JP3462643B2 - 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 cleaning liquid. . 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 apparatuses described in these publications are cleaning liquid discharge nozzles for supplying a cleaning liquid to the side edges of the front surface or the front and back surfaces of a substrate whose horizontal posture is maintained, and the cleaning liquid provided corresponding to these cleaning liquid discharge nozzles. A gas injection nozzle that blows away the cleaning liquid to the outside, suction means that captures and sucks the blown cleaning liquid, and a moving mechanism that moves or rocks each of the cleaning liquid discharge nozzles and the gas injection nozzle along the edge of the substrate. Is formed.

Then, each nozzle is moved or swung along the edge of the substrate by driving the moving mechanism while supplying the cleaning liquid and gas to the cleaning liquid discharge nozzle and the gas injection nozzle while the edge of the substrate is opposed to the nozzle. By doing so, the unnecessary thin film formed on the edge is sequentially dissolved in the cleaning liquid, and the cleaning liquid in which the unnecessary thin film is melted is blown off by the air flow from the gas injection nozzle, and the suction means is sucked to suck the thin film at the edge of the substrate. Are to be removed by washing.

[0005]

By the way, in the above-mentioned conventional substrate edge processing apparatus, since the cleaning liquid is ejected from the cleaning liquid ejection nozzle and the gas is ejected from the gas ejection nozzle at the same time, the substrate edge is processed. The cleaning liquid discharged toward the edge is obstructed by the gas flow, which causes a problem that the cleaning liquid cannot be sufficiently supplied to the unnecessary thin film on the edge of the substrate.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above problems, and provides a substrate edge processing apparatus capable of sufficiently supplying a cleaning liquid to an unnecessary thin film at the edge of a substrate. It is an object.

[0007]

The invention according to claim 1 is
In the substrate edge processing apparatus for removing an unnecessary film in the edge of the substrate on which a thin film is formed on the surface, a substrate holding means for holding the substrate in a horizontal attitude, the table of the substrate held by the substrate holding means
Positioned so that the cleaning liquid is discharged toward the edge on the surface side.
Cleaning liquid discharge nozzle and a suction means for sucking the cleaning liquid supplied to the edge of the substrate, the substrate held by the substrate holding means
Positioned to inject gas toward the rear edge of the
It is a gas injection nozzle to blow the cleaning liquid adhering to the back surface side edge of the substrate outward from the edge of the substrate, discharging the cleaning liquid by the cleaning liquid discharge nozzle in the suction operation state of the suction means, from the cleaning liquid discharge nozzle after the Stop the discharge of cleaning liquid
And a control unit that controls the gas injection nozzle to inject the gas and to inject the gas.

According to the present invention, the unnecessary thin film formed on the edge of the substrate is discharged by ejecting the cleaning liquid from the ejection port of the cleaning liquid ejection 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 by injecting the gas from the gas injection nozzle, the cleaning liquid wrapping around the back side edge of the substrate becomes the air flow from the gas injection nozzle. It is blown off and sucked by the suction means.

Since the gas is ejected from the gas injection nozzle after the ejection of the cleaning liquid from the cleaning liquid ejection nozzle is completed by the control of the control means, the cleaning liquid ejected from the cleaning liquid ejection nozzle is ejected from the gas ejection nozzle. The cleaning liquid can be sufficiently supplied to the unnecessary thin film on the edge of the substrate without being disturbed by the gas.

Further , while the cleaning liquid is ejected toward the front surface side edge of the substrate and the gas is ejected toward the rear surface side edge of the substrate , the cleaning liquid ejection nozzle and the gas ejection nozzle are provided to the substrate. It is possible to surely remove the unnecessary thin film attached to the edge of the substrate while realizing a simple structure that is not provided on both the front and back sides. Further, although the structure is simple, the edge treatment can be performed efficiently, the amount of the cleaning liquid and the gas used can be reduced, and the production cost can be reduced, as compared with the conventional case.

According to a second aspect of the invention, a thin film is formed on the surface.
Edge processing device for removing unnecessary thin film on the edge of the formed substrate
In location, substrate holding means for holding the substrate in a horizontal posture
And cleaning toward the edge of the substrate held by the substrate holding means.
The cleaning liquid discharge nozzle that discharges the liquid and the liquid supplied to the edge of the substrate.
Cleaning liquid and suction means for sucking that, attached to the edge of the substrate
Gas spray nozzle that blows away the cleaning liquid to the outside of the edge of the substrate.
Clou, cleaning liquid discharge nozzle, suction means and gas injection hand
Nozzle deck with steps and this nozzle deck as a substrate
A nozzle deck moving means for advancing and retracting with respect to the cleaning liquid ejection
Discharge of the cleaning liquid by the discharge nozzle,
Suction, gas injection by gas injection nozzle and nozzle
Control to control the advancing / retreating of the nozzle deck by the kick advancing / retreating means
Means and the nozzle deck advancing / retreating means are
The cleaning liquid discharge nozzle supplies the cleaning liquid to the deck
The cleaning liquid discharge position that discharges toward the edge and from this position
Gas injection position at which the gas injection nozzle injects gas
The control means is configured to move back and forth between
To the cleaning liquid discharge nozzle in the suction operation state of the suction means.
More cleaning liquid, and then the cleaning liquid discharge nozzle
By stopping the discharge of the cleaning liquid and using the gas injection nozzle
And it is characterized in der Rukoto controls to inject the gas.

The invention according to claim 3 is the group according to claim 2.
In the plate edge processing device, the gas injection nozzle is a gas injection
Pipe and project upward from the upper part of the body of this gas injection pipe
Front nozzle plate that extends horizontally and this front nozzle
It is formed with a rear nozzle plate whose height dimension is slightly lower than the plate,
A gas injection port extending horizontally between these nozzle plates is formed.
It is characterized by being made.

According to the present invention, the toner adheres to the edge of the substrate.
Stop suction of the cleaning liquid and then retract the nozzle deck.
And the front nozzle plate reached the tip of the back side edge of the substrate.
At that point, its upper edge is hanging from the backside of the board edge.
Contact with the remaining droplets, and by retracting the nozzle deck
It will be in a state of scraping it. And the upper edge of the front nozzle plate
Residual liquid droplets scraped off at the nozzle are jetted from the gas jet nozzle.
The edges of the substrate are
It is reliably prevented from being contaminated with the residual cleaning liquid.

The invention according to claim 4 is the invention according to claim 2 or 3.
In the substrate edge processing device described, the cleaning liquid discharge nozzle
So that the cleaning liquid is discharged toward the front edge of the substrate.
Second place is location setting, the gas injection nozzle, the back surface side of the substrate
Positioned to inject gas towards the edge
It is characterized by that.

According to the present invention, the front surface side edge of the substrate is oriented.
Of the cleaning liquid while ejecting the cleaning liquid toward the rear edge of the substrate.
The kind of supply of fluid to the substrate like jetting gas
The cleaning liquid discharge nozzle and gas
Do not install spray nozzles on both the front and back sides of the board.
In addition to achieving a simple structure,
The thin film required can be reliably removed. Well
In addition, it has a simple structure and is efficiently edge-treated.
Cleaning solution used compared to the conventional method and
Amount of gas is reduced and production cost can be reduced
become.

The invention according to claim 5 is based on the invention according to claim 4.
In the plate edge processing device, the gas injection nozzle injects the cleaning liquid
Projected more toward the center of the board than the nozzle
It is characterized by that.

According to this invention, from the cleaning liquid discharge nozzle
Even if the cleaning liquid is discharged, the gas injection
Discharged due to horizontal misalignment with chewing
The cleaning liquid does not go to the gas injection nozzle,
The gas sprayed from the gas spray nozzles is
It does not collide with the injection nozzle, and
The contamination of the substrate due to splashing of the cleaning solution is reliably prevented.
It

In a sixth aspect of the invention, a thin film is formed on the surface.
Edge processing device for removing unnecessary thin film on the edge of the formed substrate
In location, substrate holding means for holding the substrate in a horizontal posture
And cleaning toward the edge of the substrate held by the substrate holding means.
The cleaning liquid discharge nozzle that discharges the liquid and the liquid supplied to the edge of the substrate.
Cleaning liquid and suction means for sucking that, attached to the edge of the substrate
Gas spray nozzle that blows away the cleaning liquid to the outside of the edge of the substrate.
The slur and the cleaning liquid discharge nozzle in the suction operation state of the suction means.
To discharge the cleaning liquid, and then
Stop the discharge of cleaning liquid from
And a control means for controlling to inject more gas,
The gas injection nozzle is divided into multiple gas injection pipes.
It is characterized in that each is formed.

According to the present invention, the gas injection pipe is divided into a plurality of parts.
Because it is split, the pressure distribution in the gas injection pipe is more even
The gas injection force by the gas injection nozzle becomes
Variation is reduced and 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.

[0020]

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.

Examples of the substrate B include a glass substrate for liquid crystal, a glass substrate for photomask, a semiconductor wafer substrate and 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 thereof 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, and when rotating the substrate B, as shown by the chain double-dashed line in FIG. 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 configuration 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 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 around the vertical axis 41 so that the coating liquid discharge nozzle 43 faces the central portion of the substrate B. 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.

Then, the excess coating liquid that has flown outward from the edge of the substrate B is trapped by the annular dam 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 part 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.

Further, 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 is composed of a link mechanism 56 whose tip side is connected to the nozzle deck 51, and a drive section 57 for operating the link mechanism 56 and swinging 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 four equal-length link arms 56a are axially 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 a 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. 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 in which a plurality of cleaning liquid discharge ports 53b (FIG. 5) are formed in the lower portion in the longitudinal direction at equal pitches, and the gas injection is performed. A gas injection nozzle 54a having a long-hole-shaped gas injection port 54b bored in the longitudinal direction is attached to the upper portion of the pipe 54. The cleaning liquid discharge nozzle 53a and the gas injection nozzle 54a are positioned such that the cleaning liquid discharge port 53b and the gas injection port 54b face each other, and both of these nozzles 53a,
A gap into which the edge of the substrate B can be fitted in a separated state is provided between the tip ends of the 54a, and a long opening 58 extending in the horizontal direction toward the inside of the suction tube 52 is formed by this gap.

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 side 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 cleaning liquid separated here is separately stored in the buffer tank 59a.
Only the outside air extracted from a and having the cleaning liquid removed is 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 cleaning liquid is supplied to the cleaning liquid supply pipe 53.
A cleaning liquid tank 61 is provided for this purpose. Cleaning liquid
The tank 61, internal nitrogen pipe for introducing high-pressure nitrogen gas N is provided, the cleaning liquid is pushed out by the pressure of the high pressure nitrogen gas N is savings supplied into the cleaning liquid tank 61 through the pipe, whereby the cleaning liquid Coating liquid discharge nozzle 43
It is designed to be discharged from. A regulator 62 is provided in the nitrogen pipe, and a pressure gauge 63 is provided in the regulator 62, and the pressure gauge 63 controls the pressure of the high-pressure nitrogen gas N. Further, the cleaning liquid tank 61 is provided with a safety valve 64 that opens when the inside pressure becomes abnormally high, thereby ensuring safety.

In the present embodiment, the cleaning liquid tank 61
A second control valve 82 is provided on the immediate downstream side thereof, and by opening / closing the second control valve 82, switching operation between supply and stop of supply of the cleaning liquid to the cleaning liquid supply pipe 53 can be performed. And in this embodiment, the control means 80
The opening / closing operation of the second control valve 82 in response to the control signal from is used to switch between supplying and stopping the supply of the cleaning liquid to the cleaning liquid supply pipe 53.

Therefore, the long opening 58 of the nozzle deck 51 is formed.
By opening the second control valve 82 and driving the suction blower 59 in a state where the cleaning liquid is fitted onto the edge of the substrate B, the cleaning liquid in the cleaning liquid tank 61 is supplied to the cleaning liquid supply pipe 53, and the cleaning liquid is supplied. The unnecessary thin film B on the substrate B is discharged from the discharge port 53b of the discharge nozzle 53a toward the front surface side edge of the substrate B.
After cleaning 2, the air is entrained in the outside air, sucked into the suction pipe 52, and discharged outside the system.

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, 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 above cleaning liquid, a cleaning liquid capable of dissolving the coating liquid is used. When the coating liquid is a photoresist liquid, the cleaning liquid should be 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 carbon tetrachloride. Halogenated hydrocarbons such as trichloroethylene are 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 cleaning liquid (edge 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. 7D. 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.

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 and 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 front nozzle plate 544b extending upward from the upper portion of the main body of the gas injection pipe 544 and extending horizontally, 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 fitted in 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 suction of the cleaning liquid adhering to the edge of the substrate B by the suction pipe 52 is stopped and then the suction pipe 52 is retracted, 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.

FIG. 10 is a view showing a fourth embodiment of the nozzle deck 51c, (a) is a perspective view and (b) is (a).
6A is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 1, in which the nozzle deck 51b is advanced to the leading edge and externally fitted to the edge of the substrate B, and (C) is the same cross-sectional view showing the nozzle deck 51 being pulled back. Each state is shown.

In this embodiment, the width dimension of the bottom portion 521a of the suction pipe 521 is set wider than the width dimension of the ceiling portion 521b. Therefore, the gas injection pipe 54 formed at the tip edge portion of the bottom portion 521a is provided with the ceiling portion 52.
It is in a state of protruding more toward the center side of the substrate B than the cleaning liquid supply pipe 53 formed at the tip edge portion of 1b. The other structure is the nozzle deck 5 of the first embodiment.
Same as 1.

According to the nozzle deck 51c of the fourth embodiment, as shown in FIG. 10B, the cleaning liquid adhering to the edge of the substrate B is sucked by the suction pipe 521, so that the edge of the substrate B is sucked. An edge droplet B6 is formed on the edge. When the nozzle deck 51c is retracted in this state, at the time when the gas injection nozzle 54a faces the back surface residual liquid droplet B7, as shown in FIG.
A gap 5 having a large width is provided between 3a and the edge of the substrate B.
22 is formed.

Therefore, even if the cleaning liquid is ejected from the cleaning liquid ejection nozzle 53a of the cleaning liquid supply pipe 53 in this state, the cleaning liquid ejection port 53b and the gas ejection port 54b are displaced in the horizontal direction, and therefore the cleaning liquid ejection port 53b. The cleaning liquid does not go to the gas injection port 54b, the cleaning liquid is not agitated by the gas discharged from the gas injection port 54b, and does not collide with the gas injection nozzle 54a. The contamination of the substrate B is surely prevented.

As described in detail above, the substrate edge processing apparatus of the present invention has nozzle decks 51, 51a, 51b, 51c.
However, the suction pipes 52, 521 and the cleaning liquid supply pipe 53 provided above and below the suction pipes 52, 521 so as to be separated from each other
And the gas injection pipes 54, 540, 544, and the cleaning liquid supply pipe 53 and the gas injection pipes 54, 54.
The unnecessary thin film B2 is dissolved and removed by the cleaning liquid supplied from the cleaning liquid supply pipe 53 in a state where the end edge of the substrate B is fitted into the long opening 58 formed between the thin film B and the substrate 0,544.

Then, the back surface residual liquid droplets B7 that could not be sucked by the suction tubes 52 and 521 are provided so as to correspond to the back surface side edge of the substrate B.
Since it is blown off by the gas injection from 40 and 544, the method of sucking the cleaning liquid only by the conventional suction tube, or the gas ejected from the gas ejection nozzles provided on the front and back of the substrate B near the center of the substrate B Residual liquid droplets B on the back surface that could not be removed by the method of blowing into the suction tube with
7 is almost completely sucked and removed, which is extremely convenient for performing a reliable edge treatment on the substrate B.

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 embodiment, the nozzle deck 51 may be horizontally swung with the edge of the substrate B set in the long opening 58 of the nozzle deck 51. By doing so, the liquid droplet B6 on the edge is generated by the air flow.
The direction of the force applied to the edge portion changes with the above-described swing, and the edge portion droplet B6 vibrates in the horizontal direction. Therefore, the edge droplet B6 is more easily blown off by this vibration. (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. (5) In the above embodiment, the cleaning liquid discharge nozzle 53a is provided on the upper side of the nozzle deck 51 and the gas injection nozzle 54a is provided on the lower side thereof, but in addition to these, the cleaning liquid is provided on the lower side of the nozzle deck 51. A discharge nozzle may be provided, or a gas injection nozzle may be provided on the upper side. Further, both the cleaning liquid discharge nozzle and the gas injection nozzle may be provided on both upper and lower sides of the nozzle deck 51. However, when the cleaning liquid discharge nozzle and the gas injection nozzle are arranged side by side on the upper side or the lower side of the nozzle deck 51, the gas injection nozzle needs to be provided closer to the center side of the substrate B than the cleaning liquid discharge nozzle.

[0068]

The substrate edge processing apparatus according to claim 1 is a substrate edge processing apparatus for removing an unnecessary thin film at an edge of a substrate having a thin film formed on the surface thereof. Holding means, a cleaning liquid discharge nozzle for discharging the cleaning liquid toward the edge of the substrate held by the substrate holding means,
Suction means for sucking the cleaning liquid supplied to the edge of the substrate,
A gas injection nozzle that blows the cleaning liquid adhering to the edge of the substrate outward from the edge of the substrate, and a control that the gas is injected by the gas injection nozzle after the cleaning liquid is discharged by the cleaning liquid discharge nozzle in the suction operation state of the suction means. Since the substrate is held by the substrate holding means, the cleaning liquid is ejected from the ejection port of the cleaning liquid ejection nozzle to the front surface side edge of the substrate. The formed unnecessary thin film dissolves in the cleaning 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. It is blown off and sucked by the suction means.

Since the gas is jetted from the gas jet nozzle after the washing liquid has been discharged from the washing liquid discharge nozzle under the control of the control means, the washing liquid discharged from the washing liquid discharge nozzle is jetted from the gas jet nozzle. The cleaning liquid can be sufficiently supplied to the unnecessary thin film on the edge of the substrate without being disturbed by the gas.

[0070] Further, the cleaning liquid discharge nozzle is positioned is set to eject a cleaning liquid toward the surface side edge of the substrate, the gas injection nozzle, positioned so as to inject gas toward the back face side end edge of the substrate Since it is set, the cleaning liquid discharge nozzle and the gas injection nozzle are not provided on both the front and back sides of the substrate, and a simple structure is realized, and the unnecessary thin film attached to the edge of the substrate is surely removed. Will be able to. Further, although the structure is simple, the edge treatment can be performed efficiently, the amount of the cleaning liquid and the gas used can be reduced, and the production cost can be reduced, as compared with the conventional case.

[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.

FIG. 10 is a view showing a fourth embodiment of the nozzle deck, (a) is a perspective view, and (b) and (c) are B of (a).
7B is a cross-sectional view taken along the line B, in which (B) shows a state in which the nozzle deck has advanced to the leading edge and is fitted onto the 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 unit 58 Long opening 59 Suction blower 61 Cleaning liquid tank 62 Regulator 71 Suction hose 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 Surface side Unnecessary thin film B4 Edge unnecessary thin film B5 Back side unnecessary thin film B6 Edge liquid drop B7 Back surface residual liquid drop

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) Reference JP-A-7-273075 (JP, A) JP-A-7-106240 (JP, A) JP-A-6-335666 (JP, A) JP-A-6- 196401 (JP, A) JP-A-5-166720 (JP, A) JP-A-1-298720 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H01L 21/027

Claims (6)

(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 positioned to discharge the cleaning liquid toward the front side edge, a suction means for sucking the cleaning liquid supplied to the edge of the substrate, and a back side edge of the substrate held by the substrate holding means Toward the edge
Is positioned such that inject scan, and a gas injection nozzle to blow outwards from the rear side edge washing solution of the substrate attached to the edge of the substrate, in the suction operation state of the suction means, the wash solution discharge nozzle ejecting cleaning liquid, washing of the cleaning liquid discharge nozzle after the
A substrate edge processing device, comprising: a control unit that controls to stop the discharge of the purified liquid and to inject a gas by a gas injection nozzle. 2. An edge of a substrate having a thin film formed on its surface
In a substrate edge processing apparatus for removing a thin film required, a cleaning liquid is directed toward a substrate holding means for holding the substrate in a horizontal posture and an edge of the substrate held by the substrate holding means.
A cleaning liquid discharge nozzle for discharging, a suction means for sucking the cleaning liquid supplied to the edge of the substrate, and a cleaning liquid adhering to the edge of the substrate to the outside of the edge of the substrate.
Equipped with a gas injection nozzle for blowing off, a cleaning liquid discharge nozzle, a suction means and a gas injection means
And the nozzle deck that moves this nozzle deck back and forth with respect to the board.
By means of advancing / retreating means, discharge of cleaning liquid by the cleaning liquid discharge nozzle, and suction means
Suction of cleaning liquid, injection of gas by gas injection nozzle and
Control of nozzle deck advance / retreat by nozzle deck advance / retreat means
The nozzle deck advancing / retreating means controls the nozzle deck
The discharge nozzle discharges the cleaning liquid toward the edge of the substrate.
Cleaning liquid discharge position and gas injection backward from this position
Move the nozzle back and forth with respect to the gas injection position where the gas is injected.
The control means is configured to wash the cleaning liquid in the suction operation state of the suction means.
Discharge the cleaning liquid from the discharge nozzle, and then discharge the cleaning liquid
Discharge of cleaning liquid from the nozzle and gas injection
It controls to inject gas with a nozzle.
A substrate edge processing device characterized by the above. 3. In the substrate edge processing apparatus according to claim 2,
The gas injection nozzle is a gas injection pipe and this gas injection pipe.
Extends horizontally from the top of the body, protruding upward
The front nozzle plate and the height of the front nozzle plate are slightly
It is formed with a lower rear nozzle plate and between these two nozzle plates
A special feature is that a gas injection port extending in the horizontal direction is formed.
Board edge processing equipment to be considered. 4. The substrate edge processing device according to claim 2 or 3.
The cleaning liquid discharge nozzle is located at the end on the front surface side of the substrate.
Positioned so that the cleaning liquid is discharged toward the edge,
The gas injection nozzle injects gas toward the back side edge of the substrate.
A substrate characterized by being positioned so as to project
Edge processing device. 5. In the substrate edge processing device according to claim 4,
The gas injection nozzle is inside the substrate more than the cleaning liquid injection nozzle.
A base characterized by protruding more toward the inner side
Plate edge processing equipment. 6. The edge of a substrate with a thin film on the surface
In a substrate edge processing device that removes thin films required, Substrate holding means for holding the substrate in a horizontal posture, The cleaning liquid is directed toward the edge of the substrate held by the substrate holding means.
Cleaning liquid discharge nozzle to discharge, Suction means for sucking the cleaning liquid supplied to the edge of the substrate, The cleaning liquid adhering to the edge of the substrate is blown outward from the edge of the substrate.
A gas injection nozzle to blow off, With the cleaning liquid discharge nozzle in the suction operation state of the suction means
Discharge the cleaning liquid and After cleaning from the cleaning liquid discharge nozzle
Stop the liquid discharge and use the gas injection nozzle
And a control means for controlling so as to inject, The gas injection nozzle is divided into multiple gas injection pipes.
Substrate edge processing characterized by being formed respectively
apparatus.