JP3203836B2 - Anodizing equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an anodizing apparatus for anodizing a conductive film formed on a substrate.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, a TFT panel used for a TFT active matrix liquid crystal display element has a gate wiring and a data wiring formed on a transparent insulating substrate made of glass or the like so as to be orthogonal to each other. Thin film transistors (TFTs) are formed at intersections with data lines, and pixel electrodes are arrayed and formed corresponding to the thin film transistors.
In the FT panel, a gate wiring is formed on a substrate, and a data wiring is formed on an insulating film covering the gate wiring.

[0005] The thin film transistor of the TFT panel includes a gate electrode formed integrally with the gate wiring,
A gate insulating film formed on substantially the entire surface of the substrate over the gate electrode and the gate wiring; and a-Si formed on the gate insulating film so as to face the gate electrode.
(Amorphous silicon) i-type semiconductor film and a-Si doped with n-type impurities on the i-type semiconductor film
And a source / drain electrode formed via an n-type semiconductor film composed of an N-type semiconductor film. The source electrode is connected to a pixel electrode, and the drain electrode is connected to a data line.

[0004] The pixel electrode is formed on the gate insulating film with one end edge overlapping the source electrode. Further, the data wiring is generally formed on an interlayer insulating film formed on the gate insulating film so as to cover the thin film transistor, and the data wiring is formed on the drain electrode in a contact hole provided in the interlayer insulating film. It is connected.

By the way, in this TFT panel,
If there is a defect such as a pinhole or a crack in the insulating film that insulates the gate wiring and the gate electrode as the lower conductive film from the data wiring and the drain electrode as the upper conductive film, the lower layer is formed at the defective portion. The conductive film and the upper conductive film are short-circuited.

For this reason, in the above-mentioned TFT panel, the gate wiring and the gate electrode, which are the lower conductive film, are anodized except for the terminal portion of the gate wiring, and an oxide film is generated on the surface thereof. This double-insulates the lower conductive film and the upper conductive film.

In the anodic oxidation of the lower conductive film, the substrate on which the conductive film is formed is immersed in an electrolytic solution so that the conductive film on the substrate faces the cathode in the electrolytic solution. This is performed by applying a voltage between the conductive film and the cathode. When a voltage is applied between the conductive film and the cathode in the electrolytic solution, the conductive film serving as the anode undergoes a chemical reaction. The surface of the conductive film is anodically oxidized to form an oxide film on the surface of the conductive film. Note that this anodic oxidation is performed by covering a non-oxidized portion (terminal portion of the gate wiring) of the conductive film with a resist mask.

The anodic oxidation of the conductive film formed on the substrate is conventionally performed by a batch type anodic oxidizing apparatus which collectively anodizes the conductive films of a plurality of (about 10) substrates.

The anodic oxidation apparatus comprises: an electrolytic solution tank in which a tank is filled with an electrolytic solution and the same number of cathodes as the number of substrates to be batch-processed in the electrolytic solution are vertically arranged at intervals from each other;
In this electrolytic solution tank, a cleaning tank for cleaning the substrate having the conductive film anodically oxidized, a drying chamber for drying the washed substrate, and a predetermined number of substrates to be batch-processed corresponding to a cathode arrangement interval of the electrolytic solution tank. It is composed of a substrate support frame that supports at intervals and a transport mechanism for the substrate support frame. Anodization of the conductive film formed on the substrate is performed as follows.

First, a conductive film is formed on a substrate and is transferred to a carrier rack from a previous processing line for forming a resist mask on a non-oxidized portion of the conductive film, or is transferred to a carrier rack. The conductive film forming substrates conveyed by the conveyor from the line are transferred one by one to the substrate supporting frame by the robot arm, and a predetermined number of substrates are supported by the substrate supporting frame.

Next, the substrate supporting frame is transported above the electrolytic solution tank, and then the substrate supporting frame is lowered, and each substrate supported by the substrate supporting frame is moved to the conductive film forming surface with the conductive film forming surface. And vertically immersed in the electrolytic solution in a state of facing the respective cathodes.

Next, the end of the conductive film of each substrate is connected to the positive side of an oxidizing power supply (DC power supply) via a clip for holding the substrate, so that the conductive film of each substrate and each of the cathodes facing each other are connected. , And anodize the conductive film of each substrate at once. Note that the thickness of the oxide film formed on the surface of the conductive film in this anodic oxidation is determined by the voltage applied between the conductive film and the cathode.

Thereafter, the substrate supporting frame is lifted to lift each substrate from the electrolytic solution tank, and the substrate supporting frame is transported to a cleaning tank to wash each substrate at once, and further, the substrate supporting frame is moved to a drying chamber. The substrate is conveyed and dried, and the oxidation process is completed.

The dried substrates are taken out one by one from the substrate support frame by a robot arm, transferred to a carrier rack or a conveyor, and conveyed to the next processing line.

[0015]

However, the above-described conventional anodizing apparatus for collectively anodizing the conductive films of a plurality of substrates has a capacity such that the plurality of substrates can be simultaneously immersed in the electrolytic solution as an electrolytic solution tank. And the number of cathodes must be the same as the number of substrates to be batch-processed in this electrolytic solution tank, which increases the size of the electrolytic solution tank, thus increasing the equipment costs. Thus, there is a problem that the cost of oxidizing the conductive film per substrate increases.

According to the present invention, the electrolytic solution tank is a simple small tank,
It is an object of the present invention to provide an anodic oxidation apparatus capable of reducing the equipment cost of the apparatus and the cost of oxidizing a conductive film per substrate.

[0017]

An anodic oxidation apparatus according to the present invention comprises an electrolyte tank filled with an electrolyte and a method for transporting a substrate.
Above the electrolytic cell with the substrate surface parallel to the
To the electrolyte, and lower the substrate one by one to the electrolyte.
Substrate transport system to be immersed, and transport from the substrate transport system after immersion
The substrate that is fed down and placed on the conveyor
And a lodging mechanism .

[0018]

In the anodic oxidation apparatus of the present invention, the substrates on which the conductive films are formed are carried in and out of the electrolytic solution tank one by one, so that the substrates are immersed one by one in the electrolytic solution in the electrolytic solution tank. Anodization of the film is performed.

In this anodizing apparatus, the substrates are immersed one by one in an electrolytic solution to anodize the conductive film.
The electrolyte tank may be a simple small tank having a volume that allows one substrate to be immersed in the electrolyte and having only one cathode in the tank.

[0020]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a side view of an anodizing apparatus. The anodizing apparatus includes a substrate carrying-in chamber 10, an anodizing chamber 20, a cleaning chamber 30, and a drying chamber 40 which are continuously arranged. .

The substrate transfer chamber 10 is provided with a substrate (a substrate on which a conductive film is formed and a resist mask is formed on a non-oxidized portion of the conductive film) 1 transferred one by one from the preceding processing line. This is a chamber for carrying in the oxidation chamber 20. Inside the substrate carrying-in chamber 10, first and second substrate heaters (a panel having substantially the same area as the substrate 1) for baking the resist mask on the substrate 1 are provided. Shaped heater) 1
1, 12 and a heat radiator 13 are arranged.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the heaters 11 and 12 and the heat radiating table 13 arranged in the substrate loading chamber 10, and is transferred from a preceding processing line to a carrier rack and conveyed, or is a preceding processing line. The substrates 1 conveyed from the line by the conveyor are taken out one by one by a robot arm (not shown) and placed horizontally on the first heater 11 with the conductive film forming surface facing upward.

The first heater 11 is a preheater for heating the substrate 1 to a temperature close to the resist mask baking temperature (about 150 ° C.). The substrate 1 is provided with substrate support pins 11 a protruding from the upper surface of the first heater 11. It is placed on top and slowly heated by radiant heat from the heater 11.

The substrate 1 preheated by the first heater 11 to a temperature close to the resist mask firing temperature is transferred onto the second heater 12 by the robot arm and heated to the resist mask firing temperature. This second heater 12
The second heater 1 is a heater for directly heating the substrate 1.
2, the resist mask 3 (see FIGS. 7 and 9) formed on the substrate 1 so as to cover the non-oxidized portion of the conductive film 2 is baked. Adhesion to the substrate 1 and the conductive film 2 is increased.

The substrate 1 on which the resist mask 3 has been baked is transferred from the second heater 12 to a radiator table 13 by the robot arm, and is gradually cooled on the radiator table 13 to near room temperature by natural heat radiation. Thereafter, the wafer is carried into the anodic oxidation chamber 20 by the robot arm.

In the substrate loading chamber 10, the first
The heating of the substrate 1 by the heater 11 is performed slowly by radiant heat, and the substrate 1 on which the resist mask 3 has been baked by the second heater 12 is gradually cooled on the radiator 13 before being carried into the anodic oxidation chamber 20. When the substrate 1 heated rapidly or heated to the resist mask baking temperature is immediately carried into the anodic oxidation chamber 20 and immersed in an electrolytic solution, thermal distortion occurs in the substrate 1 made of glass or the like. This is because the substrate 1 is deformed or cracked.

As shown in FIG. 1, the anodic oxidation chamber 20 receives the electrolytic solution tank 21 and the substrates 1 loaded one by one from the substrate loading chamber 10 by the robot arm, and horizontally moves the substrates 1. A substrate raising mechanism 26 which raises the substrate 1 vertically from the state, a substrate transport mechanism 27 which holds the upper end of the substrate 1 raised by the substrate raising mechanism 26 and carries the substrate 1 into and out of the electrolytic solution tank 21. , Electrolyte bath 2
The oxidized substrate 1 unloaded from the substrate transport mechanism 2
A substrate falling mechanism 29 is provided for receiving the substrate 1 from above and resting the substrate 1 in a horizontal state again.

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the electrolytic solution tank 21 is filled with an electrolytic solution 22 in a tank having an open upper surface, and a cathode 23 made of a corrosion-resistant metal such as platinum is contained in the electrolytic solution 22. The cathode 23 is disposed so as to face the immersion position of the substrate 1, and is connected to a negative side of an oxidation power supply (DC power supply) 24.

As shown in FIG. 5, an oxidizing voltage (+ voltage) is supplied to the conductive film 2 on the substrate 1 immersed in the electrolytic solution 22, at the upper end of one side wall of the electrolytic solution tank 21. Power supply 25 is provided. The power supply 25 is a conductive clip 25 for automatically holding the upper end of the substrate 1 from the side.
a is provided so as to be able to advance and retreat.
a is connected to the + side of the oxidation power supply 24.

The anodic oxidation of the conductive film 2 formed on the substrate 1 is performed by loading and unloading the substrates 1 one by one into the electrolyte bath 21 by the substrate transport mechanism 27.

Explaining the anodic oxidation, the substrate 1 has a conductive film forming surface on the cathode 23 in the electrolytic solution tank 21.
The electrolytic solution tank 21 is moved by the substrate transport mechanism 27 in a posture facing the
The conductive film 2 is anodized by being immersed in the electrolytic solution 22 except for the upper end thereof.

The substrate 1 is, for example, a substrate of a TFT panel (a transparent substrate made of glass or the like) used for a TFT active matrix liquid crystal display element, and a conductive film 2 formed thereon is provided with a gate wiring and a gate electrode. It is.

7 and 8 are enlarged views of one end of the substrate 1. On the substrate 1, a plurality of gate lines GL made of a metal film such as an Al-based alloy and the gate lines GL are formed. A gate electrode G is integrally formed, and a resist mask 3 covering the terminal portion GLa of the gate line GL is formed. The periphery of the substrate 1 (the part separated after the completion of the TFT panel or the assembling of the liquid crystal display element) is provided over the entire periphery thereof.
A power supply path VL for supplying a voltage to each gate line GL is formed. The power supply line VL is formed of the same metal film as the gate line GL and the gate electrode G.

The anodic oxidation of the gate wiring GL and the gate wiring G is performed by sandwiching the upper end of the substrate 1 immersed in the electrolytic solution 22 with the conductive clip 25a of the power feeder 25 and oxidizing the power supply path VL with an oxidizing power source. 24, and all the gate lines GL and gate electrodes G
And an oxidizing voltage (+ voltage) is supplied to the power supply.

When an oxidizing voltage is supplied to the conductive film 2 (gate line GL and gate electrode G and gate line GL) on the substrate 1 in the electrolytic solution 22, the conductive film 2 is immersed in the electrolytic solution 22. Except for the non-oxidized part (terminal part GLa of the gate wiring GL) whose part is covered with the resist mask 3, the surface is anodically oxidized, and an oxide film is formed on the surface.

In this case, the resist mask 3 covering the non-oxidized portion of the conductive film 2 is baked in the substrate loading chamber 10 immediately before the substrate 1 is transported into the anodic oxidation chamber 20. It does not peel off during anodization.

That is, the resist mask 3 is formed by applying and baking a photoresist on the substrate 1 in a previous processing line, and exposing and developing this photoresist. Since the substrate 1 is exposed to a developer after baking, the adhesion to the substrate 1 and the conductive film 2 decreases with time, and the substrate 1 is immersed in the electrolytic solution 22 to remove the conductive film 2 from the anode. It may peel off during oxidation.

When the resist mask 3 is peeled off during the anodic oxidation, the non-oxidized portion of the conductive film 2 also comes into contact with the electrolytic solution 22 to cause a chemical reaction, so that an oxide film is formed also in this non-oxidized portion.

However, if the resist mask 3 formed on the substrate 1 is baked again immediately before the anodic oxidation of the conductive film 2 in the previous processing line as described above,
In addition, since the adhesion of the resist mask 3 to the conductive film 2 is increased, the resist mask 3 does not peel off during the anodic oxidation, and therefore, the non-oxidized portion of the conductive film 2 is reliably protected by the resist mask 3. Thus, oxidation of the non-oxidized portion can be prevented.

FIG. 9 is an enlarged sectional view of the state after anodic oxidation along the line IX-IX in FIG. 7, and 2a is an oxide film formed on the surface of the conductive film 2 (gate wiring GL and gate electrode G). . Since the generated thickness of the oxide film 2a is determined by the intensity of the voltage applied between the conductive film 3 and the cathode 23, the oxide film 2a having an arbitrary thickness can be obtained by controlling the applied voltage. it can.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 3, the substrate raising mechanism 26 has a base end supported by a rotating shaft 26a and rises vertically and a state in which it falls horizontally in the direction of the substrate loading chamber 10. The robot 1 comprises a substrate support plate 26b which is rotated, and the substrates 1 which are carried one by one from the substrate carry-in chamber 10 by the robot arm are placed on the substrate support plate 26b which has been turned upside down by the robot arm. The substrate is then placed, and then the substrate support plate 26b is raised and rotated, so that the conductive film forming surface is raised upright in a posture facing the electrolytic solution tank 21 side. The substrate support plate 26b rotates by sucking the substrate 1 placed thereon in vacuum. Therefore, when the substrate support plate 26b rises and rotates, the substrate 1 falls. There is no.

As shown in FIG. 3, the substrate transport mechanism 27 comprises a substrate transport jig 28 which is moved vertically and horizontally by a moving mechanism (not shown).
The substrate transport jig 28 is provided with a substrate holder 28a that grips the upper end of the substrate 1 that is vertically raised and rotatable about a vertical axis.

The transfer of the substrate 1 by the substrate transfer mechanism 27 will now be described. First, the substrate transfer jig 28 is moved vertically by the substrate rising mechanism 26.
And the upper end of the substrate 1 is
a, the substrate holder 28a is rotated by 90 ° as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, and the substrate 1 held by the substrate holder 28a is transported in the transport direction (lateral movement of the substrate transport jig 28). Direction) is rotated so that the substrate surface is parallel to the direction.

Thereafter, the substrate transfer jig 28 moves laterally from a position above the substrate raising mechanism 26 toward above the electrolytic solution tank 21, and transfers the substrate 1 to above the electrolytic solution tank 21. In this case, since the substrate 1 is transported in a posture in which the substrate surface is parallel to the transport direction, the substrate 1 is not warped and deformed by air resistance. it can.

Then, the substrate transport jig 28 moved above the electrolytic solution tank 21 descends toward the electrolytic solution tank 21 and
As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the substrate 1 is immersed in the electrolytic solution 22 in the electrolytic solution tank 21, and waits in this state until the anodization of the conductive film 2 on the substrate 1 is completed.

The cathode 23 in the electrolytic solution tank 21 is arranged in parallel with the substrate transport direction at a predetermined distance from the substrate immersion position. If it is lowered as it is and immersed in the electrolytic solution 22, the above-described anodic oxidation can be performed with the conductive film 2 on the substrate 1 facing the cathode 23. First, the substrate 1 is moved laterally from a position above the electrolytic solution tank 21 to above the substrate falling mechanism 29, and the substrate 1 is transported above the substrate falling mechanism 29. Also in this case, since the substrate 1 is transported in a posture in which the substrate surface is parallel to the transport direction, the substrate 1 can be transported at a high speed.

Then, the substrate transport jig 28 moved above the substrate lowering mechanism 29 rotates the substrate holder 28a at this position by 90 ° as shown in FIG. 11, and moves the substrate 1 at right angles to the attitude in the transport direction. To the desired posture. At this time, the rotation direction of the substrate holder 28a is shown in FIGS.
Is the same direction as the direction of rotation of the substrate holder above the substrate raising mechanism 26, so that the substrate 1 has a conductive film forming surface with respect to the posture when the substrate is raised by the substrate raising mechanism 26. The posture becomes the opposite direction (the posture in which the conductive film forming surface faces the electrolytic solution tank 21).

Thereafter, the substrate transporting jig 28 descends toward the substrate lowering mechanism 29 and causes the substrate lowering mechanism 29 to receive the substrate 1 held by the substrate holder 28a. As shown by, it moves above the substrate raising mechanism 26 and conveys the next substrate 1 in the same manner.

As shown in FIG. 11, the substrate falling mechanism 29 is rotated between a state in which its base end is supported by a rotating shaft 29a and rises vertically and a state in which it falls horizontally in the direction of the cleaning chamber 30. It consists of a substrate support plate 29b.

The substrate moving mechanism 29 moves the substrate 1 transferred vertically by the substrate transfer jig 28.
The substrate support plate 29b is rotated horizontally after waiting for the lowering of the substrate 1 transported by the substrate transporting jig 28 above the substrate tilting mechanism 29, and the substrate supporting plate 29b is rotated. The substrate 1 is vacuum-sucked in contact with the back surface of the substrate 1 (the surface opposite to the conductive film forming surface). The substrate transport jig 28 is configured such that the substrate 1 is
9b, the substrate holder 28a is opened and the substrate 1
Release

Then, the substrate supporting plate 29b, on which the substrate 1 is adsorbed, is tilted and turned horizontally in the direction of the cleaning chamber 30 to lay the substrate 1 horizontally, and the substrate 1 is placed through the cleaning chamber 30 and the drying chamber 40. Is placed on a substrate transfer conveyor (for example, a roller conveyor) 50 that has been set.

In this case, the substrate 1 is placed on the substrate support plate 29b with the conductive film forming surface facing the electrolytic solution tank 21 side.
To the cleaning chamber 30 of the substrate support plate 29b.
The substrate 1 is placed horizontally on the substrate unloading conveyer 50 with the conductive film forming surface facing upward because the substrate 1 is horizontally laid by the downward rotation in the direction.

Next, the cleaning chamber 30 and the drying chamber 40 will be described. A plurality of cleaning water spray nozzles 31 are provided in the upper part of the cleaning chamber 30, and an air dryer is provided in the upper part of the drying chamber 40. 41 are provided.

The oxidized substrate 1, which is placed on the substrate transport conveyor 50 with the conductive film forming surface facing upward and sequentially transported, is sprayed from the nozzle 31 while passing through the cleaning chamber 30. Cleaning water (pure water)
Next, while passing through the drying chamber 40, the air dryer 4
It is dried by dry air blown from 1.

The substrate 1 that has left the drying chamber 40 is transferred from the substrate transfer conveyor 50 to a carrier rack by a robot arm and sent to the next processing line, or
The substrate is transferred from the substrate transport conveyor 50 to the contact conveyor and sent to the next processing line.

That is, the anodic oxidation device is used for the conductive film 2
By carrying the substrates 1 on which are formed one by one into and out of the electrolytic solution tank 21, the substrates 1 are immersed one by one in the electrolytic solution 22 of the electrolytic solution tank 21 to perform anodic oxidation of the conductive film 2. .

In this anodizing apparatus, since the conductive film 2 is anodized by immersing the substrates 1 one by one in an electrolytic solution 22, the electrolytic solution tank 21 is provided with one substrate in the electrolytic solution. A simple small tank having a capacity capable of immersion and having only one cathode 23 in the tank may be used. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the equipment cost of the apparatus and the cost of oxidizing the conductive film per substrate. it can.

In addition, the anodizing apparatus of the above embodiment has the following features.
Since the substrate 1 immersed in the electrolytic solution 22 and anodically oxidized on the conductive film 2 is sequentially transported to the cleaning chamber 30 and the drying chamber 40 for cleaning and drying, the substrate 1 is cleaned and dried. Can be performed efficiently in a short time, and therefore, the processing time per substrate (conductive film 2
(The time from anodic oxidation to washing and drying) can be shortened, and the processing efficiency can be improved.

That is, in the conventional anodizing apparatus, the oxidized substrates are cleaned by ultrasonic cleaning by immersing a plurality of substrates supported by the substrate supporting frame at intervals from each other in a cleaning water tank together with the substrate supporting frame. However, in such a substrate cleaning, the movement of the cleaning water between the substrates is poor.
Cleaning takes time. This is the same in the drying of the substrate.Conventionally, a plurality of substrates supported by the substrate support frame are directly put into a drying chamber and are blown and dried.
The flow of dry air between the substrates is poor, and it takes time to dry.

Conventionally, the anodic oxidation of the conductive film, the cleaning of the oxidized substrate, and the drying of the substrate after the cleaning are performed, respectively.
Since the process is performed on a plurality of substrates supported by the substrate support frame at a time, the processing time per substrate is the time required from anodic oxidation to substrate drying for one substrate support frame. In the conventional anodic oxidation equipment, the time is divided by the number. Since the substrate support frame must be sequentially transported from the water tank and the washing water tank to the drying chamber, the time required from anodic oxidation to drying of the substrate is long, and therefore, the processing time per substrate becomes long.

In addition, in the conventional anodizing apparatus, it takes time to support and remove the number of substrates (approximately 10) to be processed at once from the substrate support frame. This was a factor that lengthened the time.

On the other hand, the anodizing apparatus of the above embodiment carries the substrates 1 one by one into and out of the electrolytic solution tank 21 to anodize the conductive film 2. In terms of only the above, the oxidation time per substrate in the conventional anodizing apparatus is shorter, but the time required for cleaning and drying of the substrate 1 is shorter than that in the conventional anodizing apparatus, and the batch processing as in the conventional method is performed. Since there is no need to support or take out multiple substrates on the substrate support frame,
The processing time per substrate is reduced.

However, in the anodizing apparatus of the above embodiment,
The substrate 1 is heated in the substrate carry-in chamber 10 to re-bake the resist mask 3 on the substrate 1, and then the substrate 1 is gradually cooled and then transferred to the anodic oxidation chamber 20. The heating and slow cooling of the substrate 1 in the loading chamber 10 is performed by the oxidation treatment time of the substrate 1 previously transported to the anodic oxidation chamber 20 (from the uprighting of the substrate 1 by the substrate raising mechanism 26 to the substrate falling mechanism 2
9 until the oxidized substrate 1 falls down), the heating and slow cooling of the substrate 1 do not affect the processing efficiency.

In the above embodiment, the gate wiring GL and the gate electrode G formed on the substrate of the TFT panel used for the TFT active matrix liquid crystal display element are used.
The oxidizing treatment was explained,
It can also be used for anodic oxidation of other conductive films.

As an example, instead of etching away the portion corresponding to the channel region of the n-type semiconductor film (conductive film made of a-Si doped with n-type impurities) of the thin-film transistor formed on the substrate of the above-mentioned TFT panel, it is not removed. In the case of electrically separating by anodizing over the entire thickness, in the production of various wiring panels, instead of patterning a conductive metal film formed on an insulating substrate by a photolithography method, it becomes wiring of the metal film. There may be a case where a region other than the portion is anodized over its entire thickness and a non-oxidized portion is used as a wiring.

[0066]

According to the anodic oxidation apparatus of the present invention, the substrates on which the conductive films are formed are carried into and out of the electrolytic solution tank one by one, so that the substrates are immersed one by one in the electrolytic solution in the electrolytic solution tank. Since the anodic oxidation of the conductive film is performed, the electrolytic solution tank can be a simple and small tank, the equipment cost of the apparatus can be reduced, and the cost of oxidizing the conductive film per substrate can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of an anodizing apparatus showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a substrate heater and a radiator provided in a substrate loading chamber of the anodizing apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a view showing a transfer operation of a loaded substrate in an anodizing chamber of the anodizing apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line IV-IV in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of an electrolytic solution tank provided in an anodizing chamber.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along the line VI-VI in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of one end of a substrate on which a conductive film is formed.

FIG. 8 is a side view of the substrate shown in FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the state after anodizing the conductive film along the line IX-IX in FIG. 7;

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a state where an oxidized substrate is pulled up from an electrolytic solution tank.

FIG. 11 is a view showing an unloading operation of an oxidized substrate in an anodic oxidation chamber.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Substrate 2 ... Conductive film GL ... Gate wiring G ... Gate electrode VL ... Power supply path 3 ... Resist mask 10 ... Substrate carry-in room 11, 12 ... Substrate heater 13 ... Heat sink 20 ... Anodizing chamber 21 ... Electrolyte tank 22 ... Electrolytic solution 23 ... Cathode 25 ... Power supply 25 26 ... Substrate rising mechanism 27 ... Substrate transport mechanism 28 ... Substrate transport jig 29 ... Substrate falling down mechanism 30 ... Cleaning chamber 31 ... Water spray nozzle 40 ... Drying chamber 41 ... Air dryer 50 ... Conveyor for board transfer

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] An apparatus for anodizing a conductive film formed on a substrate in an electrolytic solution, wherein an electrolytic solution tank filled with the electrolytic solution and a substrate surface parallel to a transport direction of the substrate. In a posture that becomes
The substrate is transported to above the electrolytic cell, and the substrate is lowered to
A substrate transport system that is immersed in the electrolyte solution at a time, and the substrate transported from the substrate transport system after the immersion falls down
An anodic oxidation apparatus , comprising: a substrate falling mechanism that is placed on a conveyor .