JP2020129609A - Substrate processing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide a substrate processing apparatus capable of uniformly heating a whole processed substrate by sufficiently suppressing wrapping of the processed substrate at a heating processing of the processed substrate, making an upper face side of the processed substrate drying with effect, and preventing dust or the like in a sealed container from being easily fastened onto an upper face of the processed substrate, and provide a method of them.CONSTITUTION: The present invention provides a substrate processing apparatus that performs a heat processing of a processed substrate in a sealed container, comprises: a pressing force part that presses the peripheral part of the processed substrate arranged on a hot plate from an upper direction with a pressure; and a driving part that closes to and separates from the pressing force part from the peripheral part, and a method. The pressing force part is conductively arranged at the peripheral part of the processed substrate in a whole or a part of a lower surface side of an almost frame-like support part opposite to the peripheral part or neighboring part of the processed substrate.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus and a substrate processing method used when heating a substrate to be processed such as glass or resin used in a liquid crystal display device, an organic EL display device, a semiconductor manufacturing device, or the like.

BACKGROUND ART Conventionally, a heat treatment (baking treatment) is performed on a substrate to be processed such as a glass substrate after applying a resist. For such heat treatment of the substrate to be processed, for example, the apparatus shown in FIG. 7 is used. FIG. 7 is a diagram partially modified and cited from Patent Document 1.

In FIG. 7, 101 is a closed container including a bottom 111 and a lid 112, 114 is a hot plate having a heater 113 built therein, and 115 is a gas for supplying a purge gas such as nitrogen gas from the lid 112 into the closed container 101. A supply pipe 116 is an exhaust pipe for exhausting air from the closed container 101.

In the closed container 101, the substrate W to be processed is placed on the hot plate 114, and then, for example, a purge gas at room temperature is supplied from the gas supply pipe 115 into the closed container 101 and the exhaust pipe 116 is supplied. Exhaust is performed. Then, in this state, the heat treatment of the target substrate W is performed. The purge gas supplied into the closed container 101 flows from the outer edge to the center in the vicinity of the surface of the substrate to be processed W as shown by the arrow in the figure, and is discharged from the exhaust pipe 116 on the ceiling side of the lid 112. It

By the way, during such heat treatment of the substrate W to be processed, the substrate W to be processed may be warped. Therefore, in many cases, suction holes (vacuum not shown) are formed at a plurality of positions on the upper surface side of the hot plate 114. A warp of the processing target substrate W is suppressed by forming a suction hole that is connected to a pump or the like to generate a negative pressure and sucking the processing target substrate from the suction hole.

JP, 2003-347198, A

However, conventionally, it is often the case that the warp of the substrate to be processed cannot be sufficiently suppressed only by suction using the plurality of suction holes as described above, and as a result, the entire substrate to be processed cannot be heated uniformly.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and sufficiently and reliably suppresses the warp of the substrate to be processed at the time of heat treatment of the substrate to be processed, and An object of the present invention is to provide a substrate processing apparatus and method capable of uniformly heating a substrate. Further, the present invention can sufficiently suppress the warpage of the substrate to be processed during the heat treatment of the substrate to be processed, can efficiently heat or dry the upper surface side of the substrate to be processed, and can further remove dust in the closed container. It is an object of the present invention to provide a substrate processing apparatus and method that can prevent the substrate from easily sticking to the upper surface side of the substrate to be processed.

A substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention for solving the above problems is a substrate processing apparatus that heat-processes a substrate to be processed in a closed container, with respect to the substrate to be processed arranged on a hot plate, a peripheral portion thereof. And a drive unit for moving the pressing unit toward and away from the peripheral portion.

Further, in the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention, the pressing portion may be provided around the periphery of the substrate to be treated on all or part of a lower surface side of a substantially frame-shaped support portion facing a peripheral portion of the substrate to be treated or the vicinity thereof. It may be arranged so as to be contactable with the portion.

Further, in the present invention, at least a portion of the pressing portion that contacts the substrate to be processed may be formed of resin.

In the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention, the driving unit may be a mechanism unit that moves the pressing unit up and down.

In the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention, the pressing unit may be provided with a heating unit that heats the substrate to be processed on the hot plate from the upper surface side in a non-contact manner.

Further, in the substrate processing method according to the present invention, when the substrate to be processed is placed on a hot plate and heated in a closed container, the pressing portion is arranged above the peripheral portion of the substrate to be processed, and the pressing portion is arranged to A substrate processing method characterized in that a peripheral portion of a substrate to be processed is brought close to the peripheral portion of the substrate to be processed from above by the pressing portion.

According to the substrate processing apparatus of the present invention, during the heat treatment of the substrate to be processed in the closed container, the pressing portion is brought close to the substrate to be processed, and the pressing portion causes the peripheral portion of the substrate to be processed from above. Since the pressing is performed, the warp of the substrate to be processed on the hot plate during the heat treatment can be sufficiently and reliably suppressed, and the entire substrate to be processed can be uniformly heated.

Further, in the present invention, the pressing portion is provided on all or part of the lower surface side of the substantially frame-shaped supporting portion (see FIG. 3) facing the peripheral portion of the substrate to be processed or the vicinity thereof. When it is arranged so as to be in contact with the peripheral portion, the entire peripheral portion of the substrate to be processed is efficiently pressed only by moving the supporting portion 3 toward the substrate to be processed by the driving unit. can do.

Further, in the present invention, when at least a portion of the pressing portion that comes into contact with the substrate to be processed is formed of resin, the pressing force is higher than when the portion that comes into contact with the substrate to be processed is formed of metal or the like. The damage on the surface of the substrate to be processed caused by the contact of a part of the portion can be minimized.

Further, in the present invention, when the driving unit moves the pressing unit up and down, the pressing unit can be stably brought into contact with and pressed against the peripheral portion of the substrate to be processed.

Further, in the present invention, when the pressing unit or the supporting unit is provided with a heating unit that heats the upper surface side of the substrate to be processed on the hot plate in a non-contact manner, It is possible to efficiently heat the upper surface side, reduce the difference in the amount of thermal expansion caused by the temperature difference between the lower surface side and the upper surface side of the substrate to be processed, and suppress the warp of the substrate to be processed. It is possible to efficiently heat or dry the resist or the like applied on the upper surface side, and further prevent dust or the like in the closed container from easily adhering to the upper surface side of the substrate to be processed (in the closed container). Since the dust and the like are easily fixed to a portion of the substrate to be processed which is not sufficiently heated, by heating the upper surface side of the substrate to be processed, the dust and the like are not fixed to the upper surface side of the substrate to be processed. Will be prevented).

Further, according to the substrate processing method of the present invention, when the substrate to be processed is placed on the hot plate and heated in the closed container, the pressing portion is arranged above the peripheral portion of the substrate to be processed, and the pressing Since the portion is brought close to the peripheral portion of the substrate to be processed and the peripheral portion of the substrate to be processed is pressed from above by the pressing portion, the warp of the substrate to be processed on the hot plate during the heat treatment is prevented. Sufficient and reliable suppression can be achieved, and the entire substrate to be processed can be heated uniformly.

1 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration and operation of a substrate processing apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a plan view and a side view showing a part of the configuration of the substrate processing apparatus according to the first embodiment. 3 is a schematic perspective view showing a part of the substrate processing apparatus according to the first embodiment. FIG. It is a top view and a side view showing a part of composition of a substrate processing device by Embodiment 2 of the present invention. FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration and operation of the substrate processing apparatus according to the second embodiment. FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration and operation of the substrate processing apparatus according to the second embodiment. It is a schematic diagram for explaining an example of the conventional substrate processing device.

[First Embodiment]
Hereinafter, a substrate processing apparatus and method according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. 1 is a diagram showing a substrate processing apparatus according to the first embodiment, FIG. 2A is a plan view showing the substrate processing apparatus according to the first embodiment, FIG. 2B is a side view thereof, and FIG. 3 is this embodiment. 2 is a schematic perspective view showing a part of the substrate processing apparatus according to FIG.

1 to 3, 1 is a hot plate for heating a substrate (workpiece) 10 to be processed in a closed container (not shown), and 1a is adsorption holes provided at a plurality of positions on the upper surface side of the hot plate 1. It is an adsorption hole (see FIG. 2) for adsorbing the substrate 10 to be processed and suppressing the warp of the substrate 10 to be processed.

Further, in FIGS. 1 to 3, reference numeral 2 is opposed to a peripheral portion (for example, a portion extending from the outer peripheral edge portion to a few mm in the center direction, for example, a portion extending from 2 to 6 mm) 10 a of the substrate 10 to be processed, and the peripheral portion. A resin-made pressing portion arranged so as to be able to move toward and away from the portion 10a (as shown in FIG. 3, for example, a substantially frame-shaped pressing portion arranged on the lower surface side of a substantially frame-shaped support portion 3 described later). Is.

Further, in FIGS. 1 to 3, 3 is a substantially frame-shaped support portion (see FIG. 3) that supports the pressing portion 2 and 4 is fixed via the support portion 3 and a connecting portion 4a (see FIG. 2). A drive mechanism portion, 5 is a base portion that supports the drive mechanism portion 4, and 6 is disposed so as to project from the support portion 3 toward the center and faces substantially the whole (or a part) of the substrate to be processed 10. The heater is a sheet-shaped (plate-shaped) or rod-shaped heater (heating unit containing a heater, see FIG. 1). 2 to 3, the rod-shaped heater 6 is not shown.

In the first embodiment, the portion (lower end portion in the drawing) of the pressing portion 2 that contacts the substrate 10 to be processed may be formed in a flat plate shape that planarly contacts the substrate 10 to be processed, or Alternatively, it may be formed in the shape of one or a plurality of pins or protrusions that make point contact with the substrate 10 to be processed.

In the first embodiment, the portion of the pressing portion 2 that contacts the substrate 10 to be processed (the lower end portion in the drawing) is formed of a resin that is a material that does not easily damage the surface of the substrate 10 to be processed by contact. Has been done.

Further, in the first embodiment, the drive mechanism section 4 moves the pressing section 2 up and down by a drive mechanism including an electric motor or a hydraulic circuit. Further, in FIG. 2(a), reference numeral 1a denotes adsorption holes which are connected to a vacuum source (not shown) and which are formed at a plurality of positions on the upper surface side of the hot plate 1, and which are treated during the heat treatment. It is an adsorption hole for adsorbing the substrate 10. In addition, in FIGS. 2A and 2B, 4a is, for example, a plate-shaped connecting portion that connects the support portion 3 and the drive mechanism portion 4.

Next, the operation of the first embodiment will be described. When heat-treating the substrate 10 to be processed in the closed container, the substrate 10 to be processed on the hot plate 1 is caused by the temperature difference between the lower surface side and the upper surface side thereof, as shown in FIG. 1A. Due to the difference in the amount of expansion and the original shape of the work itself, a warp in which the central portion is recessed occurs.

In order to suppress such warpage, in the first embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1B, when the heat treatment of the substrate 10 to be processed is performed in the closed container, a peripheral portion of the substrate 10 to be processed is previously prepared. The pressing portion 2 is arranged above the 10a and is opposed to the peripheral portion 10a. Then, from the beginning or the middle of the heat treatment, the drive mechanism portion 4 lowers the support portion 3 and the pressing portion 2 so as to approach the target substrate 10. In the descending operation at this time, for example, a descending distance, which is how much the supporting portion 3 and the pressing portion 2 are lowered, is predetermined and programmed, or the supporting portion 3 and the pressing portion 2 are predetermined. The method is carried out by, for example, stopping when the contact sensor or the image sensor detects that the lower end of the pressing portion 2 has come into contact with the substrate 10 to be processed while descending at a speed.

By the descending operation, the pressing portion 2 abuts on the peripheral portion 10a of the substrate 10 to be processed and presses the peripheral portion 10a. As a result, the peripheral portion 10a of the substrate 10 to be processed is in a shape parallel to the hot plate 1 or in a state of being in close contact with the hot plate 1. By the above operation, the warp of the substrate 10 to be processed is surely suppressed.

In addition, in the first embodiment, when the substrate 10 to be processed is subjected to the heat treatment in the closed container, the heater 6 having a planar shape (plate shape) or a bar shape protruding from the supporting portion 3 toward the center is driven. The upper surface side of the processing substrate 10 is efficiently heated. As a result, in the first embodiment, the temperature difference (difference in expansion amount) between the lower surface side and the upper surface side of the target substrate 10 is reduced to suppress further warpage of the target substrate 10, and It is possible to efficiently heat and dry the resist or the like applied on the upper surface side, and further prevent dust and the like in the closed container from easily adhering to the upper surface side of the substrate to be processed (in the closed container). Dust and the like easily adhere to the insufficiently heated portion of the substrate to be processed. Therefore, by heating the upper surface of the substrate to be processed, the dust and the like are prevented from adhering to the upper surface of the substrate to be processed. Will be done).

As described above, according to the first embodiment, during the heat treatment of the substrate 10 to be processed in the closed container (not shown), the pressing portion 2 is brought close to the substrate 10 to be processed, and the pressing portion 2 is pressed. Since the peripheral portion 10a of the substrate 10 to be processed is pressed from above, the warp of the substrate 10 to be processed on the hot plate 1 during the heat treatment is sufficiently and reliably suppressed, and the substrate to be processed 10 is processed. The whole 10 can be heated uniformly.

Further, in the first embodiment, the pressing portion 2 is provided on all or part of the lower surface side of the substantially frame-shaped supporting portion 3 (see FIG. 3) facing the peripheral portion 10 a of the substrate 10 to be processed. Since the peripheral portion 10a of the processing substrate 10 is arranged so as to be in contact with the peripheral portion 10a, the driving mechanism portion 4 moves (lowers) the substantially frame-shaped support portion 3 toward the processing substrate 10 to thereby The peripheral portion 10a of the substrate 10 to be processed can be efficiently pressed.

Further, in the first embodiment, at least the portion (lower end portion in the drawing) in the pressing portion 2 that contacts the substrate 10 to be processed is made of resin, so that the portion that contacts the substrate 10 to be processed is Compared with the case where it is formed of metal or the like, it is possible to minimize the damage caused on the surface of the substrate 10 to be processed due to the contact of a part of the pressing portion 2.

Further, in the first embodiment, the drive mechanism section 4 is configured as a mechanism section that moves the pressing section 2 up and down, so that the pressing section 2 is stably provided in the peripheral portion 10a of the target substrate 10. It is possible to make contact with and press the peripheral portion 10a of the substrate 10 to be processed.

Further, in the first embodiment, the supporting portion 3 is provided with a planar (plate-shaped) or rod-shaped heater (heating portion) 6 for heating the upper surface side of the target substrate 10 on the hot plate 1 in a non-contact manner. Therefore, substantially the entire upper surface side of the substrate 10 to be processed is efficiently heated by the planar (plate-shaped) or rod-shaped heater 6, and the temperature difference between the lower surface side and the upper surface side of the substrate 10 to be processed is determined. The difference in the amount of thermal expansion generated can be reduced to suppress the warp of the substrate to be processed 10, and the resist or the like applied on the upper surface side of the substrate to be processed 10 can be efficiently heated and dried. It is possible to prevent dust and the like in the closed container from easily adhering to the upper surface side of the substrate 10 to be processed (the dust and the like in the closed container are fixed to a portion of the substrate 10 to be processed which is not sufficiently heated). Since it is easy, by heating the upper surface side of the substrate 10 to be processed, it becomes easier to prevent the dust and the like from being fixed to the upper surface side of the substrate 10 to be processed).

Further, in the first embodiment, in the first embodiment, since the warp of the substrate 10 to be processed can be sufficiently suppressed only by the pressing portion 2, the warp of the substrate 10 to be processed as shown in FIG. It is also possible to reduce the cost of the substrate processing apparatus by eliminating the need to provide the suction plate 1b for suppressing the hot plate 1.

[Second Embodiment]
Next, a substrate processing apparatus and method according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention will be described. In the first embodiment, the pressing portion 2 presses the peripheral portion 10a of the processing target substrate 10 in order to suppress the warp of one processing target substrate (workpiece) 10. On the other hand, in the second embodiment, as will be described later, a total of four pressing portions 12 are connected to each other and integrally driven. The four pressing portions 12 thus configured press the peripheral portions 10a of the four substrates 10 to be processed (or the number of substrates 10 to be processed of 4 or less in total), respectively. I try to suppress the warp.

That is, in FIGS. 4 to 6, 11 is a hot plate that heats the substrate (workpiece) 10 to be processed in a closed container (not shown), and 11a are suction holes (provided at a plurality of positions on the upper surface side of the hot plate 11). (See FIG. 4). Further, 13 is a substantially rectangular frame shape so that it can face the peripheral portion 10a of a total of four (or a plurality of substrates) 10 to be processed arranged in a closed container (not shown). And a support portion in which a substantially cross-shaped portion is formed. Further, 12 is a pressing portion arranged below the support portion 13 (the substrate 10 side), 14 is a drive mechanism portion for moving the support portion 13 up and down, and 14a is the support portion 13 and the drive mechanism portion. It is a flat plate-shaped connecting portion that connects 14 with. 4 to 6, the planar (plate-shaped) or rod-shaped heater 6 (see FIG. 1) described in the first embodiment is omitted.

Since the second embodiment has the above-described configuration, it can achieve the effects of the above-described first embodiment, and further, such effects can be obtained by a total of four or less. It is possible to realize the above simultaneously by only performing the lowering operation once for each peripheral portion 10a of the substrate 10 to be processed.

That is, FIG. 5 shows that when the target substrate 10 is placed on the hot plate 11 and heated in a closed container (not shown), the pressing portion 12 is disposed above the peripheral portion 10 a of the target substrate 10. It is a figure which shows the state when doing. In addition, FIG. 6 shows a state in which the pressing portion 12 is lowered toward the peripheral portion 10a of the substrate 10 to be processed and brought close to the peripheral portion 10a of the substrate 10, and the peripheral portion 10a of the substrate 10 is pressed by the pressing portion 12 from above. FIG.

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, in the second embodiment, a total of four pressing portions 12 are connected to each other and integrally arranged above the peripheral portion 10a of the substrate 10 to be processed (see FIG. 5). , The total of four pressing portions 12 are integrally lowered to approach the peripheral portion 10a of the substrate 10 to be processed, and the total of four pressing portions 12 are integrally connected to the substrate 10 to be processed. The peripheral portion 10a of is pressed (see FIG. 6). Due to such an operation, in the second embodiment, the total of four pressing portions 12 cause the peripheral portions 10a of the total of four target substrates 10 (or the target substrates 10 of 4 or less) to move. Each of them is pressed to suppress the warp of each substrate 10 to be processed.

Although the first and second embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments and various modifications and changes can be made. For example, in FIG. 1 and the like relating to the first embodiment, the pressing portion 2 is shown to press the peripheral portion 10a of the substrate 10 to be processed in a planar manner. The lower end portion is formed in a pin shape or a protrusion shape, that is, one or a plurality of pins or protrusions are formed in the lower end portion of the pressing portion 2 and is pressed in a dot shape against the peripheral portion 10a of the substrate 10 to be processed. You may do so. Further, in the first embodiment, the drive mechanism section 4 is connected to the support section 3 so that the drive mechanism section 4 moves the support section 3 up and down. However, in the present invention, the drive mechanism section is used. 4 may be connected to the pressing portion 2 so that the drive mechanism portion 4 directly moves the pressing portion 2 up and down. Further, in the first embodiment, the planar (plate-shaped) or rod-shaped heater 6 is provided in the frame-shaped support portion 3, but in the present invention, the planar (plate-shaped) or rod-shaped heater 6 is provided. May be provided in the pressing portion 2.

1, 11 Hot plate 1a, 11a Suction hole 2, 12 Pressing part 3, 13 Support part 4, 14 Drive mechanism part 4a, 14a Connecting part 6 Planar (plate-shaped) or rod-shaped heater (heating part)
10 processed substrate 10a peripheral part of processed substrate

The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus used for heating a substrate to be processed such as a glass or a resin used in a liquid crystal display device, an organic EL display device, a semiconductor manufacturing device, or the like.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and sufficiently and reliably suppresses the warp of the substrate to be processed at the time of heat treatment of the substrate to be processed, and It is an object of the present invention to provide a substrate processing apparatus capable of uniformly heating a substrate. Further, the present invention can sufficiently suppress the warp of the substrate to be processed during the heat treatment of the substrate to be processed, can efficiently heat or dry the upper surface side of the substrate to be processed, and can further remove dust or the like in the closed container. It is an object of the present invention to provide a substrate processing apparatus which can prevent the substrate from easily adhering to the upper surface side of the substrate to be processed.

In the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention for solving the above problems, with respect to the substrate to be processed arranged on the hot plate, a resin-made pressing portion for pressing the peripheral portion from above and the pressing portion are supported. A support portion for performing the operation is provided.

Further, in the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention, the pressing portion or the supporting portion is provided on the upper surface side heating portion so as to extend from the pressing portion or the supporting portion toward the center of the upper surface side of the substrate to be processed. Is provided.

Further, in the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention, the upper surface side heating unit heats the upper surface side of the target substrate on the hot plate in a non-contact manner.

Further, the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention is provided with a mechanism portion that moves the pressing portion up and down so that the pressing portion moves closer to and away from the peripheral portion of the substrate to be processed.

Further, in the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention, the drive unit is arranged laterally of the hot plate.

Further, in the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention, the pressing portion is provided on all or part of the lower surface side of the substantially frame-shaped support portion facing the peripheral portion of the substrate to be processed, and on the peripheral portion of the substrate to be processed. It may be arranged so as to be in contact with each other.

Claims (6)

In a substrate processing apparatus for heat-treating a substrate to be processed in a closed container, a substrate to be processed arranged on a hot plate is pressed against a peripheral portion thereof from above, and the pressing portion is pressed against the peripheral portion. A substrate processing apparatus, comprising: a drive unit for moving closer to and away from each other. The pressing portion is arranged so as to be able to come into contact with the peripheral portion of the substrate to be processed, on all or part of the lower surface side of the substantially frame-shaped support portion facing the peripheral portion of the substrate to be processed or its vicinity. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein at least a portion of the pressing portion that comes into contact with the target substrate is made of resin. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the drive unit is a mechanism unit that moves the pressing unit up and down. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the pressing unit or the support unit is provided with a heating unit that heats the upper surface side of the substrate to be processed on the hot plate in a non-contact manner. When the substrate to be processed is placed on a hot plate and heated in a closed container, the pressing portion is arranged above the peripheral portion of the processing substrate, and the pressing portion is brought close to the peripheral portion of the processing substrate, A substrate processing method, wherein the pressing portion presses a peripheral portion of the substrate to be processed from above.

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