JP2699911B2 - Air knife drying method - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method of drying a rinse liquid such as a single wafer type cleaning, wet etching and resist stripping in an air knife in a manufacturing process of a thin film transistor substrate used in an active matrix type liquid crystal display device.
In particular, the present invention relates to a method for drying a rinsing liquid without causing contamination such as a watermark and leaving a substrate defect.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An example of a conventional processing method is shown in FIG. FIG.
(A) is a configuration example of the entire apparatus, and (b) and (c) of FIG.
It is the side view and top view of the specific example of a rinse tank. FIG.
1A, a glass substrate 1 such as a thin film transistor substrate is automatically and sequentially conveyed from a loader 100 to an unloader 104. The glass substrate 1 carried out from the loader 100 is subjected to processing such as cleaning, wet etching, and resist stripping in a processing tank 101, and then the rinsing tank 10.
2 and rinsed with pure water or the like. Then, it is conveyed to a drying tank 103, dried by an air knife that blows high-pressure air, high-pressure inert gas, or the like, and conveyed to an unloader 104.

In FIGS. 2 (b) and 2 (c), the glass substrate 1 is transported on a transport roller 5 from the left side to the right side in the figure. In the rinsing bath 102, the glass substrate 1 is sprayed with a rinsing liquid by a rinsing liquid shower 7,
The processing liquid in the processing tank 101 shown in FIG. Subsequently, when the glass substrate 1 is conveyed to the drying tank 103, high-pressure air, high-pressure inert gas or the like is blown by the air knife 3 to blow off the rinsing liquid 9, and a drying process is performed.
Then, the glass substrate 1 is transported to the unloader 104.

Another example of the prior art is shown in FIG. A pinhole type rinsing liquid shower 11 or the like is provided immediately before the air knife 3 in the drying tank 103, and the glass substrate 1 is tilted and conveyed immediately before air knife drying (for example, JP-A-4-337637).

[0005]

In the conventional air knife drying method shown in FIG. 2, a certain distance is provided between the shower 7 of the rinsing tank 102 and the air knife 3 of the drying tank 103 as shown in FIG. When the water-repellent film is exposed on the outermost surface of the glass substrate 1, the rinsing liquid, for example, pure water is partially repelled to generate polka dots 6. If air knife drying is performed in this state, there is a problem that a watermark 10 is formed after drying as shown in FIG.

[0006] In the other conventional air knife drying method shown in FIG. 3, when the glass substrate 1 is changed from horizontal conveyance to inclined conveyance, the glass substrate 1 is lifted and a conveyance failure occurs. If the water repellency of the film exposed to the air is strong, polka dots are generated immediately before air knife drying, and there is a problem that a watermark is generated as in the conventional example of FIG.

[0007]

According to the air knife drying method of the present invention, a slit-shaped rinsing liquid shower having a reduced clearance gap with a glass substrate is provided immediately before the air knife, and the rinsing liquid is discharged in the transport direction, and the air knife drying is performed immediately before the air knife drying. Up to this point, the glass substrate is uniformly covered with a rinsing liquid. Also, isolate the front and back of the air knife,
Air knife drying is performed while preventing mist from re-adhering.

[0008]

According to the present invention, even when there is a film showing strong water repellency on the outermost surface of the glass substrate, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of polka dots immediately before the air knife and to prevent the generation of a watermark. Further, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of a conveyance failure, which is a problem of another example of the prior art.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. 1 (a) and 1 (b) are a side view and a top view showing one embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 102 is a rinsing tank, 1
Numeral 03 denotes a drying tank, numeral 104 denotes an unloader, numeral 2 denotes a rebound separator, numeral 4 denotes a slit rinse liquid shower, and numeral 8 denotes a rinse liquid discharged from the slit rinse liquid shower 4. Except for the drying tank, the configuration is the same as the conventional example of FIG. Drying tank 1
03 is a slit-shaped rinse liquid shower 4 with an air knife 3
It is provided at a position immediately before. The slit-shaped rinsing liquid shower 4 of the drying tank 103 is set such that the clearance gap with the glass substrate 1 is reduced, and the rinsing liquid 8 is discharged in the transport direction of the glass substrate 1. Then, the flow rate of the slit-shaped rinsing liquid shower 4 is adjusted so that the surface of the glass substrate 1 is uniformly covered with the rinsing liquid 8 up to the portion where the air of the air knife 3 blows on the glass substrate 1. Further, the air knives 3 are sprayed with a mist of the rinsing liquid 8 so that the glass substrate 1
To prevent reattachment to the
Is installed.

As a result, the film on the outermost surface of the glass substrate 1 shows strong hydrophobicity, and even when the polka dots 6 are generated when the film is unloaded from the rinsing tank 102, the air knife 3
When the high pressure air or the high pressure blowing active gas is blown, the outermost surface of the glass substrate 1 is covered with the rinsing liquid 8 and the air knife drying can be performed in a state where the polka dots 6 are not generated, so that the generation of the watermark can be prevented. Further, the rebound separator 2 can prevent the rinsing liquid 8 from re-adhering to the glass substrate 1.

[0011]

As described above, according to the present invention, when air knife drying is performed, the surface of the glass substrate is uniformly covered with the rinsing liquid to suppress the generation of polka dots and prevent the generation of watermarks. Quality and yield are improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

1 (a) and 1 (b) are a side view and a top view showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a view showing an example of a conventional processing method, in which (a) is a configuration example of the entire apparatus, and (b) and (c) are a side view and a top view of a rinsing tank / drying tank.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing another example of a conventional processing method.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 100 loader 101 processing tank 102 rinsing tank 103 drying tank 104 unloader 1 glass substrate 2 splash separator 3 air knife 4 switch-like rinsing liquid shower 5 transport roller 6 polka dot 7 rinsing liquid shower 8, 9 rinsing liquid 10 watermark

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] In a method of drying a rinsing liquid for cleaning, wet etching, resist stripping and the like in a single wafer type with air or an inert gas, an air knife is used.
A slit-shaped rinsing liquid shower is installed just before
Rinsing liquid in the direction of travel of the substrate
Substrate is uniformly covered with rinsing liquid until just before knife drying
Air knife drying method being characterized in that as.