JP3452711B2 - Substrate edge processing equipment - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a glass substrate for a liquid crystal, a glass substrate for a photomask, or a glass substrate for a photomask, on the surface of which a thin film such as a photoresist coating solution, a photosensitive polyimide resin, or a dyeing agent for a color filter is formed. The present invention relates to a substrate edge processing apparatus for substrates such as semiconductor wafers and for removing thin films formed on the edges of these substrates.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a manufacturing process of a liquid crystal display, for example, a rectangular substrate having a surface coated with a resist is subjected to a treatment for dissolving and removing an unnecessary thin film formed on an edge thereof with a solvent. . As an apparatus (substrate edge processing apparatus) for dissolving and removing the unnecessary thin film, JP-A-5-175117, JP-A-6-349729, and JP-A-7-378 are used.
The one disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 04, etc. is known.

The devices described in these publications are provided with solvent discharge nozzles for supplying a solvent to the side edges of the front surface or front and back surfaces of a substrate whose horizontal posture is maintained, and the solvent provided corresponding to these solvent discharge nozzles. A gas injection nozzle that blows the solvent outward, a suction unit that captures and sucks the blown solvent, and a moving mechanism that moves or swings each of the solvent discharge nozzles and the gas injection nozzle along the edge of the substrate. Is formed.

Therefore, while supplying the solvent and the gas with the edge of the substrate facing the solvent discharge nozzle and the gas injection nozzle, the nozzle is moved or swung along the edge of the substrate by driving the moving mechanism. By doing so, the unnecessary thin film formed on the side edge is sequentially dissolved in the solvent, the solvent that has melted the unnecessary thin film is blown off by the air flow from the gas injection nozzle and sucked by the suction means, and the thin film is formed on the edge of the substrate. It will be removed.

[0005]

By the way, in the conventional substrate edge processing apparatus, the cleaning liquid discharge nozzle and the gas injection nozzle are provided between the processing position for performing the substrate edge processing and the standby position separated from the substrate. Is designed to be moved. For this reason, when a droplet of the cleaning liquid drops from the cleaning liquid ejection port of the cleaning liquid ejection nozzle at the standby position, the droplet adheres to the gas ejection port of the gas ejection nozzle arranged facing the cleaning liquid ejection port.

Then, when the gas is jetted from the gas jet nozzle at the processing position in the state where the droplets are attached to the gas jet port, the droplets attached to the gas jet port are blown away to form fine droplets on the back surface of the substrate. There is a problem that it adheres to the substrate and contaminates the substrate.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a substrate edge processing apparatus which does not deposit a cleaning liquid on the back surface of a substrate.

[0008]

The invention according to claim 1 is
In a substrate edge processing apparatus for removing an unnecessary thin film on an edge of a substrate on which a thin film is formed, a substrate holding means for holding the substrate in a horizontal posture and a front surface side edge of the substrate held by the substrate holding means. A cleaning liquid discharge nozzle having a cleaning liquid discharge port for discharging the cleaning liquid toward the substrate, suction means for sucking the cleaning liquid supplied to the front surface side edge of the substrate, and cleaning liquid attached to the rear surface side edge of the substrate A gas injection nozzle having a gas injection port that blows more outward, and a nozzle support unit that supports the cleaning liquid ejection nozzle and the gas injection nozzle so that the gas injection port is located closer to the center of the substrate with respect to the cleaning liquid ejection port. ,
A processing position for performing a substrate edge processing, provided with moving means for advancing and retracting integrally the cleaning liquid discharge nozzle and the gas injection nozzle and the suction means between the spaced standby position from the substrate, forward and backward
The means is a discharge position at which the cleaning liquid discharge nozzle discharges the cleaning liquid.
At a position retracted from the discharge position with respect to the substrate.
And the position where the gas injection nozzle injects gas.
Cleaning solution discharge nozzle and gas injection nozzle
And the gas injection nozzle and the suction means are integrally moved back and forth.
Consists urchin is characterized in Rukoto.

According to the present invention, the unnecessary thin film formed on the edge of the substrate is discharged by discharging the cleaning liquid from the discharge port of the cleaning liquid discharge nozzle to the front surface side edge of the substrate while the substrate is held by the substrate holding means. Dissolves in the cleaning solution. By driving the suction means in synchronism with the discharge of the cleaning liquid from the cleaning liquid discharge nozzle and injecting the gas from the gas injection nozzle, the cleaning liquid wrapping around the back side edge of the substrate becomes an air stream from the gas injection nozzle. The cleaning liquid which is blown off and dissolves the unnecessary thin film is sucked by the suction means.

Further, the gas injection port is provided closer to the center of the substrate than the position vertically opposed to the cleaning liquid ejection port, whereby the gas injection port is opposed to the cleaning liquid ejection port. Therefore, even if a droplet of the cleaning liquid drops from the cleaning liquid ejection port of the cleaning liquid ejection nozzle at the standby position, it does not adhere to the gas ejection port of the gas ejection nozzle, and the droplet adhered to the gas ejection port is blown off. As a result, it becomes possible to reliably prevent the conventional inconvenience that the fine droplets adhere to the back surface of the substrate and contaminate the substrate.

Further , between the discharge position where the cleaning liquid discharge nozzle discharges the cleaning liquid, and the gas injection position where the gas injection nozzle injects gas, which is a position retracted from the discharge position with respect to the substrate. since the the cleaning liquid discharge nozzle and the gas jet nozzle and the suction means is closed and moving means for advancing and retracting integrally in a state of moving the suction means and the cleaning liquid discharge nozzle and the gas injection nozzle to the processing position by the moving means It is possible to move the cleaning liquid discharge nozzle, the gas injection nozzle, and the suction means forward and backward by the advancing and retracting means, and reciprocate them between the cleaning liquid discharge position and the gas injection position. I will get it.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the substrate edge processing apparatus according to the first aspect, a plurality of gas injection nozzles are divided.
Are respectively mounted to the gas injection pipe it is is characterized in Rukoto.

According to the present invention, the gas injection pipe is divided.
Therefore, the pressure distribution in the gas injection pipe becomes more uniform.
Therefore, the gas injection force of the gas injection nozzle is
Since the unevenness is reduced, the cleaning liquid on the edge of the substrate is evenly distributed.
It is possible to blow it off, and it is possible to reliably prevent the remaining droplets.
To be done.

The invention according to claim 3 is the invention according to claim 1 or 2.
In the substrate edge processing apparatus described in the above, the gas injection nozzle
The gas injection pipe and the top of the main body of the gas injection pipe.
The front nozzle plate that extends horizontally and
With the rear nozzle plate, which is slightly lower in height than the one nozzle plate
Gas formed and extending horizontally between these nozzle plates
It is characterized in that an injection port is formed.

According to the invention, the front nozzle plate is the substrate
When the tip of the back side edge is reached, its upper edge is the substrate
Scratch it by contacting the remaining droplets hanging from the back side of the
The edge of the board is dirty with the remaining cleaning liquid because
It is reliably prevented from being dyed.

[0016]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Figure 1 is a schematic substantially plan view showing an example of the applied substrate processing apparatus of the substrate edge processing apparatus according to the present invention, FIG. 2, the substrate processing apparatus shown in FIG. 1 FIG. As shown in these drawings, the substrate processing apparatus 1 includes a substrate enclosing container 2 that surrounds the outer periphery of the substrate B, supports the substrate B in the substrate enclosing container 2, rotates the substrate B, and raises and lowers it as necessary. It has a basic structure including a substrate support mechanism 3, a coating liquid supply means 4 for supplying a coating liquid to the surface of the substrate B supported by the substrate support mechanism 3, and a substrate edge processing device 5.

The substrate B may be a glass substrate for liquid crystal, a glass substrate for photomask, a semiconductor wafer substrate, or the like. Further, as the coating liquid, a photoresist liquid, a photosensitive polyimide resin, a dyeing agent for a color filter or the like is used. The substrate edge processing device 5 removes the unnecessary thin film formed on the edge of the substrate B due to the coating liquid.

The substrate surrounding container 2 is composed of a flat container having an open upper side, and has a circular bottom plate 21, an annular groove portion 22 radially extending on an outer peripheral edge portion of the bottom plate 21, and an outside of the annular groove portion 22. An annular weir portion 23 is provided so as to project obliquely upward from the peripheral portion with an upward constriction. The bottom portion of the annular groove portion 22 is positioned lower than the bottom plate 21, and the upper edge portion of the annular dam portion 23 is positioned higher than the bottom plate 21. A substrate storage space 20 surrounded by the annular weir portion 23 is formed on the upper portion of the bottom plate 21, and the substrate B to be processed is stored in the substrate storage space 20.

A drain pipe 221 is connected to an appropriate position of the annular groove portion 22. The coating liquid is supplied from the coating liquid supply means 4 to the substrate B, and the excess portion of the substrate B which is blown off by the rotation of the substrate B is captured by the annular weir portion 23 and collected in the annular groove portion 22 and then the drain pipe 221. It is designed to be discharged through the system.

The substrate support mechanism 3 has a support shaft 31, which vertically penetrates the central portion of the bottom plate 21 of the substrate surrounding container 2,
It is provided with a horizontal rotation support plate 32 fixed to the upper end of the support shaft 31, and a rotary lifting mechanism 33 (FIG. 2) provided below the support shaft 31. The rotation elevating mechanism 33 has a drive means (not shown) incorporated therein, and drives the drive means to rotate or elevate the support shaft 31.

The rotation support plate 32 supports the substrate B placed on the surface of the rotation support plate 32 in a state where movement in the circumferential direction is restricted, and the substrate B is supported with respect to the rotation support plate 32. When feeding / discharging, as shown by the solid line in FIG. 2, the support shaft 31 is lifted up by the drive of the above-mentioned rotary elevating mechanism 33 and pushed up to the upper position. It can be pulled down to the lower part of the storage space 20. And the substrate B is
When the rotation support plate 32 is lowered, the rotation support plate 32 is rotated and driven by the rotation lifting mechanism 33 while being loaded in the substrate storage space 20.

The coating liquid supply means 4 is a substrate enclosing container 2
Vertical shaft 41 standing near the vertical shaft 41, a rotary arm 42 rotatably supported around the vertical shaft 41, and a coating liquid discharge nozzle 43 provided at the tip of the rotary arm 42.
It has and. The discharge port of the coating liquid discharge nozzle 43 is directed downward. The rotating arm 42 can be switched between a coating liquid supply position where the coating liquid discharge nozzle 43 faces the central portion of the substrate B on the rotation support plate 32 and a standby position which is offset to the side of the substrate surrounding container 2. ing. Further, the coating liquid stored in the coating liquid tank 44 is supplied to the coating liquid discharge nozzle 43 by driving the coating liquid pump 45.

According to the structure of the substrate processing apparatus 1, the substrate B, which has been subjected to the predetermined processing in the previous step, is set on the rotation support plate 32 located at the upper position, and then rotated by driving the rotation lifting mechanism 33. By lowering the support plate 32, the rotary support plate 32 is lowered to the lower position shown by the chain double-dashed line in FIG. 2, whereby the substrate B is loaded in the substrate storage space 20.

In this state, the rotating arm 42 of the coating liquid supply means 4 (FIG. 1) is rotated clockwise about the vertical axis 41 to make the coating liquid discharge nozzle 43 face the central portion of the substrate B, and The coating liquid discharge nozzle 43 is driven by driving the coating liquid pump 45.
The coating liquid is discharged from the substrate and is supplied to the central portion of the surface of the substrate B. Then, the support shaft 31 is rotated by driving the rotary elevating mechanism 33. Then, the coating liquid discharged onto the surface of the substrate B is diffused in the radial direction of the substrate B due to the centrifugal force, whereby a uniform thin film is formed on the surface of the substrate B by coating the coating liquid.

The excess coating liquid that has flown outward from the edge of the substrate B is captured by the annular weir portion 23 of the substrate surrounding container 2, flows downward and flows in the annular groove portion 22, and the drain pipe 221. Is derived out of the system. Then, after a lapse of a predetermined time, the rotation of the substrate B is stopped, the support shaft 31 is raised by driving the rotation lifting mechanism 33, and the substrate B is pushed up to the upper position. In this state, a thin film of the coating liquid is formed on the entire surface of the substrate B.

FIG. 3 is a partially cutaway perspective view showing the substrate B immediately after the thin film is formed by the substrate processing apparatus 1.
As shown in this figure, immediately after the thin film forming process is performed by the substrate processing apparatus 1, the substrate B is in a state where the thin film B0 is formed on the front surface, the edge portion, and the back surface side edge portion. There is. The reason why the thin film is formed on the edge portion other than the surface of the substrate B and the edge portion on the back surface side is that the coating liquid supplied to the surface of the substrate B wraps around.

By the way, of the thin film B0 formed on the substrate B, the only effective portion is the effective thin film B1 in the central portion surrounded by the alternate long and short dash line, and the effective thin film B1 exists outside the effective thin film B1. The so-called unnecessary thin film B2.

The unnecessary thin film B2 includes a front surface unnecessary thin film B3 formed at the front surface side edge of the substrate B, an edge unnecessary thin film B4 formed at the edge of the substrate B, and a rear surface side of the substrate B. The unnecessary thin film B5 on the back surface side formed on the edge does not relate to the function of the substrate B. On the contrary, in the state where such an unnecessary thin film B2 is present, various processes are performed in subsequent substrate B processing steps. Therefore, the unnecessary thin film B2 is cleaned and removed by the substrate edge processing apparatus 5 according to the present invention. In this specification, the front surface side edge, the edge portion, and the back surface side edge are collectively referred to as an edge.

The substrate edge processing apparatus 5 is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 2, the pair of nozzle decks 5 whose front ends are externally fitted to the edge of the substrate B and which are provided to face each other
1 and a pair of nozzle deck advancing / retreating means 55 for advancing / retreating the nozzle deck 51 with respect to the substrate B. The nozzle deck advancing / retreating means 55 is used for the nozzle deck 5
1 is for moving back and forth between the processing position where the substrate B is subjected to the cleaning process and the standby position separated from the substrate B.

The nozzle deck advancing / retreating means 55 is
A cleaning liquid discharge nozzle 53a, which will be described later, discharges the cleaning liquid, and a position retracted from this position.
The nozzle deck 51 can be moved back and forth between the gas discharge nozzle 54a and the gas injection position where the gas is injected.

The nozzle deck advancing / retreating means 55 has a link mechanism 56 whose tip side is connected to the nozzle deck 51.
The drive mechanism 57 is configured to operate the link mechanism 56 and swing the substrate B in parallel. The drive mechanism 57 drives the link mechanism 56 to perform a predetermined link motion.

Each of the link mechanisms 56 is formed such that two of the four equal-length link arms 56a are pivotally supported so as to be bendable. Each of the link arms 56a is pivotally supported by the nozzle deck 51 on the tip side of each two links, and the base end side of the link arms 56a is connected to the drive section 57.
By the bending and stretching movements by the driving of, the substrate B is moved forward and backward with respect to the upper position.

The nozzle deck 51 is composed of a rotary lifting mechanism 3
It is set to the same height as the substrate B located at the upper position (coating liquid supply position) by the driving of No. 3. Further, the length dimension of the nozzle deck 51 is set to be slightly longer than the long side of the substrate B, and it is possible to cope with the entire length of the edge of the substrate B by one advance / retreat operation by the nozzle deck advance / retreat means 55. It is like this.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the first embodiment of the nozzle deck 51, and FIG. 5 is a partially cutaway enlarged perspective view thereof. As shown in these drawings, the nozzle deck 51 includes a suction pipe (suction means) 52 extending in the horizontal direction, a cleaning liquid supply pipe 53 provided in parallel to the front upper part (left side in FIG. 4) of the suction pipe 52, A gas injection pipe 54 is provided at the lower front portion of the suction pipe 52 so as to face the cleaning liquid supply pipe 53. Then, the gas injection pipe 54
Are projected closer to the center of the substrate B than the cleaning liquid supply pipe 53. In the present embodiment, the suction pipe 52 serves as the nozzle support means according to the present invention.

The cleaning liquid supply pipe 53 has a cleaning liquid discharge nozzle 53a formed in its lower portion in the longitudinal direction by forming a plurality of cleaning liquid discharge ports 53b (FIG. 5) at equal pitches, and A gas injection nozzle 54a having an elongated hole-shaped gas injection port 54b formed in the longitudinal direction is attached to the upper portion of the gas injection pipe 54. Therefore, the gas injection nozzle 54a is provided closer to the center side of the substrate B than the cleaning liquid discharge nozzle 53a, whereby the gas injection port 54b is positioned closer to the center of the substrate B than the cleaning liquid discharge port 53b. It is in a state of being.

A gap is provided between the tip portions of the nozzles 53a and 54a into which the edge of the substrate B can be inserted in a spaced state, and the gap forms an elongated opening 58 extending in the horizontal direction toward the suction pipe 52. Has been formed.

In this embodiment, the gas injection port 54b of the gas injection nozzle 54a is formed in a long hole shape, but the present invention is not limited to the long hole shape. Instead, a plurality of gas injection holes may be arranged in parallel over the entire length in the longitudinal direction of the gas injection nozzle 54a.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4 , the suction pipes 52 are connected to the suction branch pipes 52a at the bottoms of both ends thereof, and the flexible pipes 52b are connected to the suction branch pipes 52a. The downstream end of the flexible tube 52b is connected to a suction blower 59 via a predetermined pipe and a buffer tank 59a. By driving the suction blower 59, outside air is sucked into the suction tube 52 through the elongated opening 58, and is sucked. It is configured to be led out of the system through the branch pipe 52a, the flexible pipe 52b, the buffer tank 59a, and the suction blower 59. The buffer tank 59a is for separating the suctioned substance sucked by the suction pipe 52 into gas and liquid, and the solvent separated here is separately stored in the buffer tank 59a.
Withdrawn from, so that only air that has been removed of the solvent are discharged from the suction blower 59 to the outside of the system.

In this embodiment, the suction blower 5 is used.
A first control valve 81 is provided immediately upstream of 9. By closing the first control valve 81, the suction operation by the suction pipe (dissolved substance suction means) 52 is stopped even when the suction blower 59 is driven. In the present embodiment, the suction blower 59 is always operated during the operation of the substrate processing apparatus 1, and the suction pipe 52 switches between suction and suction stop by the opening / closing operation of the first control valve 81 according to the control signal from the control means 80. I am trying to do it.

Further , the solvent is supplied to the solvent supply pipe 53.
A solvent tank 61 is provided for this purpose. This solvent tank
The 61, internal nitrogen pipe for introducing high-pressure nitrogen gas N is provided, the solvent by the pressure of the high pressure nitrogen gas N is savings supplied into the solvent tank 61 through the pipe is extruded, whereby a solvent is applied The liquid is discharged from the liquid discharge nozzle 43. The nitrogen pipe is provided with a regulator 62 and the regulator 6
2 is provided with a pressure gauge 63, and the pressure gauge 63 controls the pressure of the high-pressure nitrogen gas N. Also,
The solvent tank 61 is provided with a safety valve 64 which opens when the internal pressure becomes abnormally high, thereby ensuring safety.

In the present embodiment, a second control valve 82 is provided immediately downstream of the solvent tank 61, and the solvent is supplied to the solvent supply pipe 53 and the supply of the solvent is stopped by opening and closing the second control valve 82. The operation to switch between and can be performed. Further, in the present embodiment, the supply of the solvent to the solvent supply pipe 53 and the switching of the supply stop are switched by the opening / closing operation of the second control valve 82 by the control signal from the control means 80.

Therefore, the long opening 58 of the nozzle deck 51 is formed.
The solvent in the solvent tank 61 is supplied into the solvent supply pipe 53 by opening the second control valve 82 and driving the suction blower 59 in a state in which is attached to the edge of the substrate B.
It is discharged from the discharge port 53b of the solvent discharge nozzle 53a toward the front side edge of the substrate B, and after cleaning the unnecessary thin film B2 of the substrate B, it is sucked into the suction pipe 52 together with the outside air and discharged to the outside of the system. Will be.

A joint member 5 is attached to the gas injection pipe 54.
A suction hose 71 is connected via 4c, and the upstream end of this suction hose 71 is connected to a gas cylinder 72. In this embodiment, the gas cylinder 72 is filled with high-pressure nitrogen. Then, the gas in the gas cylinder 72 is supplied to the gas injection pipe 54 in a state where the edge of the substrate B is fitted in the elongated opening 58, so that the gas in the gas cylinder 72 is discharged from the gas injection port 54b of the gas injection nozzle 54a. As a result, the cleaning liquid that has flown around the back surface side edge of the substrate B is blown off.

In the present embodiment, a third control valve 83 is provided immediately downstream of the gas cylinder 72, and by switching the third control valve 83, the switching operation between gas discharge and discharge stop can be performed. I am trying. Then, in the present embodiment, the third signal is generated by the control signal from the control means 80.
The control valve 83 is opened and closed.

As the cleaning liquid, a solvent that can dissolve the coating liquid is used. If the coating liquid is a photoresist liquid,
The cleaning liquid contains ketones such as acetone and methyl ethyl ketone, esters such as ethyl acetate and butyl acetate, aromatic hydrocarbons such as toluene, xylene and benzene, and halogenated hydrocarbons such as carbon tetrachloride and trichloroethylene. Used. When the coating liquid is a stain, the cleaning liquid may be hot water at 30 to 60 ° C., lower alcohol such as methanol, ethanol, propanol, or acetone.

FIG. 6 is a time chart showing an example of substrate edge processing by the substrate edge processing apparatus 5. Also, FIG.
Is a substrate edge processing device 5 corresponding to the above time chart.
FIG. 4A is an explanatory diagram for explaining the action of the above, in which (a) is the state at time t1 to t2 of the time chart, and (b) is t2 to t.
The state at three time points, (c) shows the first half state at the same time points t3 to t4, (d) shows the latter half state at the same time points t3 to t4, and (e) shows the state after the same t5 time point.

First, in (a) of FIG. 7, (t1 to t
(2 time point), the edge of the substrate B is inserted into the elongated opening 58 of the nozzle deck 51 by the forward movement of the nozzle deck 51, and the first control valve 81 (FIG. 5) is opened by the control signal from the control means 80. The outside air is sucked into the suction pipe 52 by this valve opening. Then, at time t2, as shown in (b) of FIG. 7, the second control valve 82 (FIG. 5) is opened by the control signal from the control means 80,
The cleaning liquid discharged from the cleaning liquid discharge port 53b thereby dissolves the front surface unnecessary thin film B3 formed on the front surface side edge of the substrate B.

The cleaning liquid containing the dissolved unnecessary thin film is entrained in the air flow from the long opening 58 into the suction pipe 52, and the suction pipe 5
2 is sucked into. As a result, the front surface unnecessary thin film B3 formed on the front surface side edge of the substrate B is removed. Also,
Since the cleaning liquid discharged from the cleaning liquid discharge nozzle 53a also wraps around the edge portion and the back surface side edge of the substrate B, the edge unnecessary thin film B4 and the back surface unnecessary thin film B5 formed on these portions are also removed. To be done. However, in this state, the edge of the substrate is a blind spot of the air flow,
A droplet of the solvent (edge droplet B6) is attached to this portion. The edge droplet B6 does not disappear easily.

At time t3 in the time chart of FIG. 6, the second control valve 82 (FIG. 5) is closed by the control signal from the control means 80, as shown in (c) of FIG. The third control valve 83 is opened. As a result, the discharge of the cleaning liquid from the cleaning liquid supply pipe 53 is stopped and the gas is injected from the discharge port 54b of the gas injection pipe 54. In this state, the nozzle deck advancing / retreating means 55 (FIG. 1) is driven by the control signal from the control means 80, so that the suction pipe 52 starts to retreat as shown by an outline arrow.

When the gas injection port 54b reaches the position facing the edge of the substrate B due to the retreat of the suction pipe 52, the injection injected from the gas injection port 54b as shown in FIG. The back surface unnecessary thin film B5 is blown off by the air flow, and thereby the liquid droplets on the edge portion of the substrate B which could not be conventionally removed are removed. Then, at time t4, the third control valve 83 is closed, whereby only the outside air is sucked into the suction pipe 52 during time t3 to t4, and during this time, the edge of the substrate B after cleaning is dried. Processing is performed.

Then, at time t5, the first control valve 81
Is closed, and then the suction pipe 52 is retracted to the most retracted position, and as shown in (e) of FIG. 7, at this point, no droplet of the cleaning liquid remains on the edge of the substrate B. Then, the cleaning process is performed on the opposite edges of the substrate B. After that, the substrate B is rotated by 90 ° and the remaining 2
By similarly performing the cleaning processing of the edge of the side, the edge processing of one substrate B is completed.

Since the cleaning liquid discharge port 53b and the gas injection port 54b are horizontally displaced, the cleaning liquid from the cleaning liquid discharge port 53b does not go to the gas injection port 54b, and the cleaning liquid is discharged from the gas injection port 54b. There is no agitation by the gas discharged from the substrate or collision with the gas injection nozzle 54a, and the contamination of the substrate B due to the splashing of the cleaning liquid caused by these is reliably prevented.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a second embodiment of the nozzle deck 51a. In this embodiment, the gas injection pipe 540 is composed of a left suction pipe 541, a central suction pipe 542 and a right suction pipe 543 which are divided into three parts. Each of these suction pipes 541, 542, 543 has a gas injection nozzle 54a and a joint member 54c which are independent of the others, and each joint member 54c is connected to a gas cylinder 72 via a suction hose 71. . Other configurations are similar to those of the nozzle deck 51 of the first embodiment.

According to this nozzle deck 51a, since the gas injection pipe 540 is divided into three, the gas injection pipe 540
The pressure distribution in the inside becomes more uniform, which reduces the variation in the gas injection force of the gas injection nozzle 54a, makes it possible to evenly blow off the cleaning liquid on the edge of the substrate B, and ensure that the droplets remain. To be prevented.

9A and 9B are views showing a third embodiment of the nozzle deck 51b. FIG. 9A is a perspective view, FIG. 9B is a sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG. The state where the nozzle deck 51 is being pulled back is shown in a state where the nozzle deck 51 is being pulled back, the state where the nozzle deck 51 is advanced to the most front end and is fitted onto the edge of the substrate B.

In the nozzle deck 51b of this embodiment, the gas injection nozzle 544a has a horizontally extending front nozzle plate 544b protruding upward from the upper portion of the main body of the gas injection pipe 544 and a height higher than the front nozzle plate 544b. A rear nozzle plate 544c having a slightly smaller size is formed, and a gas injection port 54b extending in the horizontal direction is formed between the two nozzle plates 544b and 544c.

Then, as shown in FIG. 9B, the front nozzle plate 544b has the upper edge portion of the substrate B inserted into the elongated opening 58 by the forward movement of the nozzle deck 51b. The size is set so as to be close to the back surface of B. The other structure is the nozzle deck 5 of the first embodiment.
Same as 1.

According to the nozzle deck 51b of the third embodiment, when the suction pipe 52 is retracted after stopping the suction of the cleaning liquid adhering to the edge of the substrate B by the suction pipe 52, it is shown in FIG. Thus, when the front nozzle plate 544b reaches the tip of the rear surface side edge of the substrate B, its upper edge portion contacts the rear surface residual liquid droplet B7 hanging from the rear surface of the substrate B, and the suction tube The retreat of 52 puts it in a scraping state. Then, the rear surface residual liquid droplet B7 scraped off by the upper edge portion of the front nozzle plate 544b is blown off by the gas ejected from the gas ejection port 54b.
The edges of the are reliably prevented from being contaminated with residual cleaning liquid.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, but the following embodiments can be adopted. (1) In the above embodiment, the nozzle deck 51,
51a, 51b and 51c are long ones slightly longer than the long side dimension of the substrate B. Instead of using such a long nozzle deck, a nozzle deck shorter than the side of the substrate B is adopted. The unnecessary thin film B2 may be removed while moving the nozzle deck along the edge of the substrate B. (2) In the above embodiment, the cleaning liquid supply pipe 53 supplies the cleaning liquid only to the front surface side edge of the substrate B, but the cleaning liquid supply pipe for the rear surface side edge of the substrate B is arranged. The cleaning liquid may be supplied also to the back surface of the substrate B by this. By doing so, the unnecessary thin film B5 on the back surface side is surely dissolved by the coating liquid that has flowed around the back surface of the substrate B. (3) In the above-described embodiment, with the edge of the substrate B set in the long opening 58 of the nozzle deck 51, the nozzle deck 51 is horizontally moved in a direction orthogonal to or parallel to the edge of the substrate B. You may make it rock in any direction. By doing so, the direction of the force applied to the edge liquid droplet B6 by the airflow changes in accordance with the above-mentioned swing, and the edge liquid droplet B6 is changed.
Is shaken in the horizontal direction, so that the edge liquid droplet B6 is more easily blown off. (4) The substrate edge processing device 5 of the above-described embodiment mainly includes a glass substrate for liquid crystal having a thin film such as a photoresist coating solution, a photosensitive polyimide resin, and a dyeing agent for a color filter formed on its surface, It is applied to remove the unnecessary thin film B2 formed on the edge of the substrate B such as a glass substrate for a mask or a semiconductor wafer, but the present invention is not limited to such an unnecessary thin film removal application. Instead, the developer supplied to the edge of the substrate B before the development is regarded as a cleaning liquid, and the developer can be suitably applied to the so-called development acceleration treatment in which the edge of the substrate B is subjected to the development treatment.

[0060]

In the substrate edge processing apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention, the cleaning liquid is discharged toward the substrate holding means for holding the substrate in a horizontal posture and the front surface side edge of the substrate held by the substrate holding means. A cleaning liquid discharge nozzle having a cleaning liquid discharge port, a suction means for sucking the cleaning liquid supplied to the front surface side edge of the substrate, and a gas for blowing the cleaning liquid adhering to the back surface side edge of the substrate to the outside of the substrate edge. A gas injection nozzle having an injection port, a nozzle support means for supporting the cleaning liquid discharge nozzle and the gas injection nozzle so that the gas injection port is located on the center side of the substrate with respect to the cleaning liquid discharge port, and substrate edge processing. The substrate is held by the substrate holding unit because it has the cleaning liquid discharge nozzle between the processing position to be applied and the standby position separated from the substrate, and the advancing / retracting unit that integrally moves the gas injection nozzle and the suction unit. Let By discharging from the discharge port of the cleaning liquid discharge nozzle a cleaning liquid to the surface side edge of the substrate in condition, unnecessary thin film formed on the substrate edge is dissolved in the washing liquid. By driving the suction means in synchronism with the discharge of the cleaning liquid from the cleaning liquid discharge nozzle and injecting the gas from the gas injection nozzle, the cleaning liquid wrapping around the back side edge of the substrate becomes an air stream from the gas injection nozzle. The cleaning liquid which is blown off and dissolves the unnecessary thin film is sucked by the suction means.

The gas injection port is provided closer to the center of the substrate than the positions vertically opposed to the cleaning liquid discharge port, whereby the gas injection port faces the cleaning liquid discharge port. Therefore, even if a droplet of the cleaning liquid drops from the cleaning liquid ejection port of the cleaning liquid ejection nozzle at the standby position, it does not adhere to the gas ejection port of the gas ejection nozzle, and the droplet adhered to the gas ejection port is blown off. As a result, it becomes possible to reliably prevent the conventional inconvenience that the fine droplets adhere to the back surface of the substrate and contaminate the substrate.

Further, between the discharge position where the cleaning liquid discharge nozzle discharges the cleaning liquid and the gas injection position where the gas injection nozzle injects gas, which is a position retracted from the discharge position with respect to the substrate. because have a moving means for advancing and retracting integrally the cleaning liquid discharge nozzle and the gas jet nozzle and the suction means, a state of moving the suction means and the cleaning liquid discharge nozzle and the gas injection nozzle to the processing position by the moving means, It is possible to move the cleaning liquid discharge nozzle, the gas injection nozzle, and the suction means forward and backward by the advancing and retracting means, and reciprocate them between the cleaning liquid discharge position and the gas injection position, so that a more fine and reliable cleaning process can be performed. Like

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view showing an example of a substrate processing apparatus to which a substrate edge processing apparatus according to the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the substrate processing apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a partially cutaway perspective view showing a substrate immediately after a thin film is formed by the substrate processing apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a first embodiment of a nozzle deck.

5 is a partially cutaway enlarged perspective view of the nozzle deck shown in FIG. 4. FIG.

FIG. 6 is a time chart showing an example of substrate edge processing by the substrate edge processing apparatus.

7A and 7B are explanatory diagrams for explaining the operation of the substrate edge processing apparatus corresponding to the time chart of FIG. 6, where (A) is the state at the time points t1 to t2 of the time chart, and (B) is the same t2.
~ State at time t3, (c) is the first half state at time t3 to t4, (d) is the second half state at time t3 to t4, (e)
Indicate the states after the time t5.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a second embodiment of a nozzle deck.

FIG. 9 is a view showing a third embodiment of the nozzle deck,
(A) is a perspective view, (b) and (c) are A-A of (a)
FIG. 4B is a sectional view taken along the line, in which (B) shows a state in which the nozzle deck has advanced to the leading edge and is fitted onto the end edge of the substrate, and (C) shows a state in which the suction tube is being pulled back.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Substrate processing apparatus 2 Substrate surrounding container 21 Bottom plate 22 Annular groove 23 Annular weir 3 Substrate supporting mechanism 31 Support shaft 32 Rotating supporting plate 33 Rotating lifting mechanism 4 Coating liquid supply means 41 Vertical shaft 42 Rotating arm 43 Coating liquid discharge nozzle 44 Coating liquid tank 45 Coating liquid pump 5 Substrate edge processing device 51 Nozzle deck 52,521 Suction pipe 53 Cleaning liquid supply pipe 53a Cleaning liquid discharge nozzle 53b Cleaning liquid discharge port 54,540,544 Gas injection pipe 541 Left suction pipe 542 Central suction pipe 543 Right suction pipe 54a, 544a Gas injection nozzle 544b Front nozzle plate 544c Rear nozzle plate 54b Gas injection port 54c Joint member 55 Nozzle deck advancing / retreating means 56 Link mechanism 56a Link arm 57 Drive part 58 Long opening 59 Suction blower 61 Cleaning liquid tank 62 regulator 71 suction ho 72 Gas cylinder 80 Control means 81 First control valve 82 Second control valve 83 Third control valve B Substrate B0 Thin film B1 Effective thin film B2 Unnecessary thin film B3 Front surface unnecessary thin film B4 Edge unnecessary thin film B5 Back surface unnecessary thin film B6 Edge Edge droplet B7 Backside residual droplet

Continuation of the front page (56) Reference JP-A-7-37804 (JP, A) JP-A-6-208948 (JP, A) JP-A-5-175117 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int .Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H01L 21/304 H01L 21/306 H01L 21/308

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A substrate edge processing apparatus for removing an unnecessary thin film at an edge of a substrate having a thin film formed on a surface thereof, wherein a substrate holding means for holding the substrate in a horizontal posture, and a substrate holding means for holding the substrate A cleaning liquid discharge nozzle equipped with a cleaning liquid discharge port for discharging the cleaning liquid toward the front side edge, a suction means for sucking the cleaning liquid supplied to the front side edge of the substrate, and a cleaning liquid attached to the rear side edge of the substrate. Support the cleaning liquid ejection nozzle and the gas ejection nozzle so that the gas ejection port is located closer to the center of the substrate with respect to the cleaning liquid ejection port than the cleaning liquid ejection port. a nozzle support means for a processing position for performing a substrate edge processing, provided with moving means for advancing and retracting integrally the cleaning liquid discharge nozzle and the gas injection nozzle and the suction means between the spaced standby position from the substrate, Advance / retreat The means is a discharge that the cleaning liquid discharge nozzle discharges the cleaning liquid.
Position and the position retracted from the discharge position with respect to the substrate
Yes, and the position where the gas injection nozzle injects gas
Cleaning liquid discharge nozzle and gas injection nozzle between gas injection position
And the gas injection nozzle and suction means are integrally moved back and forth.
Substrate edge processing apparatus characterized that you have been configured. 2. The substrate edge processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of gas injection nozzles is divided into gas injection pipes.
A substrate edge processing device characterized in that it is installed . 3. The substrate edge according to claim 1 or 2.
In the processing device, The gas injection nozzle is the gas injection pipe and the book of this gas injection pipe.
A front nozzle that extends horizontally from the upper part of the body and extends horizontally
The plate and the rear, which is slightly lower in height than the front nozzle plate
It is formed by the nozzle plate and the horizontal direction between these nozzle plates.
Characterized in that a gas injection port extending to the
Substrate edge processing equipment.