JP2009248069A - Device and method for treating substrate - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To clean and dry a substrate having water repellency while conveying it. <P>SOLUTION: The device for treating a substrate having a cleaning chamber 1C and a drying chamber 1D carries out cleaning and drying of the surface of the substrate S having water repellency while conveying it in a slanted posture. The cleaning chamber 1C is equipped with a first supplying means 20 for supplying washwater to the upper end part of the substrate S continuously in the direction of conveying and a second supplying means 24 that is installed near the end of the downstream side along the direction of crossing the substrate S from its upper part to its lower part and is designed to supply washwater to the substrate S continuously in the above direction. The drying chamber 1D is equipped with an air knife 30 for jetting air to the conveyed substrate S that is installed near the second supplying means 24 along the direction of crossing the substrate S from its upper part to its lower part. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention is applied to a substrate such as a glass substrate for FPD (flat panel display) such as LCD (liquid crystal display device) or PDP (plasma display), a glass substrate for organic EL, a substrate for optical disk, a glass substrate for photomask, and a semiconductor wafer. In contrast, the present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus that mainly performs cleaning and drying processes.

  In LCDs, high-performance circuits consisting of thin film transistors are provided on a glass substrate to improve image quality and widen the viewing angle. In recent years, the movement speed of electrons is high, and the response and contrast of the display are high. Many are provided with an advantageous polycrystalline silicon (polysilicon) thin film transistor.

  In the manufacture of this type of LCD, for example, an amorphous silicon layer is formed on a glass substrate, a natural oxide film on the surface of the silicon layer is removed (etching process), washed and dried, and irradiated with laser to be amorphous. A silicon layer is melted and recrystallized (a polysilicon layer is generated) (laser annealing method). In this case, each process of etching to drying is conventionally performed by rotating the glass substrate on which the amorphous silicon layer is formed horizontally around the vertical axis with the center position as a fulcrum, and sequentially applying the treatment liquid onto the substrate. After supplying and etching and cleaning the substrate, the substrate is rotated at high speed, and the cleaning liquid is shaken off and dried (spin drying).

By the way, in this type of substrate processing, the substrate after the etching process from which the oxide film has been removed has a strong water repellency. Therefore, after the cleaning process, the cleaning liquid tends to remain sparsely on the substrate, which is a so-called watermark. This is one of the causes for forming a uniform oxide film. Since the watermark deteriorates the characteristics of the polysilicon layer generated by laser annealing, it is necessary to prevent the generation of the watermark as much as possible. Conventionally, as disclosed in, for example, Patent Document 1, the cleaning liquid is rotated while rotating the substrate at a low speed. After the cleaning process is performed in a state where a liquid film of the cleaning liquid is formed on the entire surface of the substrate with the surface tension, the cleaning liquid is removed and dried at once in a short time by switching to high speed rotation. In other words, the generation of the watermark is prevented by cleaning and drying the substrate while avoiding a long-term occurrence of a watermark generation factor that oxygen and a cleaning liquid coexist on the substrate surface (silicon). Yes.
JP 2003-17461 A

  However, in recent years, the size of the substrate to be processed has been increased, and it has become physically difficult to perform cleaning and drying processing while rotating the substrate as in Patent Document 1. For this reason, it is necessary to satisfactorily clean and dry the substrate without rotating the substrate.

  Therefore, as one method, while transporting the substrate in an inclined posture, as shown in FIG. 8A, the cleaning liquid is supplied along the upper end of the substrate S by the liquid nozzle 50 provided along the transport direction. The substrate is supplied with the cleaning liquid flowing down along the substrate S to perform a cleaning process while covering the surface of the substrate with a liquid layer of the cleaning liquid. It is considered to remove in order.

  However, when the cleaning liquid flows down along the substrate S having water repellency, the cleaning liquid tends to flow down while gathering at the central portion of the substrate (the central portion in the transport direction) due to the surface tension. As a result, the hatching in FIG. As shown in FIG. 3, portions where the cleaning liquid does not flow (unflowed portion) are generated at the front end (front end in the transport direction) and the rear end of the substrate S. In addition, such a state is maintained even when the substrate is transported, and as shown in FIG. 8B, there is a portion that is transferred to the drying process without being subjected to the cleaning process (in FIG. 8B). Hatched part). In addition, even if the cleaning process has been performed, a portion where the cleaning liquid does not flow down before the drying process (portions indicated by dots in the figure) is generated along with the conveyance of the substrate. There is a problem that a water mark is formed due to adhesion of the liquid droplets. Therefore, it is desirable to solve these problems.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to satisfactorily clean and dry a substrate while transporting a substrate having water repellency.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention has a conveying means for supporting a substrate having water repellency in a posture in which the surface thereof is inclined and conveying the substrate in a horizontal direction along the surface. A substrate processing apparatus comprising, in order from the upstream side thereof, a cleaning liquid supply means for supplying a cleaning liquid to the transport substrate, and a drying means for removing the cleaning liquid on the substrate by gas pressure, wherein the cleaning liquid supply means Are provided along the transport direction and in a state where the cleaning liquid is continuous in the same direction, the first supply means for supplying the cleaning liquid to at least the upper end of the transport substrate, and the downstream side of the first supply means The transfer substrate is provided along a first substrate crossing direction that is close to the end and traverses the transfer substrate from the upper side to the lower side, and the cleaning liquid continues along the first substrate crossing direction. Against A second supply means for supplying a cleaning solution, wherein the drying means is close to the second supply means, and in a second substrate crossing direction that crosses the transfer substrate from the upper side to the lower side. It is provided along the second substrate crossing direction and is configured to blow gas onto the transfer substrate in a continuous state.

  According to this substrate processing apparatus, the cleaning liquid is supplied from the first supply means to the upper side end portion of the transport substrate, and the substrate is cleaned while forming a liquid layer of the cleaning liquid on the substrate surface. it can. In addition, since the second supply means is provided in the vicinity of the downstream end of the first supply means, and the cleaning liquid is supplied along the first substrate crossing direction by the second supply means, the front end portion in the transport direction In addition, even if a non-flowing portion of the cleaning liquid is generated at the rear end portion, it is possible to satisfactorily eliminate the influence on the cleaning and drying processing. That is, even if the non-flowing portion as described above occurs, the cleaning liquid is supplied to the non-flowing portion when the substrate passes through the position of the second supply means. Therefore, it is possible to prevent a situation in which a drying process is performed on the substrate while a portion not subjected to the cleaning process is generated. When the tip of the substrate reaches the position of the second supply means as the substrate is transported, the cleaning liquid supplied from the second supply means and the cleaning liquid supplied from the first supply means merge on the substrate, and as a result The unflowed portion on the front end side of the substrate disappears, and the upstream side of the substrate surface including the position of the second supply means is widely covered with the liquid layer of the cleaning liquid. Then, gas is blown from the drying means adjacent to the second supply means to the substrate thus covered with the liquid layer, and the liquid layer is removed, so that the cleaning liquid flows down once (cleaning liquid It is effectively prevented that the portion subjected to the cleaning process is exposed to the atmosphere before the drying process, and as a result, the cleaning liquid is reattached to the exposed portion. The formation of the watermark is prevented in advance.

  In this apparatus, the cleaning liquid supply means is provided on the upstream side of the second supply means in the substrate transfer direction and within a range where the first supply means is provided, with respect to the surface of the transfer substrate. It is preferable to further include third supply means for supplying the treatment liquid in a shower form.

  According to this configuration, a sufficient amount of the cleaning liquid flowing down along the substrate can be secured, and a liquid layer of the cleaning liquid can be formed on the substrate surface more reliably and satisfactorily.

  In this case, when the cleaning liquid is supplied in a shower form from the third supply means, it is considered that the mist of the cleaning liquid adheres to the substrate after the drying process and causes a watermark. Therefore, when the third supply unit is provided, it is preferable that a shielding member for preventing the cleaning liquid from being scattered downstream of the second supply unit is provided between the second supply unit and the drying unit. It is.

  In the above apparatus, the second supply unit may be provided in a direction orthogonal to the transport direction. However, in order to satisfactorily remove the liquid layer on the surface of the substrate by blowing gas by the drying unit, the substrate It is preferable that the cleaning liquid supply position is provided obliquely with respect to the direction orthogonal to the transport direction so that the cleaning liquid supply position on the lower side is positioned downstream of the upper side supply position.

  According to this configuration, immediately after the tip of the substrate passes the position of the second supply means, a portion where the substrate surface is exposed at the upper end (that is, the corner) of the tip tends to be generated. Therefore, when gas is blown from the drying means to the substrate passing through the position of the second supply means, the surface of the surface of the cleaning liquid from the corners of the substrate is maintained while maintaining a good layer state with the exposed portion as a starting point. It will be removed smoothly and promptly. Therefore, by blowing a gas when removing the liquid layer of the cleaning liquid, it is possible to satisfactorily prevent the occurrence of a phenomenon that may cause the formation of a watermark, such as splashing of the liquid layer or bubbling.

  Further, the drying means is also provided obliquely with respect to the direction orthogonal to the transport direction so that the gas blowing position on the lower side of the substrate is located downstream of the blowing position on the upper side. It may be a thing.

  According to this configuration, it is possible to remove the liquid layer from the upper end (corner) of the substrate along the surface thereof, and in the same manner as described above, the liquid layer is prevented from being scattered or bubbled (bubbled). Effective above. In particular, when the first supply means is used in combination with the above-described configuration provided obliquely with respect to the direction orthogonal to the transport direction, it is very effective in smoothly removing the liquid layer of the cleaning liquid.

  In the above apparatus, the first supply unit is provided along the transport direction and is inclined above the slope member along the transport direction and a slope member that is inclined in a direction orthogonal to the transport direction. It is preferable that a nozzle member is provided, and the cleaning liquid is discharged from the nozzle member to the slope member, thereby supplying the cleaning substrate with a continuous flow of the cleaning liquid in the transport direction.

  According to this configuration, it becomes possible to supply the cleaning liquid to the substrate satisfactorily in a continuous state along the transport direction.

  In this case, a processing liquid supply means for supplying a predetermined process other than the cleaning process to the substrate prior to the cleaning process by the cleaning liquid by supplying a processing liquid different from the cleaning liquid to the transfer substrate. In this case, the processing liquid supply unit includes a nozzle member disposed above the slope member, and causes the cleaning liquid to be discharged from the nozzle member to the slope member. Thus, the processing liquid may be supplied to the transport substrate while forming a continuous flow of the processing liquid in the transport direction.

  According to this configuration, since the processing member and the cleaning solution can be sequentially supplied to the substrate by sharing the slope member, it is possible to carry out the predetermined processing and the subsequent cleaning processing with the processing solution with a rational configuration. It becomes.

  On the other hand, in the substrate processing method according to the present invention, the substrate having water repellency is supported in a posture in which the surface is inclined, and the substrate is transported in a horizontal direction along the surface, along the upper side end portion of the substrate. A liquid layer forming step of forming a liquid layer of the cleaning liquid over the entire direction orthogonal to the transport direction in order from the front end of the transport direction on the surface of the substrate by supplying and flowing the cleaning liquid, and the liquid layer is formed And a liquid layer removing step of removing the liquid layer by blowing gas against the liquid layer in order from the front end side of the substrate.

  According to this method, a cleaning process is performed on the substrate in a state where a liquid layer of the cleaning liquid is formed by allowing the cleaning liquid to flow down along the surface of the substrate while transporting the substrate, and then the liquid layer is removed as it is. Since drying is performed, it is possible to effectively prevent the portion once formed with the liquid layer and subjected to the cleaning process from being exposed to the atmosphere before the drying process by blowing the gas.

  In this method, prior to the gas blowing in the liquid layer removing step, there is a step of forming a portion where the substrate surface is exposed from the liquid layer at the upper end portion at the front end in the transport direction of the substrate. Is preferred.

  According to this method, it is possible to remove the liquid layer smoothly and promptly without scattering or bubbling of the liquid layer accompanying gas blowing.

  According to the present invention, while a substrate having water repellency is transported, cleaning and drying processes are sequentially performed on the substrate, but the substrate is subjected to the drying process while a portion not subjected to the cleaning process is generated. In addition, the portion where the cleaning liquid layer is once formed and subjected to the cleaning process is exposed to the atmosphere before the drying process, and the watermark is formed due to the cleaning liquid reattaching to the exposed portion. Such a situation can be prevented in advance. Therefore, the substrate having water repellency can be satisfactorily washed and dried while being transported.

  A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 shows an example of a substrate processing apparatus to which the present invention is applied. This substrate processing apparatus 1 (hereinafter abbreviated as “apparatus 1”) performs a pretreatment for performing laser annealing on a glass substrate S (hereinafter abbreviated as “substrate S”) on which an amorphous silicon layer is formed. Specifically, the substrate S is sequentially subjected to etching (light etching), cleaning and drying of the oxide film formed on the surface of the silicon layer.

  The apparatus 1 includes a loader 1A, an etching chamber 1B, a cleaning chamber 1C, a drying chamber 1D, and an unloader 1E in series. A rectangular substrate S that is carried into the loader 1A by a transport robot (not shown) is driven by the transport roller 2. The substrate S is sequentially transferred to the unloader 1E after being sequentially subjected to etching, cleaning, and drying while being transferred (in the right direction in FIG. 1) over the processing chambers 1B to 1D. The substrate S transferred to the unloader 1E is transferred to a laser annealing apparatus by a transfer robot (not shown). In the following description, the transport direction of the substrate S is simply referred to as “transport direction”, and “upstream”, “downstream”, “front end”, and “rear end” are based on the transport direction of the substrate S. To do.

  Each transport roller 2 is provided so as to be inclined along a direction orthogonal to the transport direction (see FIG. 2), whereby the surface of the substrate S is inclined downward from the rear side of the apparatus toward the front side. Thus, it is configured to be conveyed in the horizontal direction along the surface in a supported state. In the figure, reference numeral 3 denotes an opening for transporting a substrate formed in a partition partitioning each of the chambers 1A to 1E. The opening 3 has an elongated rectangular shape and allows the substrate S to pass therethrough. It is necessary and sufficient size.

  Etching solution supply means 10 for supplying an etching solution to the substrate S is provided in the etching chamber 1B. The etching solution supply means 10 is disposed above the upper end of the transport roller 2.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the etchant supply means 10 extends in the transport direction of the substrate S and slopes downwardly from the rear side of the apparatus toward the front side along a direction orthogonal to this direction. It has a long slope member 13 having 13 a and long nozzle members 11 and 12 that are arranged above the slope member 13 and extend along the slope member 13. The nozzle members 11 and 12 are, for example, spray nozzles in which a plurality of liquid discharge holes are provided downward at predetermined intervals along the longitudinal direction, and are arranged in parallel with each other in a state where they are arranged back and forth along the slope surface 13a. Has been. Of these nozzle members 11 and 12, the upper (rear) nozzle member 11 is connected to a supply source of ozone (O ₃ ) water through a pipe 16 provided with an on-off valve 16a. The (front) nozzle member 12 is connected to a supply source of hydrofluoric acid (HF; hereinafter abbreviated as hydrofluoric acid) through a pipe 17 having an on-off valve 17a.

  That is, the etching solution supply means 10 discharges ozone water (or hydrofluoric acid) from the nozzle member 11 (or 12) onto the slope surface 13a and flows down along the slope surface 13a, thereby causing ozone to continue in the transport direction. The ozone water (or hydrofluoric acid) is configured to be supplied to the upper end of the substrate S while creating a flow of water (or hydrofluoric acid), and the substrate is operated in accordance with the operation of the on-off valves 16a and 17a. The type of etching solution supplied to S (ozone water, hydrofluoric acid) can be switched. Here, as will be described later, the ozone water is intended to promote oxidation of the substrate S and is not exactly an etching solution, but it is a processing solution used in the etching chamber 1B, and as an etching solution for convenience. explain.

  The etchant supply means 10 is set to have a dimension in the transport direction sufficiently longer than the same dimension of the substrate S so that the etchant can be supplied over the entire upper end of the substrate S in a stopped state. In addition, the nozzle member 11 and / or the nozzle member 12 is further connected to a supply source of cleaning water (pure water) through a pipe provided with an opening / closing valve, and the cleaning water is supplied to the substrate S after the etching process. Prior to the cleaning process in the cleaning chamber 1C, the cleaning process may be started in the etching chamber 1B.

  In the cleaning chamber 1C, cleaning water supply means (corresponding to the cleaning liquid supply means according to the present invention) for supplying cleaning water (pure water) to the substrate S is disposed. As shown in FIGS. 1 to 5, the washing water supply means includes first to third types of supply means 20, 24 and 26.

  The first supply unit 20 is disposed above the upper end of the transport roller 2. The first supply means 20 is a long slope member having a slope surface 22a that extends in the transport direction of the substrate S and slopes downward from the rear side of the apparatus toward the front side in a direction orthogonal to the transport direction. 22 and a long nozzle member 21 disposed above the slope member 22 and extending along the slope member 22. The nozzle member 21 is composed of, for example, a spray nozzle in which a plurality of liquid discharge holes are provided downward at predetermined intervals along the longitudinal direction, and is connected to a supply source of cleaning water through a pipe 27 provided with an on-off valve 27a. . That is, the first supply unit 20 has the same configuration as the etching solution supply unit 10 described above, and the cleaning water is discharged from the nozzle member 21 to the slope member 22 and flows down along the slope surface 22a. By doing so, the cleaning water is configured to be supplied to the upper side end portion of the substrate S while creating a continuous flow of cleaning water in the transport direction.

  The downstream end of the first supply means 20 is provided up to a position in the vicinity of the partition that partitions the cleaning chamber 1C and the drying chamber 1D.

  The 2nd supply means 24 consists of what is called a slit nozzle provided with the slit-shaped liquid discharge hole, and is arrange | positioned in the downstream of the 1st supply means 20, as shown in FIGS.

  The second supply means 24 has a certain gap in the direction (corresponding to the first substrate crossing direction of the present invention) that traverses the transport substrate S from the upper side to the lower side and the transport substrate S. It is provided in a posture that is inclined along the front-rear direction of the apparatus so as to be formed, and is connected to the supply source of cleaning water through a pipe 28 provided with an on-off valve 28a. As a result, the cleaning water is supplied to the substrate S passing under the second supply means 24 in a continuous state along the front-rear direction of the apparatus.

  More specifically, the posture of the second supply unit 24 is set so as to discharge cleaning water along a direction orthogonal to the substrate surface. Further, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, the upper side (rear side) end is disposed close to the downstream end of the first supply means 20, and the cleaning water for the lower side of the substrate S is used. Is provided so as to be inclined at a predetermined angle θ1 with respect to the direction orthogonal to the transport direction so that the supply position is located downstream of the upper supply position. In the present embodiment, the angle θ1 is set within a range of 5 ° to 10 °.

  The third supply unit 26 includes a spray nozzle that extends along the transport direction and has a plurality of liquid discharge holes provided downward at predetermined intervals along the longitudinal direction. As shown in FIG. A plurality of lines are arranged at regular intervals along the inclination of the conveyance roller 2 above the conveyance path.

  These third supply means 26 are provided so as to be located inside both ends of the first supply means 20 in the transport direction, and are connected to the supply source of the cleaning water through a common pipe 29 provided with an opening / closing valve 29a. Has been. As a result, the cleaning water is configured to be supplied in a shower shape over a wide area of the surface of the substrate S.

  In the cleaning chamber 1C, a shielding plate 25 is provided between the second supply means 24 and a partition on the downstream side thereof (a partition that partitions the cleaning chamber 1C and the drying chamber 1D). The transport roller 25 prevents mist (mist-like cleaning water) generated when the cleaning water is discharged by the third supply unit 26 from being scattered on the downstream side of the second supply unit 24 and adhering to the substrate S. In this embodiment, the shielding plate 25 and the partition (the partition that partitions the cleaning chamber 1C and the drying chamber 1D) correspond to the shielding member according to the present invention.

  The drying chamber 1D is provided with an air knife 30 (corresponding to the drying means according to the present invention) for drying the substrate S by blowing air onto the substrate S to remove the cleaning water.

  The air knife 30 is composed of a slit nozzle having a slit-like air discharge hole, and as shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, the air knife 30 is disposed in the vicinity of a partition partitioning the cleaning chamber 1 </ b> C and the drying chamber 1 </ b> D. It is arranged close to the second supply means 24. The air knife 30 can be formed with a certain gap in a direction (corresponding to the second substrate crossing direction of the present invention) across the transfer substrate S from the upper side to the lower side and between the transfer substrate S. As described above, the apparatus is provided in a posture that is inclined along the front-rear direction of the apparatus, and is connected to an air supply source through a pipe 32 having an on-off valve 32a. Thus, air is supplied to the substrate S in a continuous state along the longitudinal direction of the apparatus.

  More specifically, the air knife 30 is directed slightly toward the opening 3 so as to blow air in an oblique direction to a portion of the transport substrate S passing through the opening 3 from the downstream side in the transport direction toward the upstream side. It is provided with a posture to do. Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the air supply position to the lower side of the substrate S is inclined by a predetermined angle θ2 with respect to the direction orthogonal to the transport direction so that the air supply position is located downstream of the upper spray position. It is provided to become. In the present embodiment, the angle θ2 is set within a range of 5 ° to 30 °.

In this embodiment, air is used to remove the liquid layer, but an inert gas such as nitrogen (N ₂ ) may be applied.

  Next, the processing operation of the substrate S in this apparatus 1 and its operation will be described.

  When the substrate S is loaded into the loader 1A and the substrate S is transported to a predetermined position near the etching chamber 1B by driving the transport roller 2, supply of ozone water by the etching solution supply means 10 is started first. Specifically, ozone water is discharged from the nozzle member 11 to the slope member 13 by operating the on-off valve 16a, and the ozone water flows down along the slope surface 13a.

  Therefore, when the substrate S is carried into the etching chamber 1 </ b> B by driving the transport roller 2, ozone water is supplied to the upper end portion of the substrate S in order from the front end side. The ozone water supplied to the substrate S flows down along the surface of the substrate S to form a liquid layer on the surface of the substrate S. This promotes oxidation of the substrate surface. That is, by promoting the oxidation of the substrate S in this way, particles adhering to the surface of the substrate S are contained in the oxide film.

  When the front end of the substrate S is transported to the vicinity of the downstream end of the etching solution supply means 10, the transport of the substrate S is stopped, and the supply of ozone water to the substrate S is continued for a certain period of time. By the operation 17a, the type of the etchant is switched from ozone water to hydrofluoric acid.

  The hydrofluoric acid supplied to the substrate S similarly flows down along the surface of the substrate S to form a liquid layer on the surface of the substrate S. Thereby, the oxide film formed on the substrate S is removed.

  When the supply of hydrofluoric acid to the substrate S is continued for a certain time, the transport roller 2 is driven to resume the transport of the substrate S, and the cleaning chamber 1C is operated by operating the on-off valves 27a, 28a, 29a. Then, the supply of cleaning water by the first to third supply means 20, 24, 26 is started. At this time, the supply of the cleaning water by the first supply means 20 is performed by causing the cleaning water discharged from the nozzle member 21 to the slope member 22 to flow down along the slope surface 22a.

  Accordingly, when the substrate S is carried into the cleaning chamber 1C while being carried out of the etching chamber 1B, cleaning water is supplied to the substrate S in order from the front end side. Thus, the cleaning water supplied to the substrate S flows down along the surface of the substrate S, thereby forming a liquid layer on the surface of the substrate S. Thus, the hydrofluoric acid and the cleaning water on the substrate surface are replaced to clean the substrate S, and the cleaned substrate surface is prevented from being exposed (exposed) to the atmosphere.

  When the substrate S is further transported, the operation of the on-off valve 32a starts the discharge of air from the air knife 30 in the drying chamber 1D at a predetermined timing.

  When the substrate S reaches the position of the second supply means 24 in this way, the cleaning water is continuously supplied along the front-rear direction of the apparatus by the second supply means 24, and the second of the substrates S is transported as the substrate S is transported. Air discharged from the air knife 30 is blown onto the portion that has passed through the supply means 24. Thereby, as the substrate S is transported from the cleaning chamber 1C to the drying chamber 1D, the liquid layer of cleaning water on the surface of the substrate is removed by the air pressure, and the substrate S is dried.

  And if the board | substrate S is further conveyed and passes the drying chamber 1D and is conveyed to the unloader 1E, the process of the board | substrate S by the said apparatus 1 will be complete | finished by this.

  Since the surface of the substrate S subjected to the etching process has a strong water repellency, in the cleaning process in the cleaning chamber 1C, the flow of the cleaning water flowing down along the substrate S is biased toward the center in the transport direction. It is easy to form a portion where the cleaning water does not flow down (referred to as a non-flowing portion) on the lower side of the front end portion and the rear end portion of the substrate S until the substrate S reaches the second supply means 24 (FIG. 8A). )reference). However, since the cleaning water is supplied to the unflowed portion as well when the substrate S passes through the second supply unit 24, the substrate S is subjected to the drying process while the portion that is not subjected to the cleaning process remains. Will not be applied.

  When the tip of the substrate S reaches the second supply means 24, the cleaning water supplied from the second supply means 24 and the cleaning water supplied from the first supply means 20 and the like merge on the substrate, As a result, the unflowed portion on the tip side disappears, and as shown in FIGS. 6A to 6C, the upstream side of the substrate S including the position of the second supply means 24 is formed by the liquid layer of the cleaning water. It will be covered widely. Then, air is blown from the air knife 30 close to the second supply means 24 to the substrate S in a state covered with the liquid layer in this way, and the liquid layer is removed, so that the cleaning water once flows down. Thus, the situation (see FIG. 8B) in which the portion subjected to the cleaning process (with the liquid layer of the cleaning water) is exposed to the atmosphere before the drying process is effectively prevented. The formation of a watermark due to the reattachment of cleaning water to the exposed portion is prevented in advance.

  Further, as described above, since the second supply unit 24 and the air knife 30 are provided in a state inclined by the predetermined angles θ1 and θ2 with respect to the direction orthogonal to the transport direction, the liquid layer can be removed smoothly by blowing air. And done well. That is, as described above, the second supply unit 24 is provided to be inclined, so that the cleaning water discharged to the substrate S extends along the substrate S without spreading in the transport direction on the downstream side of the second supply unit 24. As a result, as shown in FIGS. 6B and 7, the portion where the substrate S is exposed from the liquid layer at the upper end portion (that is, the corner portion) of the front end of the substrate that has passed through the second supply unit 24. Occurs. Accordingly, when air is discharged to the substrate S from the air knife 30 that is similarly inclined, as shown in FIG. 6C, the liquid layer of the cleaning water has a good layer state with the exposed portion as a base point. The surface of the substrate is smoothly and quickly removed from the corner of the substrate along the inclination of the surface, and the liquid layer of the cleaning water can be satisfactorily free from air splattering and bubbling. Will be removed.

  As described above, in this apparatus 1, while the substrate S having water repellency after the etching process is conveyed, the cleaning and drying processes are sequentially performed on the substrate S, but there is a portion where the cleaning process is not performed. The situation in which the substrate S is subjected to the drying process, or the portion where the cleaning water liquid layer is once formed and exposed to the cleaning process is exposed to the atmosphere before the drying process, and the cleaning water is exposed to the exposed portion. Occurrence of a situation in which a watermark is formed due to reattachment can be prevented in advance. Therefore, the etching process, the cleaning process, and the drying process can be satisfactorily performed on the substrate S while the substrate S on which the amorphous silicon layer is formed as described above is conveyed.

  In particular, by providing the second supply means 24 and the air knife 30 of the drying chamber 1D so as to be inclined by the predetermined angles θ1 and θ2, the drying process involves scattering of the washing water and bubbling (bubbling) by air blowing. Since it is configured so that the liquid layer of the washing water can be removed smoothly and satisfactorily, the formation of watermarks can be effectively prevented along with the drying process. In other words, the water mark is the cause of the long-term coexistence of oxygen and cleaning water on the substrate surface (silicon), therefore, the cleaning water scatters and reattaches to the dried portion, Alternatively, when a large amount of atmosphere (oxygen) in which cleaning water is bubbled by air blowing is taken into the cleaning water, a watermark is easily formed. However, according to the apparatus 1, such a situation is difficult to occur in the drying process. Therefore, there is also an advantage that the formation of the watermark accompanying the drying process can be effectively prevented.

  In addition, as a method of forming a cleaning liquid layer on the surface of the substrate and performing a cleaning process, for example, the substrate is supported in a horizontal posture, and a cleaning liquid layer is formed on the entire surface using surface tension. There is also a so-called paddle process that performs the process (with a puddle), but in this paddle process, the thickness of the liquid layer formed on the substrate surface is thick (a large amount of liquid). When air is blown, bubbling is likely to occur in the liquid layer. In this respect, according to the method of forming the liquid layer while flowing the cleaning liquid along the inclined substrate S as in the apparatus 1 (cleaning chamber 1C), the thickness of the liquid layer is thin and when air is blown, Bubbles (bubbling) hardly occur in the liquid layer. Therefore, this point also has an advantage that the formation of watermarks accompanying the drying process can be effectively prevented.

  By the way, the apparatus 1 described above is an embodiment of the substrate processing apparatus to which the present invention is applied, and the specific configuration thereof can be appropriately changed without departing from the gist of the present invention.

  For example, in the cleaning chamber 1 </ b> C of the apparatus 1, the cleaning water discharged from the nozzle member 21 flows down along the slope member 22 so that the cleaning water is supplied to the substrate S in a continuous state in the transport direction. Although one supply means 20 is configured, of course, a so-called slit nozzle having a slit-like liquid discharge port extending in the transport direction is applied as the first supply means 20 so that the substrate S is cleaned directly from the slit nozzle. It is good also as a structure which supplies water. In short, various configurations can be adopted as the first supply means 20 as long as the cleaning water can be supplied to the upper end of the substrate S in a state of being continuous in the transport direction. In addition, when providing the 1st supply means 20 as a slit nozzle as mentioned above, it is good also as an L-shaped structure which integrated the 1st supply means 20 and the 2nd supply means 24. FIG.

  Further, in the cleaning chamber 1C of the apparatus 1, the cleaning chamber 1C is provided with third supply means 26 for supplying cleaning water to the substrate S in a shower-like manner. For example, the first supply means 20 and the second supply means are provided. When sufficient cleaning processing can be performed on the substrate S with only the cleaning water from 24, the third supply unit 26 may be omitted.

  In addition, when the liquid layer can be formed on the substrate S by the third supply unit 26, the first supply unit 20 may be disposed only in a part (corner portion) on the downstream side in the cleaning chamber 1C. Good.

  Further, the inclination angle θ1 of the second supply means 24 and the inclination angle θ2 of the air knife 30 are not limited to the numerical values in the embodiment, and the size of the substrate S can be better formed and removed. It may be set according to various conditions such as. Further, the inclination angle θ1 of the second supply means 24 and the inclination angle θ2 of the air knife 30 may be the same or different.

  Moreover, in this apparatus 1, although the etching chamber 1B and the cleaning chamber 1C are provided separately, for example, by providing the nozzle members 11 and 12 for supplying ozone water and hydrofluoric acid in the cleaning chamber 1C, Specifically, the nozzle members 11, 12 are arranged side by side below the nozzle member 21 constituting the first supply means 20, and the liquid type discharged from each nozzle member 11, 12, 21 is changed to an on-off valve 16 a or the like. You may comprise so that it may switch by operation of. According to this configuration, since the etching chamber 1B and the cleaning chamber 1C can be shared, the entire apparatus can be made compact. In this case, the ozone water and the cleaning water (pure water) may be configured to switch the liquid type to be discharged in accordance with the operation of the on-off valve after sharing the nozzle member.

  Further, the first supply means 20 may be arranged in two upper and lower stages (or a plurality of stages) in the cleaning chamber 1C so that a cleaning water liquid layer can be satisfactorily formed on the substrate surface even for a larger substrate S. .

  In the above embodiment, as an application example of the present invention, a case where the cleaning and drying processing is performed on the substrate S after the etching (light etching) processing has been described. For example, the substrate surface immediately after the amorphous silicon layer is formed Has strong water repellency, the present invention can be applied to an apparatus for performing cleaning and drying treatment on a substrate immediately after the film formation.

It is sectional drawing which shows the outline of the substrate processing apparatus to which this invention is applied. It is the II-II sectional view taken on the line of FIG. 1 which shows the structure in an etching chamber. 2 is a schematic plan view of the configuration of the cleaning chamber. FIG. 6 is a schematic cross-sectional view (a cross-sectional view taken along line IV-IV in FIG. 5) showing the configuration of the cleaning chamber. FIG. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view (cross-sectional view taken along the line V-V in FIG. 1) illustrating the configuration inside the cleaning chamber. It is a plane schematic diagram which shows the state of the washing | cleaning of a board | substrate in a cleaning chamber and a drying chamber, and the condition of a drying process ((a) is the state which the front-end | tip of the board | substrate reached the 2nd supply means, (b) is the front-end | tip of a board | substrate supplying the 2nd (C) shows a state immediately after passing the means 24, and (c) shows a state where the rear end of the substrate has reached the vicinity of the second supply means). FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of a main part (portion surrounded by a broken line in FIG. 6B) of the tip portion of the substrate shown in FIG. It is a figure explaining the problem in the case of performing washing | cleaning and a drying process, supplying cleaning water to a board | substrate, and making it flow down, conveying a board | substrate with an inclination attitude | position.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Substrate processing apparatus 1A Loader 1B Etching chamber 1C Cleaning chamber 1D Drying chamber 1E Unloader 2 Transport roller 10 Etching solution supply means 20 First supply means 21 Nozzle member 22 Slope member 24 Second supply means 26 Third supply means 30 Air knife (drying) means)
S substrate

Claims (9)

The substrate having water repellency is supported in a posture in which the surface is inclined and has a conveying means for conveying the substrate in the horizontal direction along the surface, and sequentially from the upstream side along the substrate conveying direction to the conveying substrate. A substrate processing apparatus comprising: a cleaning liquid supply means for supplying a cleaning liquid; and a drying means for removing the cleaning liquid on the substrate by gas pressure,
The cleaning liquid supply means is provided along the transport direction, and in the state where the cleaning liquid continues in the same direction, a first supply means for supplying the cleaning liquid to at least the upper side end of the transport substrate;
Proximate to the downstream end of the first supply means and provided along the first substrate crossing direction that crosses the transfer substrate from the upper side to the lower side, and along the first substrate crossing direction. A second supply means for supplying the cleaning liquid to the transport substrate in a state where the cleaning liquid is continuous,
The drying means is provided along a second substrate crossing direction that is close to the second supply means and crosses the transfer substrate from the upper side to the lower side, and extends along the second substrate crossing direction. A substrate processing apparatus characterized in that gas is blown against the transfer substrate in a continuous state. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1,
The cleaning liquid supply means is provided upstream of the second supply means in the substrate transfer direction and within a range where the first supply means is provided, and the treatment liquid is shower-like with respect to the surface of the transfer substrate. A substrate processing apparatus, further comprising a third supply means for supplying. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 2,
A substrate processing apparatus, wherein a shielding member is provided between the second supply means and the drying means for preventing the cleaning liquid from scattering further downstream than the second supply means. In the substrate processing apparatus as described in any one of Claims 1 thru | or 3,
The second supply means is provided obliquely with respect to a direction orthogonal to the transport direction so that the supply position of the cleaning liquid on the lower side of the substrate is located downstream of the supply position on the upper side. A substrate processing apparatus. The substrate processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The drying means is provided obliquely with respect to a direction orthogonal to the transport direction so that the gas blowing position on the lower side of the substrate is located downstream of the blowing position on the upper side. Substrate processing apparatus. The substrate processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
The first supply unit includes a slope member provided along the transport direction and inclined in a direction orthogonal to the transport direction, and a nozzle member disposed above the slope member along the transport direction, A substrate processing apparatus, wherein a cleaning liquid is discharged from the nozzle member to the slope member, and is supplied to the transport substrate while forming a continuous flow of the cleaning liquid in the transport direction. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 6,
A processing liquid supply means for performing a predetermined process other than the cleaning process on the substrate prior to the cleaning process by the cleaning liquid by supplying a processing liquid different from the cleaning liquid to the transport substrate with respect to the transport substrate;
The processing liquid supply means includes a nozzle member disposed above the slope member, and causes the cleaning liquid to be discharged from the nozzle member to the slope member, thereby causing a continuous flow of the processing liquid in the transport direction. A substrate processing apparatus, wherein the substrate processing apparatus is supplied to a transfer substrate while forming. A substrate having water repellency is supported with its surface inclined, and a cleaning liquid is supplied and allowed to flow down along the upper side edge of the substrate while being transported horizontally along the surface. On the surface, a liquid layer forming step of forming a liquid layer of the cleaning liquid over the entire direction orthogonal to the transport direction in order from the front end of the transport direction
And a liquid layer removing step of removing the liquid layer by blowing gas onto the liquid layer in order from the front end side of the substrate on which the liquid layer is formed. The substrate processing method according to claim 8,
Prior to gas blowing in the liquid layer removing step, the substrate has a step of forming a portion where the substrate surface is exposed from the liquid layer at a front end in the transport direction of the substrate and at an upper end thereof Processing method.

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