JP2015019024A - Substrate processing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a substrate processing apparatus which can inhibit or prevent reattachment of a foreign material thereby to enhance cleanliness of brush.SOLUTION: A substrate processing apparatus comprises: an elastically deformable and columnar cleaning brush 5 which is pressed to a surface or a rear face of a substrate; a cleaning fluid supply mechanism for supplying a cleaning fluid to the cleaning brush 5; a cleaning bar 42 which has a length in a longer direction orthogonal to a center axis line 21 of the cleaning brush 5 is greater than or equal to an outer diameter Wof the cleaning brush 5 and a length in a width direction orthogonal to the center axis line 21 and the longer direction of the cleaning brush 5 is shorter than the outer diameter Wof the cleaning brush 5; a brush moving mechanism and a brush rolling mechanism which relatively move the cleaning brush 5 and the cleaning bar 42; and a control unit for relatively moving the cleaning brush 5 and the cleaning bar 42 by controlling the brush moving mechanism and the brush rolling mechanism in a state where the cleaning brush 5 is pressed to an outer peripheral surface of the cleaning bar 42.

Description

  The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus for processing a substrate. Examples of substrates to be processed include semiconductor wafers, liquid crystal display substrates, plasma display substrates, FED (Field Emission Display) substrates, optical disk substrates, magnetic disk substrates, magneto-optical disk substrates, and photomasks. Substrate, ceramic substrate, solar cell substrate and the like.

In a manufacturing process of a semiconductor device or a liquid crystal display device, scrub cleaning may be performed in which the substrate is cleaned by rubbing a brush against a substrate such as a semiconductor wafer or a glass substrate for a liquid crystal display device. When scrub cleaning is performed, foreign substances such as contaminants adhere to the brush. Therefore, the brush itself needs to be cleaned to prevent the transfer of foreign substances.
Patent Document 1 discloses a cleaning device that rubs a cleaning member and a correction member in a state where the entire region of the front end portion of the cleaning member made of polyurethane foam is pressed against the correction member. Patent Document 2 discloses a cleaning device that rubs a brush and a cleaning body in a state where the entire tip of the brush composed of a plurality of hairs is pressed against the cleaning body.

Japanese Patent No. 3447869 JP-A-8-39014

  In Patent Document 1, since the entire region of the tip of the cleaning member is in contact with the correction member, the contact area between the cleaning member and the correction member is large, and foreign matter taken from the cleaning member is discharged from between the cleaning member and the correction member. It is hard to be done. That is, since the distance from the center of the contact area of the cleaning member and the correction member to the outer edge of the contact area is relatively large, the foreign matter present at the center of the contact area does not easily reach the outer edge of the contact area. For this reason, the foreign matter taken from the cleaning member may reattach to the cleaning member. Similarly, in Patent Document 2, since the entire region of the tip of the brush is pressed against the cleaning body, the foreign matter removed from the brush may reattach to the brush.

  Accordingly, one of the objects of the present invention is to provide a substrate processing apparatus that can suppress or prevent the reattachment of foreign matters and thereby increase the cleanliness of the brush.

In order to solve this problem, the invention described in claim 1 includes an elastically deformable columnar brush (5) pressed against the front or back surface of the substrate (W), and a cleaning liquid supply means (43) for supplying a cleaning liquid to the brush. ) And the length (W ₁ ) in the longitudinal direction perpendicular to the center line (21) of the brush is equal to or greater than the outer diameter (W ₂ ) of the brush and perpendicular to the center line of the brush and the longitudinal direction. length in the width direction _{(W 3)} and a small cleaning bar than the outer diameter of the brush (42,71,72,73), the relative movement means for relatively moving the said cleaning bar and the brush (19, 31, 32) and control means (47) for controlling the relative movement means to move the brush and the cleaning bar relative to each other while the brush is pressed against the outer peripheral surface of the cleaning bar. Processing device (1) A.

In addition, although the alphanumeric character in a parenthesis represents the corresponding component etc. in below-mentioned embodiment, it is not the meaning which limits a claim to embodiment. The same applies hereinafter.
According to this configuration, the cleaning liquid is supplied to the brush that cleans the front surface or the back surface of the substrate. Thereby, the foreign material adhering to the brush is washed away. The control means brings the brush and the cleaning bar into contact with each other by controlling the relative movement means. Thereby, the brush and the cleaning bar are pressed against each other, and the cleaning liquid in the brush is discharged by elastic deformation of the brush. Therefore, the foreign matter adhering to the brush is discharged together with the cleaning liquid in the brush. The control means further causes the relative movement means to relatively move the brush and the cleaning bar in a state where the brush and the cleaning bar are pressed against each other. As a result, the brush and the cleaning bar are rubbed together, and foreign matter adhering to the brush is rubbed off.

  Since the width of the cleaning bar (the length in the width direction perpendicular to the center line of the brush and the longitudinal direction of the cleaning bar) is smaller than the outer diameter of the columnar brush, the contact area between the brush and the cleaning bar compared to the conventional configuration Is small. Therefore, it is difficult for foreign matter to remain between the brush and the cleaning bar. Further, the cleaning liquid discharged from the portion of the brush pressed against the cleaning bar and the portion in the vicinity thereof quickly moves away from the brush along with the foreign matter through the periphery of the cleaning bar. Therefore, it is difficult for foreign matter to reattach to the brush. Therefore, the cleanliness of the brush can be increased. Thereby, the cleanliness of the substrate cleaned by the brush after cleaning can be increased.

  Further, since the contact area between the brush and the cleaning bar is small, the force for elastically deforming the brush (force applied to the brush) can be reduced as compared with the conventional configuration if the deformation amount of the brush is the same. In other words, if the force applied to the brush is the same as in the conventional configuration, the amount of elastic deformation of the brush can be increased. As a result, the cleaning bar can penetrate into the interior of the brush and more cleaning liquid in the brush can be discharged. Therefore, the foreign matter in the brush can be discharged together with the cleaning liquid, and the residual amount of foreign matter can be reduced.

  Furthermore, since the length of the cleaning bar (length in the longitudinal direction) is equal to or greater than the outer diameter of the brush, the cleaning bar is pressed over the entire area of the brush tip without having to scan the tip of the brush with the cleaning bar. Can do. For example, by rotating the brush and the cleaning bar relative to each other around the center line of the brush by 180 degrees or more, the cleaning bar can be pressed over the entire region of the tip of the brush. Alternatively, the cleaning bar can be pressed across the entire tip of the brush by linearly moving the brush and the cleaning bar in the width direction so that the contact area between the brush and the cleaning bar straddles the tip of the brush. it can. Therefore, the entire region of the tip of the brush can be cleaned while suppressing an increase in the cleaning time of the brush.

Note that the brush may be configured by a sponge or a plurality of hairs, and may include a sponge portion configured by a sponge and a hair bundle unit configured by a plurality of hairs.
The invention according to claim 2 is the substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the outer peripheral surface of the cleaning bar is inclined with respect to a vertical direction and includes inclined portions (42c, 72a, 73a) against which the brush is pressed. It is.

  According to this configuration, a part (inclined portion) of the outer peripheral surface of the cleaning bar is inclined with respect to the vertical direction, and the brush is pressed against the inclined portion. When the brush is pressed against the cleaning bar, the cleaning liquid in the brush is discharged to an area in contact with the brush on the outer peripheral surface of the cleaning bar. That is, the cleaning liquid in the brush is discharged to the inclined portion of the cleaning bar. When the area where the cleaning liquid is discharged is horizontal, the cleaning liquid does not flow downward along this area. On the other hand, when the area | region (inclination part) where the washing | cleaning liquid was discharged | emitted is inclined with respect to the perpendicular direction, a washing | cleaning liquid tends to flow below along an inclination part by gravity. Accordingly, the cleaning liquid and the foreign matters contained therein are easily discharged from between the brush and the cleaning bar. Therefore, it is difficult for foreign matter to reattach to the brush.

A third aspect of the present invention is the substrate processing apparatus according to the second aspect, wherein the outer peripheral surface of the cleaning bar has an annular (circular or elliptical) cross section orthogonal to the longitudinal direction.
According to this configuration, the outer peripheral surface of the cleaning bar is cylindrical, and almost all of the outer peripheral surface of the cleaning bar is inclined with respect to the vertical direction, and therefore, the cleaning bar is discharged from the inside of the brush to the outer peripheral surface of the cleaning bar. The cleaning liquid easily flows downward along the outer peripheral surface of the cleaning bar by gravity. Accordingly, the cleaning liquid and the foreign matters contained therein are easily discharged from between the brush and the cleaning bar. Furthermore, since the brush is pressed against the outer peripheral surface of the rounded cleaning bar, the brush is less likely to be damaged than when the outer peripheral surface of the cleaning bar is polygonal.

The invention according to claim 4 is the substrate processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the relative moving means includes a rotating means (19) for rotating the brush around a center line of the brush. It is.
According to this configuration, the rotating means rotates the brush around a center line of the brush by a predetermined angle (for example, 180 degrees or more) while the brush and the cleaning bar are pressed against each other. As a result, the cleaning bar is pressed against the entire region of the brush tip, and the entire region of the brush tip is rubbed against the cleaning bar. Accordingly, foreign matter is removed from the entire area of the tip of the brush, and the residual amount of foreign matter is reduced. When the rotating means rotates the brush at a rotation angle larger than 180 degrees, the cleaning bar is pressed against the same part of the brush a plurality of times, and a part of the brush repeats elastic deformation and restoration. As a result, the cleaning liquid in the brush is discharged a plurality of times, and foreign matter adhering to the brush is reliably removed.

The invention according to claim 5 is the substrate processing according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the relative movement means includes axial movement means (31) for moving the brush in the axial direction of the brush. Device.
According to this configuration, the axial direction moving means moves the brush in the axial direction along the center line of the brush. Thereby, the distance between the brush and the cleaning bar and the pressing amount of the cleaning bar against the brush (the amount of elastic deformation of the brush) are changed. Therefore, the control unit can switch between a contact state in which the brush and the cleaning bar are in contact with each other and a non-contact state in which the brush and the cleaning bar are separated by controlling the axial movement unit. As a result, the cleaning bar is pressed against the brush a plurality of times, so that the foreign matter adhering to the brush is reliably removed. Furthermore, since the control means can change the pressing amount of the cleaning bar by controlling the axial movement means, the foreign matter adhering to the brush can be reliably removed.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, the cleaning bar is opened at an outer peripheral surface of the cleaning bar, and a cleaning liquid discharge port (49) that discharges the cleaning liquid toward the brush, and an interior that guides the cleaning liquid to the cleaning liquid discharge port The flow path (50) is a cylindrical shape including the cleaning liquid supply means according to any one of claims 1 to 5, including a cleaning liquid pipe (51) for supplying a cleaning liquid to the internal flow path. A substrate processing apparatus.

  According to this configuration, the cleaning liquid flowing in the cleaning liquid pipe is supplied to the internal flow path provided in the cylindrical cleaning bar, and then, from the cleaning liquid discharge port that opens at the outer peripheral surface of the cleaning bar toward the brush. Discharged. Thereby, the cleaning liquid is supplied to the brush, and the foreign matter adhering to the brush is washed away. Further, since the cleaning liquid is held inside the brush, the cleaning liquid in the brush can be discharged out of the brush when the brush and the cleaning bar are pressed against each other. The foreign matter can be removed from the brush by the flow of the cleaning liquid. Thereby, the residual amount of foreign matter can be reduced.

A seventh aspect of the present invention is the substrate processing apparatus according to the sixth aspect, wherein the cleaning liquid discharge port is opened at a position where the brush is pressed on an outer peripheral surface of the cleaning bar.
According to this configuration, the cleaning liquid discharge port that discharges the cleaning liquid toward the brush is opened at a position where the brush is pressed on the outer peripheral surface of the cleaning bar. In other words, the cleaning liquid discharge port is open in the contact area between the brush and the cleaning bar and faces the brush. Therefore, the cleaning liquid discharged from the cleaning liquid discharge port is reliably and efficiently supplied to the brush. Thereby, the foreign matter adhering to the brush can be efficiently removed, and the cleaning liquid can be reliably supplied to a part of the brush from which the cleaning liquid is discharged.

FIG. 1 is a side view showing a schematic configuration of a substrate processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a schematic configuration of the substrate processing apparatus. FIG. 3 is an enlarged plan view showing a schematic configuration of the brush cleaning mechanism. 4A is a diagram showing a cross section taken along a cutting line viewed in the direction of arrow IVA shown in FIG. 4B is a diagram showing a cross section taken along the cutting line viewed in the direction of arrow IVB shown in FIG. FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining an operation example of the brush cleaning mechanism. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view for explaining an operation example of the brush cleaning mechanism. FIG. 7A is a cross-sectional view showing a first modification of the cleaning bar. FIG. 7B is a cross-sectional view showing a second modification of the cleaning bar. FIG. 7C is a cross-sectional view illustrating a third modification of the cleaning bar.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of a substrate processing apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a schematic configuration of the substrate processing apparatus 1 according to FIG.
The substrate processing apparatus 1 is a single wafer type apparatus for scrub cleaning a semiconductor substrate (hereinafter simply referred to as a substrate W) as an example of a substrate. Hereinafter, the surface on which the device is formed is referred to as the front surface of the substrate W, and the surface opposite to the front surface is referred to as the back surface of the substrate W.

The substrate processing apparatus 1 includes a processing chamber 2 partitioned by partition walls, a spin chuck 3 that rotates the substrate W horizontally held in the processing chamber 2, and a processing liquid supply mechanism for supplying the processing liquid to the substrate W. 4, a substrate cleaning mechanism 6 that cleans the front or back surface of the substrate W with the cleaning brush 5, and a brush cleaning mechanism 7 that cleans the cleaning brush 5.
The spin chuck 3 is a vacuum adsorption chuck. The spin chuck 3 includes a suction base 10 that holds the substrate W in a horizontal posture, a cylindrical rotary shaft 11 that extends downward from the suction base 10, and a first rotation drive mechanism 12 that rotates the suction base 10 and the rotary shaft 11. And.

The rotary shaft 11 extends in the vertical direction from the first rotary drive mechanism 12 and is coupled to the first rotary drive mechanism 12. A suction base 10 that sucks and holds the substrate W from the lower surface side of the substrate W is attached to the upper end of the rotating shaft 11 in the vertical direction. The substrate W is held substantially horizontally by the suction base 10 with the front or back surface of the substrate W facing upward.
The first rotation drive mechanism 12 is, for example, an electric motor. The rotating shaft 11 transmits the driving force of the first rotation driving mechanism 12 to the suction base 10. Thereby, the substrate W is rotated together with the suction base 10 around the vertical rotation axis 14 passing through the center of the substrate W. In this embodiment, the adsorption-type spin chuck 3 is illustrated, but the spin chuck 3 may be a sandwich chuck that sandwiches the substrate W with a plurality of substrate sandwiching members.

The substrate cleaning mechanism 6 includes a cleaning brush 5 for scrub cleaning the substrate W, a swing arm 17 extending substantially horizontally above the position where the spin chuck 3 holds the substrate W, and a rotation brush 5 for rotating the cleaning brush 5. A brush rotating mechanism 18 and a brush moving mechanism 22 for moving the cleaning brush 5 integrally with the swing arm 17 are provided.
The brush rotation mechanism 18 includes a second rotation drive mechanism 19 disposed in the swing arm 17 and a shaft 20 coupled to the second rotation drive mechanism 19. The second rotation drive mechanism 19 is, for example, an electric motor. The shaft 20 extends in the vertical direction. The upper end of the shaft 20 in the vertical direction is coupled to the second rotation drive mechanism 19. Further, the lower end of the shaft 20 in the vertical direction protrudes downward from the swing arm 17. The shaft 20 is rotationally driven around the central axis 21 of the shaft 20 by the second rotational drive mechanism 19.

  The cleaning brush 5 is connected to the lower end of the shaft 20 via a holder mounting portion 24 and a brush holder 25. The brush holder 25 holds the cleaning brush 5 with a part of the cleaning brush 5 protruding downward. The driving force of the second rotational drive mechanism 19 is transmitted to the cleaning brush 5 via the shaft 20. As a result, the cleaning brush 5 is driven to rotate around the central axis 21 of the shaft 20 by the brush rotating mechanism 18. That is, the central axis of the cleaning brush 5 is the same as the central axis 21 of the shaft 20.

  The cleaning brush 5 includes a cleaning surface 26 provided at the front end (lower end) of the cleaning brush 5. The cleaning surface 26 of the cleaning brush 5 faces the upper surface of the substrate W. The shape of the cleaning brush 5 is a columnar shape that is rotationally symmetric about the central axis 21. In this embodiment, an example in which the cleaning brush 5 is formed in a columnar shape is shown. The cleaning brush 5 is formed of a sponge material such as PVA (polyvinyl alcohol) as an example of a brush material. Therefore, the cleaning brush 5 is an elastically deformable brush that elastically deforms when pressed against the upper surface of the substrate W.

The brush moving mechanism 22 includes a vertically extending arm support shaft 30 that supports the swing arm 17, and a lift drive mechanism 31 and a swing drive mechanism 32 coupled to the arm support shaft 30.
The swing drive mechanism 32 is configured to be able to swing the swing arm 17 along a horizontal plane. By inputting the driving force of the swing drive mechanism 32 to the arm support shaft 30, the swing arm 17 and the cleaning brush 5 can be swung integrally. More specifically, the cleaning brush 5 is rocked integrally with the rocking arm 17 around a rocking axis 33 extending in the vertical direction along the arm support shaft 30. In FIG. 2, the cleaning brush 5 has a substantially arc-shaped trajectory passing from above the standby position of the cleaning brush 5 (the position of the two-dot chain line) set outside the rotation range of the substrate W and above the center of the upper surface of the substrate W. An example of rocking along T is shown. The elevating drive mechanism 31 is configured to be able to raise and lower the swing arm 17. By inputting the driving force of the lifting drive mechanism 31 to the arm support shaft 30, the swing arm 17 and the cleaning brush 5 can be lifted and lowered integrally.

  The processing liquid supply mechanism 4 includes a processing liquid nozzle 36 that discharges a processing liquid (for example, deionized water) toward the upper surface of the substrate W. A processing liquid from a processing liquid supply source (not shown) is supplied to the processing liquid nozzle 36 via a processing liquid supply pipe 37. A processing liquid valve 38 is interposed in the middle of the processing liquid supply pipe 37. By opening and closing the processing liquid valve 38, it is possible to switch the discharge / stop of the processing liquid from the processing liquid nozzle 36. The processing liquid nozzle 36 discharges the processing liquid supplied through the processing liquid supply pipe 37 toward the upper surface of the substrate W rotated by the spin chuck 3. The processing liquid discharged from the processing liquid nozzle 36 is deposited in a range including the rotation center on the upper surface of the substrate W.

  The brush cleaning mechanism 7 includes a cylindrical standby pod 41 disposed at a standby position of the cleaning brush 5, a cleaning bar 42 mounted in the standby pod 41, and a cleaning liquid (for example, carbonated water or pure water). And a cleaning liquid supply mechanism 43 for supplying. The standby pod 41 has a cylindrical shape extending in the vertical direction with the upper and lower ends open. The cleaning liquid supplied from the cleaning liquid supply mechanism 43 into the standby pod 41 is captured by the receiving portion 44 disposed below the standby pod 41. The cleaning liquid captured by the receiving portion 44 is discharged through the drain pipe 45. The position where the cleaning brush 5 is stored in the standby pod 41 is the standby position of the cleaning brush 5.

  The substrate processing apparatus 1 includes a control device 47 for controlling each part. The control device 47 is configured to control the first rotation drive mechanism 12, the second rotation drive mechanism 19, the swing drive mechanism 32, the elevating drive mechanism 31, the processing liquid valve 38, and the like. In this embodiment, the second rotation drive mechanism 19, the swing drive mechanism 32, and the lift drive mechanism 31 function as relative movement means for moving the cleaning brush 5.

The scrub cleaning process of the substrate W by the substrate processing apparatus 1 is performed as follows.
During processing, first, an unprocessed substrate W is carried into the processing chamber 2 by a substrate transfer robot (not shown), and the front surface or the back surface of the substrate W is adsorbed to the adsorption base 10. At this time, the cleaning brush 5 is in the standby position and is housed in the standby pod 41 (see the position of the swing arm 17 indicated by the two-dot chain line in FIG. 2).

  After the substrate W is adsorbed to the adsorption base 10, the control device 47 drives the first rotation drive mechanism 12 of the spin chuck 3 and inputs the driving force of the first rotation drive mechanism 12 to the rotation shaft 11. As a result, the suction base 10 and the substrate W integrally start to rotate around the rotation axis 14. At this time, the control device 47 controls the elevating drive mechanism 31 to raise the swing arm 17. As a result, the cleaning brush 5 is moved away from the standby position and raised to a position further above the upper surface of the substrate W (hereinafter referred to as the upper position).

  After the cleaning brush 5 reaches the upper position, the control device 47 controls the swing drive mechanism 32 to swing the swing arm 17. Accordingly, the cleaning brush 5 is swung from the upper side of the standby pod 41 toward the upper part of the upper surface center of the substrate W along the locus T while maintaining the height of the upper position. When the cleaning brush 5 reaches above the center of the upper surface of the substrate W (see the position of the swing arm 17 shown by the solid line in FIG. 2), the processing liquid valve 38 is opened by the control device 47 and the processing liquid nozzle 36 is opened. The processing liquid is discharged.

  The processing liquid discharged from the processing liquid nozzle 36 is supplied to the center of the upper surface of the substrate W. After the processing liquid is supplied to the center of the upper surface of the substrate W, the control device 47 controls the elevating drive mechanism 31 to lower the swing arm 17. At this time, the swing arm 17 is lowered to a position where the cleaning surface 26 of the cleaning brush 5 is in contact with the center of the upper surface of the substrate W with a predetermined pressing pressure (hereinafter referred to as a lower position). In this state, the control device 47 moves the cleaning brush 5 along the locus T by the swing drive mechanism 32. As a result, the cleaning brush 5 moves between the center of the upper surface of the substrate W and the peripheral edge of the upper surface of the substrate W, and the cleaning brush 5 is rubbed over the entire upper surface of the substrate W. As a result, scrub cleaning is performed on the upper surface of the substrate W.

After the cleaning brush 5 reaches the peripheral edge of the upper surface of the substrate W, the control device 47 controls the elevating drive mechanism 31 to lift the cleaning brush 5 away from the upper surface of the substrate W to the upper position. After the cleaning brush 5 is separated from the substrate W, the processing liquid valve 38 is closed by the control device 47, and the discharge of the processing liquid from the processing liquid nozzle 36 is stopped.
After raising the cleaning brush 5 to the upper position, the control device 47 controls the swing drive mechanism 32 to swing the swing arm 17. Accordingly, the cleaning brush 5 is swung upwardly from the standby pod 41 while maintaining the height of the upper position. After the cleaning brush 5 reaches above the standby pod 41, the control device 47 controls the lifting drive mechanism 31 to lower the cleaning brush 5 to the standby position. After the cleaning brush 5 is stored in the standby pod 41, a brush cleaning process by the brush cleaning mechanism 7 is performed.

  Further, after the cleaning brush 5 is accommodated in the standby pod 41, the control device 47 accelerates the rotation speed of the suction base 10 to a higher speed than before. The processing liquid adhering to the substrate W is spun off and removed by the high speed rotation of the substrate W. Thereby, the substrate W is dried. After the drying process of the substrate W is executed for a predetermined time, the control device 47 stops the rotation of the first rotation drive mechanism 12. Thereafter, the processed substrate W is unloaded from the processing chamber 2 by the substrate transfer robot.

Next, the configuration of the brush cleaning mechanism 7 will be described more specifically with reference to FIGS. 3, 4A and 4B.
FIG. 3 is an enlarged plan view showing a schematic configuration of the brush cleaning mechanism 7. 4A is a diagram showing a cross section taken along a cutting line viewed in the direction of arrow IVA shown in FIG. 4B is a diagram showing a cross section taken along the cutting line viewed in the direction of arrow IVB shown in FIG. 3, 4A and 4B show a state (free state) in which the cleaning brush 5 is located at the standby position and is not elastically deformed.

As shown in FIG. 3, the brush cleaning mechanism 7 includes a cylindrical standby pod 41, a cleaning bar 42 attached in the standby pod 41, and a cleaning liquid supply mechanism 43 attached to the standby pod 41. .
As shown in FIG. 4A, the standby pod 41 has an upper opening 41a for inserting the cleaning brush 5 and a lower part for discharging the cleaning liquid supplied from the cleaning liquid supply mechanism 43 to the receiving portion 44 (see FIG. 1). Side opening 41b. The upper opening 41 a of the standby pod 41 has an inner diameter larger than the outer diameter of the holder mounting portion 24. As a result, the entire brush holder 25 and the cleaning brush 5 are accommodated in the standby pod 41.

  The cleaning liquid supply mechanism 43 includes a cleaning liquid nozzle 56 that discharges the cleaning liquid toward the cleaning brush 5 in the standby pod 41, and a cleaning liquid pipe 51 that supplies the cleaning liquid to the cleaning liquid nozzle 56. The cleaning liquid nozzle 56 is attached to the standby pod 41. More specifically, the cleaning liquid nozzle 56 is attached to the standby pod 41 at a height between the cleaning bar 42 and the upper opening 41a of the standby pod 41 in this embodiment. A cleaning liquid from a cleaning liquid supply source (not shown) is supplied to the cleaning liquid nozzle 56 via the cleaning liquid pipe 51. In the middle of the cleaning liquid pipe 51, a cleaning liquid valve 57 is interposed. By opening and closing the cleaning liquid valve 57, it is possible to switch the discharge / stop of the cleaning liquid from the cleaning liquid nozzle 56. The cleaning liquid discharged from the cleaning liquid nozzle 56 passes through the lower opening 41b of the standby pod 41 and is captured by the receiving portion 44 (see FIG. 1) disposed below the standby pod 41.

The cleaning bar 42 is formed in a cylindrical shape, for example, and includes a cleaning liquid discharge port 49 that discharges the cleaning liquid from the outer peripheral surface of the cleaning bar 42 toward the cleaning brush 5, and an internal channel 50 that guides the cleaning liquid to the cleaning liquid discharge port 49. including.
As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4A, the cleaning bar 42 extends in the longitudinal direction perpendicular to the central axis 21 of the cleaning brush 5. Both the one end 42 a and the other end 42 b in the longitudinal direction of the cleaning bar 42 penetrate the outer peripheral surface and inner peripheral surface of the standby pod 41. One end 42 a and the other end 42 b of the cleaning bar 42 are supported by the standby pod 41. One end 42a of the cleaning bar 42 is open, and a cleaning liquid pipe 51 for supplying the cleaning liquid is attached. On the other hand, the other end 42b of the cleaning bar 42 is not opened but is closed.

  On the outer peripheral surface of the cleaning bar 42, one or more cleaning liquid discharge ports 49 are formed at positions facing the cleaning surface 26 of the cleaning brush 5. In this embodiment, three cleaning liquid discharge ports 49 (see FIG. 4A) separated in the longitudinal direction of the cleaning bar 42 and three cleaning liquid discharge ports 49 (see FIG. 6) separated in the circumferential direction of the cleaning bar 42 are It is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the cleaning bar 42. The cleaning bar 42 is connected to the cleaning liquid pipe 51. That is, the cleaning liquid pipe 51 is a common pipe for supplying the cleaning liquid to the cleaning liquid nozzle 56 and the cleaning liquid discharge port 49.

  A cleaning liquid from a cleaning liquid supply source (not shown) is supplied to the cleaning liquid nozzle 56 and the cleaning liquid discharge port 49 via the cleaning liquid pipe 51. By opening and closing the cleaning liquid valve 57, it is possible to switch the discharge / stop of the cleaning liquid from the cleaning liquid nozzle 56 and the cleaning liquid discharge port 49. The cleaning liquid discharge port 49 discharges the cleaning liquid guided from the cleaning liquid pipe 51 to the internal flow path 50 of the cleaning bar 42 toward the cleaning surface 26 of the cleaning brush 5.

The outer peripheral surface of the cleaning bar 42 has a circular cross section orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the cleaning bar 42 as shown in FIG. 4B. That is, the outer peripheral surface of the cleaning bar 42 is inclined with respect to the cleaning surface 26 of the cleaning brush 5, and includes an inclined portion 42 c against which the cleaning brush 5 is pressed. In this embodiment, the outer peripheral surface of the cleaning bar 42 has an inclined portion 42c having a curved cross section.
Longitudinal length W ₁ of the cleaning bar 42, as shown in FIG. 4A, (in this embodiment, the diameter of the cleaning surface 26 of the cleaning brush 5) outer diameter of the cleaning brush 5 is W ₂ or more. Further, the length W ₃ in the width direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the cleaning bar 42 is smaller than the outer diameter W ₂ of the cleaning brush 5 as shown in FIG. 4B.

Examples of the material of the cleaning bar 42 include a fluororesin (for example, PFA), a material containing silicon (for example, silicon and silicon oxide), quartz, and the like. The cleaning bar 42 is preferably made of quartz that has a relatively small amount of impurities and that can easily transfer foreign substances attached to the cleaning brush 5.
Next, a brush cleaning process by the brush cleaning mechanism 7 will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining an operation example of the brush cleaning mechanism 7. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view for explaining an operation example of the brush cleaning mechanism 7. FIG. 6 shows a state where the cleaning brush 5 is arranged at the pressing position (cleaning position) below the standby position.
When cleaning the cleaning brush 5, first, the control device 47 opens the cleaning liquid valve 57 with the cleaning brush 5 positioned at the standby position. Thereby, discharge of the cleaning liquid from the cleaning liquid nozzle 56 and the cleaning liquid discharge port 49 is started. The cleaning liquid discharged from the cleaning liquid nozzle 56 and the cleaning liquid discharge port 49 is supplied to a plurality of positions of the cleaning brush 5 including the cleaning surface 26 (S1: cleaning liquid discharge process).

  After the supply of the cleaning liquid to the cleaning brush 5 is started, the control device 47 controls the elevating drive mechanism 31 so that the cleaning bar 42 starts from the standby position where the cleaning surface 26 of the cleaning brush 5 contacts the outer peripheral surface of the cleaning bar 42. The cleaning brush 5 is lowered to a pressing position where the cleaning bar 42 bites into the cleaning brush 5 due to elastic deformation. Thereby, the cleaning brush 5 and the cleaning bar 42 are pressed against each other, and the cleaning liquid in the cleaning brush 5 is discharged by elastic deformation of the cleaning brush 5 (S2: cleaning brush lowering step). As shown in FIG. 3, in the pressing position, the cleaning brush 5 and the cleaning bar 42 are pressed against each other so that the cleaning bar 42 extends along the diameter of the cleaning brush 5.

  After the cleaning brush 5 is brought into contact with the outer peripheral surface of the cleaning bar 42 with a predetermined pressing pressure, the control device 47 controls the second rotation drive mechanism 19 (see FIG. 1) to rotate the cleaning brush 5. Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 6, the cleaning brush 5 and the cleaning bar 42 are rubbed against each other, and the cleaning bar 42 contacts the entire area of the cleaning surface 26 of the cleaning brush 5. Therefore, the foreign matter 58 adhering to the cleaning brush 5 is scraped off (S3: cleaning brush rotating step).

  After the cleaning brush 5 is pressed against the cleaning bar 42, the cleaning brush rotating step S3 is performed for a predetermined time, and then the rotation of the cleaning brush 5 is stopped by the control device 47. Then, after the rotation of the cleaning brush 5 is stopped, the cleaning liquid valve 57 is closed by the controller 47, and the discharge of the cleaning liquid from the cleaning liquid nozzle 56 and the cleaning liquid discharge port 49 is stopped (S4: cleaning liquid discharge stop).

After the cleaning liquid discharge stop S4, the controller 47 controls the lift drive mechanism 31 to raise the cleaning brush 5 to the standby position. The cleaning brush 5 is cleaned through the above steps. Then, the next substrate W is cleaned by the cleaning brush 5 after cleaning.
As shown in FIG. 6, in the cleaning brush rotating step S3, the cleaning liquid flowing in the cleaning liquid pipe 51 is supplied to the cleaning liquid nozzle 56 and the internal flow path 50 provided inside the cylindrical cleaning bar 42, and then the cleaning liquid The ink is discharged toward the cleaning brush 5 from the nozzle 56 and the cleaning liquid discharge port 49 opened at the outer peripheral surface of the cleaning bar 42. As a result, the cleaning liquid is supplied to the cleaning brush 5 and the foreign matter 58 adhering to the cleaning brush 5 is washed away. Further, since the cleaning liquid is held inside the cleaning brush 5, the cleaning liquid in the cleaning brush 5 can be discharged out of the cleaning brush 5 when the cleaning brush 5 and the cleaning bar 42 are pressed against each other. The foreign matter 58 can be removed from the cleaning brush 5 by the flow of the cleaning liquid. Thereby, the residual amount of the foreign material 58 can be reduced.

  A cleaning liquid discharge port 49 that discharges the cleaning liquid toward the cleaning brush 5 is opened at a position where the cleaning brush 5 is pressed on the outer peripheral surface of the cleaning bar 42. In other words, the cleaning liquid discharge port 49 opens in the contact area between the cleaning brush 5 and the cleaning bar 42 when the cleaning brush 5 is disposed at the pressing position, and faces the cleaning brush 5. Therefore, the cleaning liquid discharged from the cleaning liquid discharge port 49 is reliably and efficiently supplied to the cleaning brush 5. Thereby, the foreign matter 58 adhering to the cleaning brush 5 can be efficiently removed, and the cleaning liquid can be reliably supplied to a part of the cleaning brush 5 from which the cleaning liquid is discharged.

Further, when the cleaning brush rotation step S3 is the width W ₃ of the cleaning bar 42 is smaller than the outer diameter W ₂ of the cylindrical cleaning brush 5, the conventional washing by pressing the entire surface of the cleaning surface of the cleaning brush to fix member Unlike the configuration of FIG. 3, the contact area S ₁ between the cleaning brush 5 and the cleaning bar 42 (the area of the hatched area in FIG. 3) is smaller than the area S ₂ of the cleaning surface 26 of the cleaning brush 5. Accordingly, it is difficult for the foreign matter 58 to remain between the cleaning brush 5 and the cleaning bar 42. Further, the cleaning liquid discharged from the portion of the cleaning brush 5 pressed against the cleaning bar 42 and the portion in the vicinity thereof quickly moves away from the cleaning brush 5 together with the foreign matter 58 through the periphery of the cleaning bar 42. Therefore, the foreign matter 58 is difficult to reattach to the cleaning brush 5. Therefore, the cleanliness of the cleaning brush 5 can be increased. Thereby, the cleanliness of the substrate W to be cleaned by the cleaning brush 5 after cleaning can be increased.

Furthermore, since the contact area S ₁ (see FIG. 3) between the cleaning brush 5 and the cleaning bar 42 is smaller than the area S ₂ of the cleaning surface 26 of the cleaning brush 5, if the deformation amount of the cleaning brush 5 is the same, The force for elastically deforming the cleaning brush 5 (the force applied to the cleaning brush 5) can be reduced as compared with the conventional configuration. In other words, if the force applied to the cleaning brush 5 is the same as that of the conventional configuration, the elastic deformation amount of the cleaning brush 5 can be increased. As a result, the cleaning bar 42 can be digged into the interior of the cleaning brush 5 and more cleaning liquid in the cleaning brush 5 can be discharged. Therefore, the foreign matter 58 in the cleaning brush 5 can be discharged together with the cleaning liquid, and the residual amount of the foreign matter 58 can be reduced.

  Furthermore, since the outer peripheral surface of the cleaning bar 42 is cylindrical and almost all of the outer peripheral surface of the cleaning bar 42 is inclined with respect to the vertical direction, it is discharged from the inside of the cleaning brush 5 to the outer peripheral surface of the cleaning bar 42. The cleaned cleaning liquid tends to flow downward along the outer peripheral surface of the cleaning bar 42 by gravity. Accordingly, the cleaning liquid and the foreign matter 58 included therein are easily discharged from between the cleaning brush 5 and the cleaning bar 42.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 4A, since the longitudinal length W ₁ of the cleaning bar 42 is in outer diameter W ₂ or more cleaning brushes 5, without scanning the cleaning surface 26 of the cleaning brush 5 with the cleaning bar 42 Alternatively, the cleaning brush 5 can be pressed against the cleaning bar 42 over the entire cleaning surface 26 of the cleaning brush 5 by rotating the cleaning brush 5 around the central axis 21 by 180 degrees or more. Accordingly, the foreign matter 58 is removed from the entire cleaning surface 26 of the cleaning brush 5, and the residual amount of the foreign matter 58 is reduced. When the brush rotating mechanism 18 rotates the cleaning brush 5 at a rotation angle larger than 180 degrees, the cleaning bar 42 is pressed against the same portion of the cleaning brush 5 a plurality of times, and a part of the cleaning brush 5 is elastically deformed and restored. And repeat. Thereby, the cleaning liquid in the cleaning brush 5 is discharged a plurality of times, and the foreign matter 58 attached to the cleaning brush 5 is reliably removed. Accordingly, the entire cleaning surface 26 of the cleaning brush 5 can be cleaned while suppressing an increase in the cleaning time of the cleaning brush 5.

As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described, this invention can also be implemented with another form.
For example, in the above-described embodiment, the example of the cylindrical cleaning brush 5 is shown, but the cleaning brush 5 may have any shape as long as it is columnar. Therefore, the cleaning brush 5 may have a cubic shape.

In the above-described embodiment, an example of the sponge-like cleaning brush 5 made of PVA has been described. However, the cleaning brush 5 may be configured by a plurality of hairs, or may be configured by a sponge portion configured by a sponge and a plurality of sponge portions. The hair bundle part comprised by the hair of may be included.
In the above-described embodiment, an example in which one cleaning liquid nozzle 56 is attached to the standby pod 41 has been described. However, two or more cleaning liquid nozzles 56 may be attached to the standby pod 41.

  In the above-described embodiment, the example in which the discharge port of the cleaning liquid nozzle 56 is disposed at a height between the cleaning bar 42 and the upper opening 41a of the standby pod 41 has been described. May be disposed at a height between the cleaning bar 42 and the lower opening 41 b of the standby pod 41. According to this example, the cleaning liquid nozzle 56 can discharge the cleaning liquid from below the cleaning bar 42 toward the cleaning surface 26 of the cleaning brush 5. The discharge port of the cleaning liquid nozzle 56 may be arranged at the same height as the cleaning bar 42.

In the above-described embodiment, an example in which the cylindrical cleaning bar 42 is attached to the standby pod 41 has been described. However, instead of the cleaning bar 42, various types of cleaning bars shown in FIGS. It may be attached to the pod 41.
7A to 7C are cross-sectional views showing modifications of the cleaning bar 42. 7A to 7C each show a cross section orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the cleaning bar 42.

  According to the configuration of FIG. 7A, instead of the cylindrical cleaning bar 42, a cleaning bar 71 having a rectangular cross section smaller than the outer diameter of the cleaning brush 5 is attached to the standby pod 41. Also by this example, the same effect as the above-mentioned embodiment can be exhibited. That is, unlike the conventional configuration in which the entire cleaning surface of the cleaning brush is pressed against the correction member for cleaning, the contact area between the cleaning brush 5 and the cleaning bar 71 is small, so that the foreign matter 58 of the cleaning brush 5 is reapplied to the cleaning brush 5. Hard to adhere. Therefore, the cleanliness of the cleaning brush 5 can be increased.

  7B, instead of the cylindrical cleaning bar 42, a cleaning bar 72 having a hexagonal cross section smaller than the outer diameter of the cleaning brush 5 is attached to the standby pod 41. According to this example, unlike the rectangular cleaning bar 71, the inclined portion 72a of the outer peripheral surface of the cleaning bar 72 is inclined with respect to the vertical direction, and the cleaning surface 26 of the cleaning brush 5 is pressed against this inclined portion. It is done. When the cleaning brush 5 is pressed against the cleaning bar 72, the cleaning liquid in the cleaning brush 5 is discharged to an area in contact with the cleaning brush 5 on the outer peripheral surface of the cleaning bar 72. That is, the cleaning liquid in the cleaning brush 5 is discharged along the inclined portion 72 a of the cleaning bar 72. When the area where the cleaning liquid is discharged is horizontal with respect to the cleaning surface 26 of the cleaning brush 5 like the rectangular cleaning bar 71 shown in FIG. 7A, the cleaning liquid does not flow downward along this area. On the other hand, when the area | region where the washing | cleaning liquid was discharged | emitted is inclined with respect to the perpendicular direction, a washing | cleaning liquid tends to flow below along the inclination part 72a with gravity. Therefore, the cleaning liquid and the foreign matter 58 included therein are easily discharged from between the cleaning brush 5 and the cleaning bar 72. Therefore, the foreign material 58 is difficult to reattach to the brush.

  According to the configuration of FIG. 7C, a cylindrical cleaning bar 73 is attached to the standby pod 41 instead of the cylindrical cleaning bar 42. According to this example, since the cleaning surface 26 of the cleaning brush 5 is pressed against the inclined portion 73a of the rounded cleaning bar 73, the cleaning bars 71 and 72 whose outer peripheral surfaces are polygonal as shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B. Is advantageous in that the cleaning surface 26 of the cleaning brush 5 is less likely to be damaged.

The cleaning bars 71 and 72 in FIGS. 7A and 7B show an example in which the cleaning liquid discharge port 49 and the internal flow path 50 are not provided. The cleaning liquid supply mechanism 43 can be attached by adopting the flow path 50.
In the above-described embodiment and modification, an example in which one cleaning bar 42, 71, 72, 73 is attached to the standby pod 41 is shown, but two or more cleaning bars 42, 71, 72, 73 are provided. The standby pods 41 may be attached at intervals. Moreover, you may employ | adopt the structure which combined these washing | cleaning bars 42, 71, 72, and 73 at this time.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the example in which both the one end 42 a and the other end 42 b in the longitudinal direction of the cleaning bar 42 are supported by the standby pod 41 has been described, but only the one end 42 a of the cleaning bar 42 is the standby pod 41. A cantilever structure supported by the above may be employed.
In the above-described embodiment, an example in which the cleaning brush rotation step S3 is performed in the brush cleaning step (see FIG. 5) has been described. The mechanism 31 may be driven. According to this example, the cleaning brush 5 can be moved up and down in the axial direction along the central axis 21 of the cleaning brush 5 while rotating the cleaning brush 5 around the central axis 21.

  As a result, the distance between the cleaning brush 5 and the cleaning bar 42 and the pressing amount of the cleaning bar 42 against the cleaning brush 5 (the elastic deformation amount of the cleaning brush 5) are changed. Therefore, the control device 47 can switch the contact state where the cleaning brush 5 and the cleaning bar 42 are in contact with each other and the non-contact state where the cleaning brush 5 and the cleaning bar 42 are separated by controlling the lifting drive mechanism 31. Thereby, since the cleaning bar 42 is pressed against the cleaning brush 5 a plurality of times, the foreign matter 58 attached to the cleaning brush 5 is reliably removed. Furthermore, since the control device 47 can change the pressing amount of the cleaning bar 42 by controlling the lifting drive mechanism 31, the foreign matter 58 adhering to the cleaning brush 5 can be reliably removed.

In the above-described embodiment, an example in which the lifting drive mechanism 31, which is an example of the axial movement means, raises and lowers the swing arm 17 together with the cleaning brush 5 is shown. A cleaning brush raising / lowering mechanism may be provided in the swing arm 17.
In the above-described embodiment, the example of the swing drive mechanism 32 that swings the swing arm 17 around the swing axis 33 provided around the spin chuck 3 has been described. Thus, an arm slide mechanism that slides the slide arm that holds the cleaning brush 5 along a predetermined slide direction (the rotation radius direction of the substrate W) may be employed. In this case, the standby pod 41 only needs to be installed outside the rotation range of the substrate W on the extension line in the sliding direction of the slide arm. In this case, in the above-described embodiment, an example in which the cleaning brush 5 is rotated 180 degrees or more to change the relative position with the cleaning bar 42 has been described. However, the contact area between the cleaning brush 5 and the cleaning bar 42 is the cleaning brush 5. The cleaning brush 5 and the cleaning bar 42 may be linearly moved relative to each other so as to straddle the cleaning surface 26 (slide movement). Even in such an example, the cleaning bar 42 can be pressed over the entire cleaning surface 26 of the cleaning brush 5.

  In the above-described embodiment, the cleaning brush 5 is rotated 180 degrees or more to change the position relative to the cleaning bar 42. However, the cleaning bar 42 (standby pod 41) is rotated 180 degrees or more for cleaning. The relative position of the brush 5 to the cleaning surface 26 may be changed. Even in such an example, the cleaning bar 42 can be pressed over the entire cleaning surface 26 of the cleaning brush 5.

In the above-described embodiment, the example in which the cleaning brush 5 is moved between the center of the upper surface of the substrate W and the periphery of the upper surface of the substrate W has been described. However, the cleaning brush 5 is moved from the periphery of the upper surface of the substrate W to the substrate W. The cleaning brush 5 may be moved so as to move to the peripheral edge of the upper surface of the substrate W through the center of the upper surface.
Moreover, although the above-mentioned embodiment demonstrated the case where the substrate processing apparatus 1 was an apparatus which processes the disk-shaped board | substrate W, the substrate processing apparatus 1 is a polygonal board | substrate, such as a board | substrate for liquid crystal display devices. It may be a device for processing.

  In addition, various modifications can be made within the scope of the matters described in the claims.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Substrate processing apparatus 3 Spin chuck 5 Cleaning brush 6 Substrate cleaning mechanism 7 Brush cleaning mechanism 14 Rotating axis 17 Oscillating arm 18 Brush rotating mechanism 21 Center axis 22 Brush moving mechanism 26 Cleaning surface 31 Elevating drive mechanism 32 Oscillating driving mechanism 41 Standby Pod 42 Cleaning bar 42c Inclined portion 43 Cleaning liquid supply mechanism 47 Control device 49 Cleaning liquid discharge port 50 Internal flow path 51 Cleaning liquid piping 71 Cleaning bar 72 Cleaning bar 73 Cleaning bar S ₁ Contact area between cleaning bar and cleaning brush S ₂ Cleaning brush Area of the cleaning surface T Trajectory W Substrate W ₁ Length of the cleaning bar in the longitudinal direction W ₂ Outer diameter of the cleaning brush W ₃ Length of the width direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the cleaning bar

Claims (7)

An elastically deformable columnar brush pressed against the front or back surface of the substrate;
Cleaning liquid supply means for supplying a cleaning liquid to the brush;
The length in the longitudinal direction perpendicular to the center line of the brush is not less than the outer diameter of the brush, and the length in the width direction perpendicular to the center line of the brush and the longitudinal direction is smaller than the outer diameter of the brush. A cleaning bar;
Relative movement means for relatively moving the brush and the cleaning bar;
A substrate processing apparatus comprising: a control unit that controls the relative movement unit to move the brush and the cleaning bar relative to each other while the brush is pressed against the outer peripheral surface of the cleaning bar.   The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an outer peripheral surface of the cleaning bar is inclined with respect to a vertical direction and includes an inclined portion to which the brush is pressed.   The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein an outer peripheral surface of the cleaning bar has an annular cross section orthogonal to the longitudinal direction.   The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the relative movement unit includes a rotation unit that rotates the brush around a center line of the brush.   The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the relative movement unit includes an axial direction movement unit that moves the brush in an axial direction of the brush. The cleaning bar has a cylindrical shape including a cleaning liquid discharge port that opens at an outer peripheral surface of the cleaning bar and discharges the cleaning liquid toward the brush, and an internal channel that guides the cleaning liquid to the cleaning liquid discharge port.
The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the cleaning liquid supply unit includes a cleaning liquid pipe that supplies a cleaning liquid to the internal flow path.   The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the cleaning liquid discharge port is opened at a position where the brush is pressed on an outer peripheral surface of the cleaning bar.

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