JP3139254U - UV irradiation equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

Provided is an ultraviolet irradiation apparatus in which an excimer lamp 12 and its surroundings do not become high temperature, an ultraviolet light source can sufficiently exhibit its ability, and an object to be irradiated and surrounding apparatus are not damaged. To do.
A straight tube-type excimer lamp, a reflecting surface that covers an upper surface and a side surface of the excimer lamp, and a portion that faces the lower surface of the excimer lamp are opened. 16, a liquid conducting pipe 24 that conducts liquefied nitrogen, disposed between the excimer lamp 12 and the lamp support 16, and a nitrogen gas that is connected to the downstream side of the liquid conducting pipe 24 and gasifies the liquefied nitrogen. Is provided to the end face of the excimer lamp 12 and a bar lens 32 arranged to hermetically seal the opening of the lamp support 16.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to an ultraviolet irradiation apparatus used for cleaning an organic substance adhering to the surface of a semiconductor wafer or a glass substrate and for modifying the surface.

  The active oxygen separated from the ozone generated by the action of ultraviolet rays is used to clean organic substances adhering to the surface of semiconductor wafers and glass substrates and to modify the same surface using ultraviolet irradiation equipment. (See Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2). An excimer lamp is used as such an ultraviolet irradiation device. In photocleaning and photomodification using an excimer lamp, there are the following problems.

  In other words, when light is washed or modified using an excimer lamp, ozone is generated around the excimer lamp, which easily oxidizes peripheral devices such as the lamp house and the external and internal electrodes of the lamp. End up. Oxidation of these parts shortens product life and degrades performance. In addition, by turning on the excimer lamp, the internal temperature becomes so high that the ultraviolet light source cannot fully perform, and the high heat causes damage to the irradiated object and surrounding devices. There are disadvantages.

Conventionally, the following are known as means for solving such problems. That is, mainly for the purpose of preventing oxidation of internal parts, an excimer lamp is housed in a sealed container or lamp house equipped with an ultraviolet light transmitting glass, and nitrogen gas or other inert gas is introduced into or filled in the container. This prevents ozone from coming into contact with the electrodes and other parts of the excimer lamp.
JP 2001-189299 A JP 2001-263596 A

  However, when such a method is used, high airtightness is required for the sealed container or the lamp house. That is, if the airtightness of the container is not reliably maintained, the gas in the container is not completely replaced by the inert gas, thereby generating ozone and oxidizing and corroding the external and internal electrodes. There is.

    Further, in the case of flowing a gas such as nitrogen gas into the inner tube, the configuration for efficiently cooling the entire excimer lamp tends to be complicated, or a considerable amount of nitrogen gas needs to be flowed in. There is a problem that a lot of consumption cost is required.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems. The excimer lamp and its surroundings do not become hot, and the ultraviolet light source can fully exert its ability. An object of the present invention is to provide an ultraviolet irradiation device that does not damage the device.

The following configurations are means for solving the above-described problems.
<Configuration 1>
A straight tube excimer lamp, a lamp support that has a reflective surface that covers the upper surface and side surfaces of the excimer lamp, and is formed so that a portion facing the lower surface of the excimer lamp is open; and the excimer lamp, A liquid conducting tube for conducting liquefied nitrogen, which is disposed between the lamp support, and a nitrogen gas which is connected to the downstream side of the liquid conducting tube and gasified from the liquefied nitrogen is used as an end face of the excimer lamp. An ultraviolet irradiation device comprising: a gas conduction tube that injects toward the light source; and a bar lens that is disposed so as to hermetically seal the opening of the lamp support.

  Since the liquefied nitrogen in the liquid conducting tube comes close to the excimer lamp, the excimer lamp can be efficiently cooled. Further, since the nitrogen gas released from the gas conducting tube is radiated to the excimer lamp, the inside of the lamp support is efficiently cooled. The inside of the lamp support does not become high temperature, and the ultraviolet light source from the excimer lamp can sufficiently exhibit its ability. Also, the generated ozone can be used without damaging the excimer lamp and its peripheral equipment.

<Configuration 2>
In the ultraviolet irradiation apparatus according to Configuration 1, the ultraviolet irradiation is characterized in that the reflecting surface of the lamp support is a paraboloid and a convex lens protruding outward from the excimer lamp is used as the bar lens. apparatus.

  Since the reflecting surface of the lamp support is a parabolic surface, the ultraviolet light is converted into a parallel light beam, which is transmitted through a convex lens and condensed at one point, the thermal energy can be used efficiently.

<Configuration 3>
In the ultraviolet irradiation device according to Configuration 1 or 2, a fluorine resin packing is interposed on a joint surface between the lamp support and the bar lens, and a bracket covering each outer surface in the vicinity of the joint surface is fixed to the lamp support. In this way, the ultraviolet ray irradiation apparatus characterized in that the lamp support and the bar lens are joined.

  The air tightness of the lamp support can be easily formed by using the bar lens and the fluororesin packing.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail by way of examples.

FIG. 1 is a partially longitudinal front view showing an ultraviolet irradiation device 10 of Example 1, FIG. 2 is a right side view thereof, and FIG. 3 is a transverse sectional view taken along line AA of FIG.
The ultraviolet irradiation device 10 includes a straight tube excimer lamp 12, a lamp support 16 that supports the excimer lamp 12, a liquid conduction tube 24 that conducts liquefied nitrogen, and nitrogen gas toward the end face of the excimer lamp 12. A gas conducting tube 28 to be injected and a bar lens 32 arranged so as to hermetically seal the opening of the lamp support 16 are provided.

  The excimer lamp 12 is a well-known lamp composed of a quartz tube filled with a discharge gas of a rare gas or a rare gas halogen compound, and an inner electrode and an outer electrode. A high frequency and a high voltage are applied between the electrodes through the quartz tube. When applied, the discharge gas is excited, and after that, when it enters the excimer state and returns to the ground state, vacuum ultraviolet light (excimer light) is generated.

  The excimer lamp 12 is fixed by coupling the connectors 18 at both ends to a receiver 20 attached to the lamp support 16.

  The lamp support 16 is formed in a substantially cylindrical shape whose both ends are closed with a high-purity aluminum material. As shown in FIG. 3, a reflection surface 14 that covers the upper surface and side surfaces of the excimer lamp 12 and an opening 22 are formed at positions facing the lower surface of the excimer lamp 12. The reflecting surface 14 of the lamp support 16 reflects the ultraviolet light from the excimer lamp 12 and irradiates the bar lens 32 disposed in the opening 22 as a parallel light beam. The ultraviolet light that has passed through the bar lens 32 is focused on the lens focal point O where the irradiated object 42 such as a semiconductor wafer or a glass substrate is placed.

  The liquid conduction pipes 24 are arranged in two rows between the excimer lamp 12 and the lamp support 16, and the input pipe 25 </ b> A is connected to the upstream side, and the gas conduction pipe 28 is connected to the downstream side. The liquefied nitrogen is squeezed and gasified when it flows from the large-diameter liquid conduction pipe 24 into the small-diameter gas conduction pipe 28. In order to enhance the throttling effect at this time, the gas conduction pipe 28 is appropriately thin compared to the liquid conduction pipe 24.

  A nozzle 30 for injecting nitrogen gas to the excimer lamp 12 is connected to the two gas conducting tubes 28. The nozzles 30 are provided at two positions respectively toward the end face of the excimer lamp 12. An output tube 25 </ b> B that allows nitrogen gas to flow out is disposed on the end face of the lamp support 16.

  The excimer lamp 12 is cooled over the entire length by the liquefied nitrogen in the two liquid conduction pipes 24 provided close to the excimer lamp 12, and from each nozzle 30 of the two gas conduction pipes 28. It is further cooled by the injected nitrogen gas.

  The bar lens 32 is a convex lens made of quartz glass that protrudes outward with respect to the excimer lamp 12. As this convex lens, a plano-convex lens is preferable. The bar lens 32 has a width and a length capable of closing the opening 22 of the lamp support 16. As shown in FIG. 3, the bar lens 32 seals the inside of the lamp support 16 by fastening a bracket 36 to the lamp support 16 with screws 38 via a fluorine resin packing 34 on the joint surface with the lamp support 16. is doing. The bracket 36 has an L-shaped cross section that covers each outer surface near the joint surface. Reference numeral 40 denotes a long hole for holding the screw 38 so that the position thereof can be adjusted.

  According to the present invention, the excimer lamp 12 is cooled twice by the liquefied nitrogen in the liquid conducting tube 24 adjacent to the excimer lamp 12 and the nitrogen gas released from the gas conducting tube 28. The inside is cooled efficiently. Therefore, the inside of the lamp support 16 does not become high temperature, and the ultraviolet light source from the excimer lamp 12 can sufficiently exhibit its ability. Further, the generated ozone does not cause damage to the excimer lamp 12 and its peripheral devices by the nitrogen gas released from the gas conduction tube 28, and operations such as light cleaning and light modification can be performed. The life of the excimer lamp 12 can be extended.

It is a partially longitudinal front view showing an embodiment of the ultraviolet irradiation device of the present invention. It is the same right view. It is a cross-sectional view which follows the AA line of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Ultraviolet irradiation device 12 Excimer lamp 14 Reflecting surface 16 Lamp support body 18 Connector 20 Holder 22 Lamp support opening 24 Liquid conduction pipe 25A Input pipe 25B Output pipe 28 Gas conduction pipe 30 Nozzle 32 Bar lens 34 Fluoro resin packing 36 Bracket 38 Screw 40 Long hole 42 Object to be irradiated

Claims (3)

Straight tube excimer lamp,
A lamp support having a reflective surface covering the upper surface and side surfaces of the excimer lamp, and formed so that a portion facing the lower surface of the excimer lamp is open;
A liquid conducting tube disposed between the excimer lamp and the lamp support and conducting liquefied nitrogen;
A gas conduction pipe that is connected to a downstream side of the liquid conduction pipe and injects nitrogen gas obtained by gasifying the liquefied nitrogen toward an end face of the excimer lamp;
An ultraviolet irradiation device, comprising: a bar lens disposed so as to hermetically seal an opening of the lamp support. In the ultraviolet irradiation device according to claim 1,
An ultraviolet irradiation apparatus, wherein a reflecting surface of the lamp support is a parabolic surface, and a convex lens protruding outward with respect to the excimer lamp is used as the bar lens. In the ultraviolet irradiation device according to claim 1 or 2,
A fluororesin packing is interposed on the joint surface between the lamp support and the bar lens, and a bracket that covers each outer surface in the vicinity of the joint surface is fixed to the lamp support, thereby the lamp support and the bar lens. An ultraviolet irradiation device characterized by bonding.

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