JP2663492B2 - Rotary surface treatment equipment for substrates - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION <Industrial Application Field> The present invention relates to a method for cleaning various thin plate-like substrates (hereinafter, referred to as substrates to be processed) such as a semiconductor substrate and a glass substrate for a liquid crystal display device after washing with water. The present invention relates to a rotary type surface treatment apparatus used for a surface drying treatment or the like.

<Prior Art> As such a rotary surface treatment apparatus, for example,
As disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 60-59740, a centrifugal dewatering type drainer / dryer is known.

As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, a rotor 33 that is rotated at a high speed about a longitudinal axis by a motor 32 is provided in a casing 31. As shown in FIGS.
Next, a plurality of carriers 34 in which a large number of substrates to be processed W having been subjected to the water washing process are housed in parallel at appropriate intervals are mounted and fixed around the center of rotation of the rotor with the surfaces of the substrates to be processed arranged vertically. The centrifugal separation of the moisture on the surface of the substrate to be processed by rotating the
The forced exhaust of the clean air or the inert gas introduced from the intake port 36 on the upper part of the casing 31 to the exhaust port 37 on the peripheral part of the casing 31 facilitates the drying of the surface of the substrate to be processed and the substrate W This is configured so that the water separated from the substrate is quickly discharged together with the exhaust gas to prevent the water from re-adhering to the substrate W to be processed.

<Problems to be Solved by the Invention> However, since the above-described conventional apparatus performs the centrifugal dehydration by setting the carrier in which the substrate to be processed is stored at a position away from the center of rotation of the rotor, the substrate to be processed itself is also used. A considerably large centrifugal force acts, for example, in FIG. 7, the substrate W to be processed which is governed by the storage groove on the inner surface of the carrier.
Centrifugal force acts on the substrate W to penetrate the inner side of the storage groove.

In particular, if the rotor is rapidly accelerated at the start of dehydration, abnormal stress is generated at the engagement portion between the substrate to be processed and the storage groove, and the substrate to be processed is likely to be damaged or damaged. This is more pronounced in the case of a processing substrate.

In order to avoid loss or breakage of the substrate to be processed, it is necessary to accelerate the rotor slowly, which causes another problem that it takes a long processing time including the startup time of the rotor.

In addition, in this conventional apparatus, if the number of substrates to be processed stored in the opposing carriers is different, the weight balance with respect to the center of rotation of the rotor is lost, causing the rotor itself to vibrate. Also requires attention.

Further, in the conventional apparatus, the substrate to be processed is loaded into the rotor via the carrier. Therefore, even if the processing step before the dehydration and drying processing does not use a carrier (carrier-less), the drying step is not performed in this drying step. It is necessary to transfer the substrate to be processed to a carrier, and the equipment and steps for that purpose have been complicated, resulting in an adverse effect of making the processing step carrierless.

Incidentally, the carrier-less treatment eliminates the need for a chemical-resistant carrier, eliminates the need to transfer a substrate to be processed to a carrier between processing steps, and causes processing unevenness due to deterioration in the flow of a processing solution in the carrier. Due to reasons such as avoidance, it is particularly desired in recent semiconductor manufacturing fields and the like.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and is effective in preventing loss or damage due to centrifugal force acting on a substrate to be processed itself, and has good handleability when loading the substrate to be processed. Another object of the present invention is to provide a rotary type surface treatment apparatus capable of coping with the need for a carrierless apparatus.

<Means for Solving the Problems> The present invention has the following configuration to achieve the above object.

That is, according to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a substrate holding rod (7) for supporting a plurality of substrates to be processed at their lower outer peripheral edges and standing and holding them in a face-to-face parallel configuration, and a support for supporting the upper peripheral edges of the substrates. A movable board holding rod (10) whose position can be changed to a position and a retracted position allowing the board to enter and exit the board holding rod (7); and a board holding rod (7) and a movable board holding rod (10) which are supported. A pair of rotating shafts (5) of a biaxial support structure rotatable around a rotating axis passing near the center of gravity of the substrate group to be processed; the substrate holding rod (7); the movable substrate holding rod (10); And a housing (1) having a cover (17) openable and closable thereabove, and a side wall of the housing (1) from a processing chamber in the housing (1) for spin-drying. A pair of shafts each of which supports a pair of rotating shafts (5) penetrating out of the processing chamber. Only (4)
A motor (11) interlockingly connected to one of the rotating shafts (5) led out of the processing chamber; and a filter-equipped intake port (1) provided above the processing chamber.
8), and an exhaust port (19) provided in the processing chamber and connected to the decompression means
And

The upper outer peripheral edge and the lower outer peripheral edge of the substrate refer to the upper and lower outer peripheral edges of the substrate when rotation is stopped.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the device according to the first aspect, a substrate pressing surface of the movable substrate holding rod (10) is made of an elastic material.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the apparatus according to the first aspect, there is provided an urging means (15) for urging the substrate pressing surface of the movable substrate holding rod (10) toward the outer peripheral edge of the substrate. Things.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the device according to the first aspect, phase detecting means (22) and (23) for detecting a rotational phase of the rotating shaft (5) are provided.

<Operation> According to the first aspect of the present invention, a substrate group to be processed and rotated with the outer peripheral edge supported by the substrate holding rod (7) is supported on both axes around an axis passing near the center of gravity. As the reaction due to the centrifugal force acting on the substrate to be processed itself,
The reaction force received by the substrate holding rod (7) from the substrate holding rod (7) is extremely small, and even if rotation unevenness occurs or the rotation is rapidly accelerated, abnormalities occur in the contact portion of the substrate to be processed with the substrate holding rod (7). No stress is generated.

Also, the number and arrangement of the substrates to be processed loaded on the substrate holding rod (7) do not cause rotational vibration. further,
In the housing (1) having the cover (17) which can be opened and closed upward, the substrate to be processed is stably supported in a face-to-face parallel manner on the lower outer peripheral edge thereof by the substrate holding rod (7), and the upper outer peripheral edge is movable. Since the substrate is supported by the substrate holding rod (10) so that the substrate can be moved in and out so that the substrate can be moved in and out, the same group of substrates facing each other are held together by a pair of left and right arms, and each process is performed while suspended and transferred. It can be easily introduced into a carrier-less processing line.

Further, along with the rotation of the substrate, clean air or an inert gas or the like is supplied through a suction port (18) with a filter disposed above a processing chamber in the housing (1) to be rotated and dried. And discharged from the exhaust port (19) provided in the processing chamber together with the water mist separated from the substrate.

Further, the pair of rotary shafts (5) are led out of the processing chamber and are supported by the bearings (4), respectively, so that particles or the like generated from bearing portions on both sides are prevented from entering the processing chamber.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the substrate whose lower outer peripheral edge is supported by the substrate holding rod (7) is supported while its upper outer peripheral edge is pressed by the elastic material of the movable substrate holding rod (10). Therefore, even if there is an error in the size of each substrate supported in the face-to-face parallel configuration, each substrate is securely held without being damaged.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the substrate whose lower outer peripheral edge is supported by the substrate holding rod (7) is supported while its upper outer peripheral edge is pressed by the urging force of the movable substrate holding rod (10). Therefore, each substrate is securely held.

According to the invention described in claim 4, the phase detection means (2
2) and (23), the rotor (2) is set to a predetermined rotation phase suitable for loading and unloading of the substrate.

<Example> Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

First Embodiment FIGS. 1 to 3 relate to a first embodiment of the present invention, wherein FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional side view of the entire apparatus, and FIGS. 2 and 3 are II-II in FIG. FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line III-III.

This rotary surface treatment apparatus is basically configured in a box shape whose upper part is freely openable and closable, and includes a housing 1 in which a processing chamber for rotational drying processing is formed, and a substrate W to be processed such as a semiconductor substrate. The housing 2 includes a rotor 2 that is supported side by side in parallel and rotates around a horizontal rotation axis P in the housing 1, and a driving mechanism 3 that drives the rotor 2 at one end of the housing 1.

The rotor 2 includes a pair of rotating shafts 5 disposed coaxially on both sides of the housing 1 via bearings 4, a large-diameter flywheel 6 fixed to the tip of each rotating shaft 5, and a space between the two flywheels 6. And a pair of board holding rods 7 erected and fixed on the outer surface of each flywheel 6 (second
Arm 9 which is pivotally connected around the center of the arm 9 so as to swing around
A movable board holding rod erected and fixed between both arms 9
Consists of 10 and 10. The drive mechanism 3 includes a motor 11 and a belt 12 that transmits the output of the motor 11 to one of the rotating shafts 5.

The surface of the substrate holding rod 7 on the rotation axis P side is
Engagement grooves 13 for positioning and engaging the outer peripheral edge of the movable substrate holding rod 10 are formed at a constant pitch.
The substrate holding rods 7 and 10 support three locations on the outer peripheral edge of the substrate W to be processed, and hold the substrate at a position where the center of gravity of the substrate is located on the rotation axis P.

The movable substrate holding rod 10 has a supporting position for supporting the processing target substrate W held in parallel on the substrate holding rod 7 from above,
As shown by the imaginary line in the figure, it is movable to a retreat position where the substrate W to be processed can be put in and out of the substrate holding rod 7, and
It is always urged to rotate toward the support position by the tension of a spring 15 attached over the arm 9 and the flywheel 6.
Further, an air cylinder 16 fixed to the housing 1 is disposed to face the base-side extension of the arm 9, and the air cylinder 16 is extended to forcibly rotate the arm 9 against the spring 15. Thus, the movable substrate holding rod 10 is configured to be displaced to the retracted position.

A cover 17 which is opened and closed by an appropriate driving means such as an air cylinder is provided on the upper surface of the housing 1 over the entire length of the rotor. The cover 17 is interlocked so as not to be opened carelessly during operation of the rotor.

At an appropriate location on the top of the housing 1, an intake port 18 with a filter through which clean air or inert gas flows is provided, and at the side of the housing 1, an exhaust port 19 connected to a pressure reducing means is provided. A drain port 20 is provided below the rotor 2.

The flywheel 6 is preferably heavy as it has a large inertial force and can rotate the substrate to be processed stably, but may be a simple wheel without expecting an inertial force. Further, the filter may be provided at an opening (not shown) of the cover 17, and a viewing window may be provided at the cover 17.

 Next, the operation of this device will be described.

The substrate W to be processed is sandwiched between a pair of left and right holding arms 21 (see FIG. 3) serving as a substrate transfer mechanism in a vertically facing face-to-face state before being supplied to the apparatus. After being subjected to a required surface treatment and then subjected to pure water cleaning treatment, it is suspended and conveyed above the apparatus as it is.

At this time, the cover 17 of the housing 1 is opened, and the rotor 2 is rotated at a position where the substrate holding rod 7 is located below the rotation axis P (hereinafter, referred to as a set phase).
, And the movable substrate holding rod 10 is forcibly moved to the retracted position. The detection of the set phase of the rotor 2 is performed by a phase detecting means including a disk 22 with a slit provided at one end of the rotating shaft 5 (see FIG. 1) and a corresponding photo interrupter 23. In addition, the rotor 2 in the set phase is fixed by a brake device or a lock mechanism (not shown) to prevent accidental rotation while the substrate is being moved in and out.

The substrates W sandwiched by the clamping arms 21 are supplied downward from above the rotor 2 in such a set state, and each substrate W is individually engaged in the engagement groove 13 of the substrate holding rod 7. Then, the holding arm 21 is lifted and retreated after the holding is released.

Next, the air cylinder 16 is shortened, and the movable substrate holding rod 10 presses the substrate to be processed W group from above by the spring biasing force. Is held.

Thereafter, the rotor 2 is unlocked, the cover 17 is closed and locked, and then the rotor 2 is rotated at a high speed in a state where the inside of the housing 1 is forcibly ventilated. The adhering water is removed by centrifugation.

When the draining and drying are completed, the rotor 2 is fixed in the set phase again, the movable substrate holding rod 10 is retracted, the processed substrate W is taken out by the holding arm 21, and subsequently, a new substrate to be processed W is loaded.

The processed substrate W taken out of the apparatus is transferred by the holding arm 21 to a carrier dedicated to transport (not shown), and transported to the next required step by the carrier dedicated to transport.

Second Embodiment FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

In this embodiment, a number of rectifying plates 24 are installed inside the housing 1 so as to surround the rotor 2 in parallel with the axis of the rotor at an appropriate angle. This rectifying plate 24 can prevent the water mist separated by centrifugation from the substrate W to be processed from repelling inside the housing 1 and reattaching to the substrate W to be processed.

The group of straightening plates 24 above the rotor 2 is a vertical plate-shaped stay attached to the inner surface of the cover 17.
It is supported by 25 and is opened integrally with the cover 17. The other components are supported by a vertical plate-like stay 26 provided on the inner wall surface of the housing 1.

The shape of the current plate 24 is not limited to the shape shown in FIG. 4, and for example, a punch plate may be provided.

Third Embodiment FIG. 5 shows a main part of an embodiment for applying the present invention to the processing of a square substrate W to be processed such as a glass substrate for a liquid crystal display device or a photomask. In this embodiment, the substrate W to be processed is supported from above by two movable substrate holding rods 10. For other configurations,
Since it is the same as the first embodiment, the description here is omitted.

Other Embodiments The present invention includes the following configuration as an embodiment.

(1) When the substrate holding surface of the movable substrate holding rod 10 is made of an elastic material such as silicone rubber, the engaging groove 14 is not always necessary.

(2) It is also effective to attach a sponge-like water droplet absorbing member to the inner surface of the housing 1 and prevent the splash mist from rebounding by the shock absorbing action of this member.

(3) A nozzle for spraying pure water to the substrate W to be processed held by the rotor 2 may be provided in the housing 1 to clean the rotating substrate surface.

(4) A pure water jet nozzle is provided between the engagement grooves 13 of the substrate holding rod 7, and a water guide hole communicating with the nozzle is formed inside the rotating shaft 5, the flywheel 6, and the substrate holding rod 7. It is also possible to clean the main surface of the substrate W to be processed.

(5) In the first embodiment, a relay support rod that can be moved up and down between the substrate holding rods 7 of the rotor 2 in the set phase is provided at the bottom of the housing 1, and the board holding rod 7 is connected to the upper surface of the support rod. It is also possible to form a substrate accommodating groove having the same pitch as the entrance groove 13 and to use the support rod to perform positioning relay of substrate transfer between the holding arm 21 and the substrate holding rod 7.

<Effects of the Invention> According to the invention described in claim 1, the following effects are exhibited.

(1) Since the substrate group to be processed is rotated while supporting both axes around the center of gravity of the substrate, the centrifugal force acting on the substrate itself is balanced, and the substrate group is processed by the centrifugal force and the substrate holding rod ( Since the reaction force received from the movable substrate holding rod (7) and the movable substrate holding rod (10) is extremely small, the substrate to be processed is not damaged or damaged due to abnormal stress at the supporting portions of the holding rods (7) and (10). Further, even if the rotational acceleration is rapidly performed, the rotational axis is not shaken, so that there is no possibility of breakage. Therefore, it is effective to reduce the transition time to the rated rotation at the time of starting and to shorten the entire processing time.

(2) Even if the arrangement and the number of substrates loaded on the rotor (2) are different, there is no change in the rotational balance around the rotation axis.
Unlike the conventional apparatus which is arranged and mounted around the rotation axis, there is no problem such as occurrence of abnormal vibration due to imbalance at the time of mounting and breakage of the substrate due thereto, thereby improving the processing quality.

(3) Since there is no need to use a carrier, there is no need for a mechanism for rotating the carrier by 90 ° unlike a conventional rotary type surface treatment apparatus, which simplifies the structure of the apparatus and also allows the present invention to be applied to a carrier-less processing line. By introducing the equipment, it is possible to maximize the line performance.

(4) The cover (17) of the housing (1) is opened, and the movable substrate holding rod (10) is displaced to the retracted position to transfer the group of substrates to be processed onto the substrate holding rod (7). The removal of the substrate group can be easily performed from above the housing (1) without removing the rotor (2).

(5) Clean air or an inert gas introduced from an intake port (18) provided above the processing chamber is supplied from above to a high-speed rotating substrate, so that water mist separated from the substrate is re-emitted to the substrate. Can be prevented from sticking,
Processing time is shortened and processing quality is improved.

(6) Rotation axis that is likely to be a source of particles (5)
Since the bearing (4) of is provided outside the processing chamber,
Particles and the like are prevented from entering the processing chamber, and contamination of the substrate can be reduced as much as possible.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, even in a group of substrates having an error in size, the substrate holding rod (7) and the movable substrate holding rod (1
Since each substrate is securely held by the elastic surface of (0), stable rotation processing can be performed, and processing quality is improved without problems such as breakage of the substrate.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, since each substrate is securely held by the urging force of the substrate holding rod (7) and the movable substrate holding rod (10), stable rotation processing can be performed, and the substrate is damaged. Thus, the processing quality is improved without problems such as the above.

According to the invention described in claim 4, the phase detection means (2
The rotation phase of the rotating shaft (5) is detected by 2) and (23) and the rotor (2) is set to a predetermined rotation phase. A processing line can be introduced into the apparatus.

[Brief description of the drawings]

1 to 3 relate to a first embodiment of the present invention.
The drawing is a longitudinal side view of the whole, and FIGS. 2 and 3 are sectional views taken along lines II-II and III-III in FIG. 1, respectively. FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional front view of the second embodiment, and FIG. 5 is a main part front view of the third embodiment. 6 and 7 relate to a conventional example, FIG. 6 is a schematic longitudinal sectional view, and FIG. 7 is a schematic plan view. 3 ... Driving mechanism 5 ... Rotating shaft 7 ... Substrate holding rod 10 ... Movable substrate holding rod 13 ... Engaging groove P ... Rotating axis W ... Substrate to be processed

Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-58-9325 (JP, A) JP-A-59-115967 (JP, A) Japanese Utility Model Application No. 57-124145 (JP, U) Japanese Utility Model Application No. 59-54925 (JP) , U)

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A substrate holding rod (7) for supporting a plurality of substrates to be processed on their lower outer peripheral edges and standing and holding them in a side-by-side arrangement, a supporting position for supporting an upper outer peripheral edge of the substrates, and a substrate holding rod (7). 7)
A movable substrate holding rod (10) whose position can be changed to a retreat position allowing the substrate to move in and out; and supporting the substrate holding rod (7) and the movable substrate holding rod (10) to move the vicinity of the center of gravity of the substrate group to be processed. A rotor (2) including a pair of rotating shafts (5) of a double shaft supporting structure rotatable around a rotating shaft passing therethrough, the substrate holding rod (7), the movable substrate holding rod (10), and the rotating shaft (5); ), And a housing (1) having a cover (17) which can be opened and closed at the top, and a processing chamber in the housing (1) for spin-drying is led out of the processing chamber through a side wall of the housing (1). A pair of bearings (4) that respectively support the pair of rotating shafts (5).
A motor (11) interlockingly connected to one of the rotating shafts (5) led out of the processing chamber; and a filter-inlet (18) provided above the processing chamber.
And an exhaust port provided in the processing chamber and connected to the decompression means (19)
A rotary surface treatment apparatus for a substrate, comprising: 2. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said substrate holding surface of said movable substrate holding rod is made of an elastic material. 3. An apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: urging means (15) for urging a substrate pressing surface of said movable substrate holding rod (10) to an outer peripheral edge of said substrate. apparatus. 4. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said phase detecting means detects a rotational phase of said rotary shaft.
A rotary surface treatment apparatus for a substrate comprising (23).