprayed on the back surface of the substrate while cleaning or rinsing the surface of the substrate. For this reason, the conventional spin cleaning apparatus is provided with a nozzle head in the cup when the back surface processing liquid nozzle is disposed on the back surface side of the substrate, and the back surface processing liquid nozzle and the back surface of the substrate are cleaned on this nozzle head. A gas nozzle or the like for injecting a gas for drying after the treatment has been provided (see, for example, [Prior Art] in Patent Document 2).
JP 2004-290934 A JP 2001-87720 A

However, in the spin cleaning apparatus described in [Prior Art] of Patent Document 2 described above, when the size of the substrate 800 is different as shown in FIG. 5 (for example, in a large-sized photomask for a liquid crystal panel, the substrate size is different). There are a plurality of types.) When the rear surface nozzle 700 is arranged in accordance with a large substrate size, when the substrate 800 having a small substrate size is cleaned, a large amount of processing liquid is discarded without being applied to the substrate 800. was there.
Further, when the substrate 800 having a small substrate size is cleaned, if the pressure of the processing liquid ejected from the nozzle for back surface 700 is high, the processing liquid jumps out vigorously without being applied to the substrate 800. May affect the substrate surface and adversely affect the processing of the substrate surface (for example, in the case of chemical cleaning, the chemical solution is diluted by the processing liquid from the back surface nozzle 700 and the effect of the chemical cleaning is reduced). There was a problem that there was.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problem. In a spin cleaning apparatus for performing desired processing on substrates of different sizes, the processing liquid is not wasted on the back surface of the substrate, and the substrate surface is processed. An object of the present invention is to provide a spin cleaning apparatus that reduces the risk of adverse effects.

In order to achieve the above object, a spin cleaning apparatus according to the present invention includes a rotating member that rotates the substrate and a back surface shower unit that sprays a processing liquid onto the back surface of the substrate. A plurality of back surface nozzles provided at different positions away from the rotation center of the substrate, a processing liquid supply unit for supplying the processing liquid to the plurality of back surface nozzles, Among the plurality of back surface nozzles, back surface shower control means for supplying the processing liquid to the back surface nozzle provided at a position corresponding to the size of the substrate is provided.
In this case, since the processing liquid ejected from the back surface nozzle does not reach the surface of the substrate, it adversely affects the cleaning of the surface of the substrate (for example, in the case of chemical cleaning, the chemical liquid is diluted by the processing liquid from the back surface nozzle 700. , Such as adverse effects such as a reduction in the effect of chemical cleaning can be avoided. Moreover, an expensive processing liquid can be used effectively and the cleaning cost can be reduced.

Further, in the spin cleaning apparatus of the present invention, the back surface shower control means has a three-way valve provided between the processing liquid supply means and the back surface nozzle, and the three-way valve is connected via a supply pipe. It is connected to the processing liquid supply means, connected to the nozzle for the back surface via an ejection pipe, and further connected to a recovery means for recovering the unused processing liquid via a recovery pipe. .
In this way, even if the number of backside nozzles for ejecting the processing liquid varies, the flow rate of the processing liquid ejected from the backside nozzle can be stabilized. Further, by collecting unused processing liquid, expensive processing liquid can be reused.

In the spin cleaning apparatus of the present invention, the substrate is rotated by the rotating member via a substrate holding member prepared in accordance with the size of the substrate, and the back surface shower control means is attached to the substrate holding member. Based on the attached identification mark, the rear surface nozzle that ejects the treatment liquid is selected.
This eliminates the need for the operator to select and directly control the rear surface nozzle from which the processing liquid is ejected, thereby preventing human error and improving the workability of the cleaning operation.

In the spin cleaning apparatus of the present invention, the substrate is a photomask substrate for a display panel.
In this way, high-quality and economical cleaning can be performed on a large-sized photomask substrate for a display panel.
Note that the photomask substrate includes a glass substrate for photomask, a photomask blank, and a photomask.

  According to the spin cleaning apparatus of the present invention, even when cleaning a plurality of different sizes of substrates, the processing liquid is not wasted on the back surface of the substrate, and the risk of adversely affecting the processing of the substrate surface is reduced. Quality cleaning can be performed. Further, even when the number of back surface nozzles for ejecting the processing liquid varies, the flow rate of the processing liquid ejected from the back surface nozzle can be stabilized.

[Spin cleaning equipment]
FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of a spin cleaning apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG.
1 and 2, the spin cleaning apparatus 1 has a rectangular parallelepiped housing structure including a processing cup 2, a rotating plate 3, a shower pipe 5, a controller (not shown) and a back surface shower means 7.
The spin cleaning apparatus 1 is provided with input / recovery means (not shown), and the input / recovery means inputs the photomask substrate 8 before cleaning into the spin cleaning apparatus 1 and the photomask substrate 8 after cleaning is removed. to recover.
The photomask substrate 8 is generally rectangular but is not limited to this shape.

(Processing cup)
The processing cup 2 is a cylindrical container, and is installed at a substantially central portion of the spin cleaning apparatus 1. The processing cup 2 forms a processing chamber in which the photomask substrate 8 is accommodated.
In addition, the processing cup 2 of this embodiment stores the photomask substrate 8 in which ½ of the diagonal length (the length of the diagonal line) is within R.

(Rotating plate)
The rotating plate 3 protrudes from the center of the processing cup 2 so as to be rotatable. The rotating plate 3 is a disc provided with holding means such as a pair of positioning pins (not shown), and holds a substrate holding member 81 on which a photomask substrate 8 is held horizontally. The spin cleaning apparatus 1 is provided with driving means (not shown) for rotating the rotating plate 3, and this driving means is controlled by the controller in terms of rotational direction, rotational speed, rotational time, etc. The rotating plate 3 is rotated according to the conditions.

(Backside shower means)
FIG. 3: has shown the schematic block diagram for demonstrating the structure of a back surface shower means of the spin cleaning apparatus concerning one Embodiment of this invention.
In the figure, the back surface shower means 7 includes a back surface nozzle group 710 (see FIG. 1), a primary ultra pure water tank 74, a pump 75, and an ultra ultra pure water production device 76.

  The back surface nozzle group 710 includes four back surface nozzles (a first row back surface nozzle 711, a second row back surface nozzle 712, a third row back surface nozzle 713, and a fourth row back surface nozzle 714). 2 projecting from the bottom. In addition, each of the nozzles for the back surface (711, 712, 713, 714) supplies a processing liquid (ultra pure water is used in this embodiment) inside the protruding position and toward the back surface of the photomask substrate 8. Erupts.

The nozzles for the back surface (a total of four nozzles) are sequentially arranged in any one radial direction from the center of the processing cup 2 (that is, the rotation center of the photomask substrate 8). For example, the first row back surface nozzle 711 is located at a position r1 away from the center of the processing cup 2, the second row back surface nozzle 712 is also located at a position separated by r2, and the third row back surface nozzle 713 is also located at r3. Similarly, the fourth row rear surface nozzle 714 is disposed at a position separated by r4 (r4>r3>r2> r1 in this embodiment). Furthermore, the nozzle for the back surface ejects the processing liquid toward the upper side of the installed position and the diagonally upper side of the center side of the processing cup 2.
In addition, the arrangement | positioning position of the nozzle for back surfaces of this invention is not limited to the said structure. For example, in the present embodiment, one back surface nozzle is provided within the radius r1, but a central back surface nozzle (not shown) may be further provided within the radius r1. Further, the back surface nozzle group 710 is disposed in any one radial direction from the center of the processing cup 2, but is not limited to this configuration. For example, the back surface nozzle group 710 is equally spaced from the center of the processing cup 2. The nozzle group for back 710 may be provided in two or more radial directions.

  Further, the back surface shower means 7 includes a primary pure water tank 74, a pump 75, and an ultra pure water production apparatus 76 as processing liquid supply means for supplying ultra pure water to each back surface nozzle. The primary pure water tank 74 collects unused ultrapure water from each collection pipe 733 and supplies water as a deficiency to store these water. The pump 75 supplies water from the primary pure water tank 74 to the ultrapure water production apparatus 76 and pressurizes water pressure for ejecting ultrapure water in a shower-like manner from each back nozzle. In the present embodiment, one pump 75 is used. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a booster pump (not shown) may be provided downstream of the ultrapure water production apparatus 76. .

  The back surface shower means 7 is a back surface nozzle (711, 712, 713, 714, etc.) provided at a position to spray the processing liquid onto the back surface of the rotating photomask substrate 8 according to the size of the photomask substrate 8. In addition, back surface shower control means for supplying the processing liquid is provided. The back surface shower control means of the present embodiment has a plurality of three-way valves 73 provided between the ultrapure water production apparatus 76 and the back surface nozzle. The three-way valve 73 is connected to the ultrapure water production apparatus 76 via the supply pipe 731, is connected to the nozzle for the back surface via the ejection pipe 732, and further receives unused processing liquid via the recovery pipe 732. It is connected to a primary pure water tank 74 for recovery. That is, each three-way valve 73 is connected to the ultrapure water production apparatus 76 via the supply pipe 731, and ultrapure water is supplied from the ultrapure water production apparatus 76. For example, when the three-way valve 73 of the first row back surface nozzle 711 is opened, ultrapure water is supplied to the first row back surface nozzle 711 via the ejection pipe 732 and the valve 72, and The nozzle 711 ejects ultrapure water in a shower shape and sprays it on the back surface of the photomask substrate 8. Further, when the three-way valve 73 is closed, the ultrapure water is collected in the primary pure water tank 74 via the collection pipe 733.

For example, for the photomask substrate 8 having a short side length exceeding 2 × r4 and a diagonal line length within 2 × R, the back surface shower control means provides four back surface nozzles within a radius r4. To spout ultrapure water. At this time, each of the backside nozzles spouts ultrapure water above the position where it is installed and obliquely above the rotation center side of the photomask substrate 8, so that the ultrapure water is applied to the surface of the photomask substrate 8. Prevents inconveniences and adverse effects such as splashing of ultrapure water from the nozzle for the back surface (for example, in the case of chemical cleaning, the chemical solution is diluted by the processing liquid from the nozzle for the back surface and the effect of cleaning the chemical solution is reduced). be able to.
In addition, although the ultrapure water is not sprayed directly from the nozzle for the back surface on the back surface exceeding the radius r4 of the photomask substrate 8, the sprayed ultrapure water flows in the outer peripheral direction by centrifugal force, so that it is cleaned well. Is done.

  Further, for the photomask substrate 8 having a short side length exceeding 2 × r3 and 2 × r4 or less and a diagonal length being 2 × R or less, three back surfaces having a radius r3 or less. Ultrapure water is ejected from the nozzle. Furthermore, for the photomask substrate 8 having a short side length of more than 2 × r2 and 2 × r3 or less and a diagonal length of 2 × R or less, two back surfaces having a radius of r2 or less. Ultrapure water is ejected from the nozzle. Further, for the photomask substrate 8 having a short side length exceeding 2 × r1 and 2 × r2 or less and having a diagonal length within 2 × R, one back surface within a radius r1. Ultrapure water is ejected from the nozzle. If it does in this way, a chemical | medical solution will become thin with the malfunction that the ultrapure water will scatter the ultrapure water from the nozzle for back surfaces on the surface of the photomask board | substrate 8, and the process liquid from the nozzle for back surfaces, and the effect of chemical | medical solution cleaning will reduce. Such adverse effects as described above can be prevented, and the cleaning quality can be improved. Furthermore, when the back nozzle does not spout ultrapure water, the ultrapure water for that amount is collected in the primary pure water tank 74, so that the amount of wasted ultrapure water used can be reduced and the cleaning cost can be reduced. Can do.

Moreover, the back surface shower means 7 of this embodiment is provided with the three-way valve 73, for example, from the state where 12 back nozzles within the radius r4 are spraying ultrapure water, to one back surface within the radius r1. Even if only the nozzle for spraying is switched to a state in which the ultrapure water is sprayed, the flow rate of the ultrapure water sprayed from the first row rear surface nozzle 711 can be made the same.
The back shower control means is not limited to the configuration using the three-way valve 73. For example, although not shown, a flow rate adjusting valve is provided upstream of the valve 72 instead of the plurality of three-way valves 73. It is good also as a structure which provides. If it does in this way, by carrying out on-off control of the valve | bulb 72, the ultrapure water of the stable flow volume can be ejected from each nozzle for back surfaces.

  Preferably, the photomask substrate 8 substrate is rotated by the rotating plate 3 via a substrate holding member 81 prepared according to the size of the photomask substrate 8, and the back surface shower control means further includes a substrate holding member. Based on the identification mark (for example, barcode label) attached to 81, it is good also as a structure which selects automatically the nozzle for back surfaces which ejects an ultrapure water. That is, the back surface shower control means outputs a control signal to the preset three-way valve 73 of the back surface nozzle based on information from the identification mark reading means (for example, a bar code reader), so that the ultrapure water is photogenerated. It sprays on the back surface of the mask substrate 8. This eliminates the need for the operator to select the nozzle for the back surface that ejects ultrapure water and directly control it (such as operating the on / off switch), thus preventing human error and cleaning work. Can be improved.

(Means for cleaning the substrate surface)
In the spin cleaning apparatus 1, a shower pipe 5 is provided so as to be movable in parallel as a cleaning means for the substrate surface. The shower pipe 5 is supplied with various chemical solutions and ultrapure water, and performs cleaning (cleaning and rinsing with various chemical solutions) according to the cleaning conditions.
The spin cleaning apparatus 1 has a controller (not shown) at the front right end. The controller is an information processing apparatus such as a sequencer or a computer, and performs control related to cleaning of the spin cleaning apparatus 1. That is, the spin cleaning apparatus 1 performs a plurality of cleaning steps (for example, chemical cleaning, rinsing, drying, etc.).

Next, the operation of the back surface shower means 7 in the spin cleaning apparatus 1 having the above configuration will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 4: has shown the schematic side view for demonstrating operation | movement of a back surface shower means of the spin cleaning apparatus concerning one Embodiment of this invention.
In the figure, the spin cleaning apparatus 1 supplies ultrapure water from the first row backside nozzle 711, the second row backside nozzle 712 and the third row backside nozzle 713 according to the size of the photomask substrate 8. It sprays out in the shape of a shower and sprays on the back surface of the photomask substrate 8. Further, the three-way valve 73 of the nozzle 714 for the fourth row back surface is closed, and ultrapure water is collected in the primary pure water tank 74 via the collection pipe 733. That is, for the photomask substrate 8 having a short side length exceeding 2 × r3 and 2 × r4 or less and having a diagonal length within 2 × R, a total of three pieces within a radius r3 are provided. Ultrapure water can be ejected from the nozzle for the back surface, and the chemical solution is diluted by a problem such as the ultrapure water being scattered from the nozzle for the back surface to the surface of the photomask substrate 8, and the processing liquid from the nozzle for the back surface, It is possible to prevent adverse effects such as a reduction in the effect of chemical cleaning, and improve cleaning quality. Furthermore, in this case, the single nozzle for the back surface with the radius r4 does not eject the ultrapure water, and the ultrapure water is recovered in the primary pure water tank 74, so that the amount of useless ultrapure water is reduced. Cleaning costs can be reduced.

As described above, according to the spin cleaning apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, since the ultrapure water ejected from the back surface nozzle does not reach the surface of the photomask substrate 8, cleaning of the surface of the photomask substrate 8 (for example, chemical cleaning) Etc.) can be avoided. Moreover, expensive ultrapure water can be used effectively, and cleaning costs can be reduced. Furthermore, by providing the three-way valve 73, the flow rate of the processing liquid ejected from the back surface nozzle can be stabilized even when the number of the back surface nozzles for ejecting the ultrapure water varies. Further, by collecting unused ultrapure water in the primary pure water tank 74, it is possible to reuse expensive treatment liquid.
Further, since the substrate is the photomask substrate 8, the spin cleaning apparatus 1 can perform high-quality and economical cleaning on the enlarged photomask substrate 8 for a display panel.

The spin cleaning apparatus of the present invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiment. However, the spin cleaning apparatus according to the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the present invention. It goes without saying that implementation is possible.
For example, although the spin cleaning apparatus 1 is configured to spray ultrapure water from the back nozzle, the liquid to be sprayed is not limited to ultrapure water. For example, various liquids may be used depending on the application. Can do.

  The spin cleaning apparatus of the present invention is not limited to the configuration for cleaning the photomask substrate, and can be used for cleaning apparatuses and cleaning methods for ceramic plates and metal plates.

1 shows a schematic plan view of a spin cleaning apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The AA schematic sectional drawing in FIG. 1 is shown. The schematic block diagram for demonstrating the structure of the back surface shower means of the spin cleaning apparatus concerning one Embodiment of this invention is shown. The schematic side view for demonstrating operation | movement of the back surface shower means of the spin cleaning apparatus concerning one Embodiment of this invention is shown. The schematic for demonstrating the problem in the conventional spin cleaning apparatus is shown.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Spin washing | cleaning apparatus 2 Processing cup 3 Rotating plate 5 Shower pipe 7 Back surface shower means 8 Photomask board | substrate 81 Substrate holding member 72 Valve 73 Three-way valve 74 Primary pure water tank 75 Pump 76 Ultrapure water production apparatus 700 Back surface nozzle 710 1st Back row nozzle group 711 First row back surface nozzle 712 Second row back surface nozzle 713 Third row back surface nozzle 714 Fourth row back surface nozzle 800 Substrate

Claims (4)

In a spin cleaning apparatus for cleaning a substrate,
A rotating member for rotating the substrate;
Backside shower means for spraying a treatment liquid on the backside of the substrate,
The back shower means comprises:
A plurality of back surface nozzles provided at different distances from the center of rotation of the substrate;
Treatment liquid supply means for supplying the treatment liquid to the plurality of back surface nozzles;
A spin cleaning apparatus, comprising: a back surface shower control means for supplying the processing liquid to the back surface nozzle provided at a position corresponding to the size of the substrate among the plurality of back surface nozzles.   The back shower control means has a three-way valve provided between the processing liquid supply means and the back nozzle, and the three-way valve is connected to the processing liquid supply means via a supply pipe, 2. The spin cleaning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the spin cleaning device is connected to the rear surface nozzle via a tube, and further connected to a recovery means for recovering the unused processing solution via a recovery tube. .   The substrate is rotated by the rotating member via a substrate holding member prepared according to the size of the substrate, and the back surface shower control means is based on an identification mark attached to the substrate holding member, 3. The spin cleaning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a nozzle for the back surface that ejects the treatment liquid is selected.   The spin cleaning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the substrate is a photomask substrate for a display panel.

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