JP3502498B2 - Substrate processing equipment - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, a liquid crystal display panel manufacturing apparatus, or the like, which irradiates a semiconductor wafer or a liquid crystal glass substrate (hereinafter collectively referred to as a "substrate") with ultraviolet rays to perform processing. The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As such a substrate processing apparatus, a substrate is irradiated with ultraviolet rays emitted from an ultraviolet lamp such as a low pressure mercury lamp to generate ozone, and organic substances on the substrate surface are decomposed to make the substrate surface hydrophilic. It is known to be used in order to enhance the cleaning effect in the latter stage treatment by making it do so.

In such a substrate processing apparatus, when the ultraviolet rays to be applied to the substrate leak to the outside of the apparatus, the ultraviolet rays may affect the human body, or the atmosphere outside the apparatus may cause an adverse effect. Since ozone may be generated by leaked ultraviolet rays, conventionally, in this type of apparatus, the processing unit for irradiating the substrate with ultraviolet rays is configured as a light-tight processing chamber dedicated to ultraviolet irradiation processing. . Then, when performing ultraviolet irradiation processing on the substrate, the substrate is loaded into this processing chamber through an inlet having a shutter that can be opened and closed, and the shutter is closed to shut off the processing unit from the outside while the processing unit is shielded from the outside. Irradiation processing is performed.

Therefore, in order to perform the ultraviolet irradiation processing on the substrate, it is necessary to dispose a processing chamber dedicated to the ultraviolet irradiation processing in the substrate manufacturing apparatus.

[0005]

However, when the processing chamber dedicated to the ultraviolet processing is provided in the substrate manufacturing apparatus,
This processing chamber increases the area occupied by the substrate manufacturing apparatus. For this reason, there is a problem that the area of the clean room in which the substrate manufacturing apparatus is installed must be increased. In particular, as the size of the substrate to be processed in recent years tends to increase, the occupied area of the substrate manufacturing apparatus tends to increase. Therefore, it is required to reduce the occupied area required for the apparatus for performing various kinds of processing. .

Further, when a processing chamber dedicated to the ultraviolet irradiation processing is provided in the substrate manufacturing apparatus, a step of loading / unloading the substrate into / from the processing chamber is required. On the other hand, in recent years, the substrate to be processed has become large in size and thinned, and therefore, it is particularly required to carry the substrate with high accuracy. For example, in a rectangular glass substrate for a liquid crystal display panel, the size of the substrate is 50
There is also a tendency that the one having a thickness of 0 × 600 mm and the thickness of 0.7 mm is often used. In such a substrate, there is a problem that the substrate itself may be deformed to cause a conveyance failure and the substrate may be broken during the conveyance by the conveyance device. Therefore, it is required to reduce the number of times the substrate is transported in the substrate manufacturing apparatus as much as possible.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems. By irradiating the substrate with ultraviolet rays without providing a dedicated processing chamber or the like, the area occupied by the substrate manufacturing apparatus can be increased. An object of the present invention is to provide a substrate processing apparatus capable of reducing the number of times of substrate transfer.

[0008]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a substrate processing apparatus for processing a substrate by irradiating the substrate with ultraviolet rays, the substrate supporting means supporting the substrate, and the substrate supporting means. An ultraviolet lamp that radiates vacuum ultraviolet rays to a supported substrate, a lamp box that has a lamp cover and an ultraviolet transmission plate, and that houses the ultraviolet lamp in an airtight state, and contributes to the processing of the substrate in the lamp box. Gas supply means for supplying a gas having no absorption band of ultraviolet rays, an exhaust cover surrounding the outer circumference of the lamp box and provided with an opening on the side facing the substrate supported by the substrate support means, and the exhaust cover And an exhaust port for discharging gas from the inside of the lamp box.
The over plate is opposed to the substrate supported by the substrate supporting means.
And place the exhaust cover in the opening.
Is a substrate supported by the ultraviolet transmitting plate and the substrate supporting means.
It is characterized in that it is arranged so as to surround the area facing the plate.
It

The invention as defined in claim 2 is as set forth in claim 1.
In the invention described above, the transfer unit for transferring the substrate between the two transfer devices for transferring the substrate is provided side by side. According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect of the invention, the back surface of the substrate is irradiated with ultraviolet rays.

The invention as set forth in claim 4 is as set forth in claim 1.
The invention further includes a cleaning mechanism for supplying a cleaning liquid to the substrate for cleaning . According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the fourth aspect of the present invention, the substrate supporting means is composed of a spin chuck that rotatably supports the substrate. According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect to the fifth aspect, the ultraviolet lamp is a dielectric barrier discharge lamp.

It should be noted that the term "gas having no absorption band of ultraviolet rays that contributes to the processing of the substrate" used in this specification means vacuum ultraviolet rays having a wavelength that contributes to the processing of the substrate among the vacuum ultraviolet rays emitted from the ultraviolet lamp. A gas that does not have an ultraviolet absorption band that absorbs and attenuates. As such a gas, for example, a gas such as nitrogen, helium, neon, hydrogen, or argon can be used, but a nitrogen gas which is often used as an inert gas in the processing of the substrate is preferable. The wavelength of the vacuum ultraviolet rays that contributes to the processing of the substrate W is selected depending on the type of the processing, but in the processing of making the substrate surface hydrophilic by generating ozone by ultraviolet irradiation and decomposing organic substances on the substrate surface. Is 17
A wavelength of 200 nm or less, such as 2 nm or 185 nm, more preferably a wavelength in the range of 160 to 200 nm is effective.

[0012]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

First, the overall structure of a substrate manufacturing apparatus to which the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention is applied will be described. Figure 1
[Fig. 2] is a plan view of the substrate manufacturing apparatus, and Fig. 2 is a front view thereof.

This substrate manufacturing apparatus performs various kinds of processing on a rectangular glass substrate W for a liquid crystal display panel, and an indexer section 3 for receiving a cassette 1 containing a plurality of substrates W from a previous process, A substrate processing unit 5 including a plurality of processing units for performing various types of processing on the substrate W;
The substrate W is transferred between the substrate transfer unit 7 that transfers the substrate W between the processing units in the substrate processing unit 5 and an exposure device (not shown).
It is composed of an interface unit 9 for delivering and receiving.

The indexer unit 3 comprises a table 11 on which a plurality of cassettes 1 are placed, and a carrying device 14 which moves along a carrying path 13. The transfer device 14 transfers the substrate W
Transferring unit 15 disposed in cassette 1 and substrate processing unit 5
To deliver to and from.

The substrate processing section 5 is composed of a plurality of stages in the vertical direction, and the lower stage section thereof has the substrate transfer section 1 described above.
5, a rotary cleaning device (hereinafter referred to as “spin scrubber”) 17, a rotary coating device (hereinafter referred to as “spin coater”) 19, a plurality of rotary developing devices (hereinafter referred to as “spin developer”) 21, 23 Substrate transfer unit 24
And are provided. Further, a heat treatment device 25 such as a hot plate or a cool plate and a substrate transfer part 27 for transferring the substrate W among the main transfer devices 29, 31, 33 of the substrate transfer part 7 are provided on the upper stage thereof. A plurality of each is arranged.

The substrate transfer section 7 has transfer paths 35, 37, 39.
Main transport devices 29, 31, 33 that move along are provided. Each of the main transfer devices 29, 31, 33 includes a transfer arm that is movable in three axial directions, and transfers the substrate W to and from the transfer unit 15, the spin scrubber 17, the spin coater 19, the spin developers 21, 23, the heat treatment device 25, and the transfer unit 24. Transport between.

The interface section 9 transfers the substrate W between the transfer section 24 and an unillustrated rear exposure machine.

In such a substrate manufacturing apparatus, the substrate W stored in the cassette 1 and carried into the substrate manufacturing apparatus.
Is placed on the delivery unit 15 by the transport device 14.
The substrate W placed on the transfer unit 15 is transferred to the main transfer device 29.
Received by the main transfer devices 29, 31, and 33, and transferred between the spin scrubber 17, the spin coater 19 and the heat treatment device 25 in any order and subjected to necessary processing. The processed substrate W is transferred to the delivery unit 24 by the main transfer device 33. And this substrate W
Is transferred to an exposure device at a subsequent stage by a transfer device of the interface section 9 (not shown) and subjected to exposure processing. The exposed substrate W is transferred to the transfer unit 24 by the transfer unit of the interface unit 9 and then transferred to each of the main transfer units 29 and 3.
After being transported to the spin developers 21 and 23 and the heat treatment device 25 by the units 1 and 33 and subjected to necessary processing, they are placed on the delivery unit 15. Then, the substrate W is stored in the cassette 1 by the transfer device 14.

Next, the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention will be described. FIG. 3 shows a substrate processing apparatus 40 according to the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing the first embodiment of FIG. 4, and FIG. 4 is a plan view thereof.

The substrate processing apparatus 40 irradiates the central portion of the back surface of the substrate W with ultraviolet rays to generate ozone,
Is used to enhance the cleaning effect during the cleaning process in the spin scrubber 17 in the subsequent stage by decomposing the organic matter on the back surface of the substrate W to make the rear surface of the substrate W hydrophilic.
It is installed side by side with the transfer unit 15 in the substrate processing unit 5 of the substrate manufacturing apparatus described above.

In the spin scrubber 17, the cleaning liquid is supplied to the front surface of the substrate W to clean the front surface of the substrate W, and the cleaning liquid is supplied to the back surface of the substrate W to clean the substrate W to remove the contaminated cleaning liquid. It prevents from wrapping around on the back side. Then, after the cleaning with the cleaning liquid is completed, the substrate W is rotated at a high speed to dry the substrate W.

In the cleaning by the spin scrubber 17, generally, after cleaning, water droplets of the cleaning liquid tend to remain on the central portion of the back surface of the substrate W. This is because the central portion of the substrate W is not easily affected by the centrifugal force and the wind caused by the rotation when the substrate W is dried by rotating the substrate W at a high speed, and the back surface of the substrate W is contaminated by the contact with the transport device or the like. It is thought that this is because it tends to be hydrophobic.

Therefore, it is preferable that the organic matter in the central portion of the back surface of the substrate W is decomposed to be hydrophilic before the cleaning by the spin scrubber 17. For this reason, in this embodiment, the substrate processing apparatus 40 for irradiating the central portion of the back surface of the substrate W with ultraviolet rays is provided in the delivery section 15 of the substrate processing section 5 of the substrate manufacturing apparatus.

In this substrate processing apparatus 40, the dielectric barrier discharge lamp 41 is used as an ultraviolet lamp for irradiating vacuum ultraviolet rays having a wavelength of 200 nm or less, particularly 175 nm or less. This dielectric barrier discharge lamp 4
Reference numeral 1 denotes a lamp that forms excimer molecules by a dielectric barrier discharge and emits light emitted from the excimer molecules. In this embodiment, xenon gas is used as a discharge gas, and vacuum ultraviolet rays having a center wavelength of 172 nm are used. The one that illuminates is adopted.

The reason for using a lamp that irradiates vacuum ultraviolet rays having a wavelength of 200 nm or less as the ultraviolet lamp is as follows.

That is, the vacuum ultraviolet rays are attenuated in the air atmosphere, and their reaching distance is extremely short. For example, in the case of the dielectric barrier discharge lamp 41 using xenon gas as in this embodiment, the central wavelength of the emitted ultraviolet rays is 17
2 nm and the reachable distance in an air atmosphere is about 10
mm. Similarly, other ultraviolet lamps that irradiate with vacuum ultraviolet rays as the central wavelength have a very short reach under an air atmosphere. Such attenuation of vacuum ultraviolet rays is a phenomenon that occurs when the vacuum ultraviolet rays are absorbed by oxygen having a continuous absorption band of vacuum ultraviolet rays when passing through the air containing oxygen. Therefore, given the benefit of which emits vacuum ultraviolet rays as ultraviolet lamps, even if no configuration capable of blocking ultraviolet rays from leaking to the substrate processing equipment to the outside, is very short reach of the VUV Therefore, it is possible to prevent the phenomenon that the ultraviolet rays affect the human body and that ozone is generated outside the device.

Therefore, when a lamp that irradiates vacuum ultraviolet rays having a wavelength of 200 nm or less is used as the ultraviolet lamp, the substrate processing section 40 is transferred to the transfer section 15 in the substrate manufacturing apparatus as in this embodiment. It becomes unnecessary to provide a dedicated space for the ultraviolet irradiation processing and to transport the substrate W specially for the ultraviolet irradiation processing.

This dielectric barrier discharge lamp 41 has a lamp box 47 consisting of a lamp cover 43 and a quartz plate 45.
It is stored inside. Further, a reflection plate 48 is provided between the lamp cover 43 and the dielectric barrier discharge lamp 41, and the ultraviolet rays from the dielectric barrier discharge lamp 41 are efficiently guided to the substrate W side.

Ultraviolet rays from the dielectric barrier discharge lamp 41 are applied to the substrate W supported by an exhaust cover 55 described later through the quartz plate 45. Therefore, the quartz plate 45
For this reason, it is necessary to employ a material that transmits ultraviolet rays with minimum attenuation. For example, anhydrous synthetic quartz can be used as such a material. However, materials other than quartz may be used as long as they do not attenuate ultraviolet rays.

A nitrogen gas inlet 49 is provided on the left side of the lamp cover 43, and nitrogen gas supplied from a nitrogen gas supply source (not shown) is introduced into the lamp box 47 through the inlet 49. On the other hand, the lamp cover 43
On the right side of the above, a nitrogen gas discharge port 51 connected to a discharge unit (not shown) is provided. The nitrogen gas introduced from the introduction port 49 and passing through the inside of the lamp box 47 is discharged from the discharge port 51.

The reason for supplying the nitrogen gas into the lamp box 47 is as follows. That is, when a lamp that irradiates ultraviolet rays including vacuum ultraviolet rays having a wavelength of 200 nm or less is used as the ultraviolet lamp, as described above, the vacuum ultraviolet rays are attenuated in the air atmosphere and their reach is extremely short. A phenomenon occurs in which the vacuum ultraviolet rays of the emitted ultraviolet rays do not reach the substrate W. In the case of the dielectric barrier discharge lamp 41 using xenon gas as in this embodiment, since the reaching distance of vacuum ultraviolet rays in the air atmosphere is about 10 mm, the distance between the dielectric barrier discharge lamp 41 and the substrate W is reduced. If the thickness of the air layer existing at 10 is not less than 10 mm, the ultraviolet light emitted from the dielectric barrier discharge lamp 41 will not reach the substrate W at all. Therefore, the lamp box 47 is continuously supplied with a gas that does not have an ultraviolet absorption band that contributes to the processing of the substrate W.
The inside of the lamp box 47 is purged with the gas to remove oxygen molecules from the inside of the lamp box 47.
It prevents the vacuum ultraviolet rays from attenuating.

An exhaust cover 55 having an opening 53 is arranged outside the lamp box 47. The upper portion of the exhaust cover 55 has an uneven shape in which convex portions 57 and concave portions 59 are alternately formed. The central portion of the back surface of the substrate W is supported by the convex portion 57 of the exhaust cover 55. It should be noted that the convex portion 57 of the exhaust cover 55 prevents the substrate W from
Instead of supporting the substrate W, the substrate W may be supported by a supporting means provided separately from the exhaust cover 55.

Since the reach distance of the ultraviolet rays of 172 nm wavelength emitted from the dielectric barrier discharge lamp 41 in the air atmosphere is about 10 mm as described above, the upper surface of the quartz plate 45 and the convex of the exhaust cover 55 are convex. The dimensions of the exhaust cover 55 and the like are set so that the distance from the back surface of the substrate W supported by the portion 57 is about 5 mm.

At the bottom of the exhaust cover 55, the exhaust cover 5
An exhaust port 61 is provided for discharging the gas inside the unit 5 to the outside. The exhaust cover 55 is for preventing diffusion of ozone gas generated in the step of irradiating vacuum ultraviolet rays to the surroundings. By exhausting from the exhaust port 61 of the exhaust cover 55, the gas containing ozone in the space formed by the exhaust cover 55 and the back surface of the substrate W is sucked, and the diffusion of ozone gas to the outside of the exhaust cover 55 is prevented. To be done.

Since the substrate processing apparatus 40 decomposes organic substances on the surface of the substrate W by utilizing ozone gas generated from oxygen in the air by ultraviolet irradiation,
Ozone gas having a constant concentration needs to exist on the surface of the substrate W. Therefore, if the space formed by the exhaust cover 55 and the substrate W becomes airtight, this space becomes negative pressure when exhausted from the exhaust port 61, and the concentration of ozone required for processing becomes insufficient. Become. To prevent this,
As described above, the upper portion of the exhaust cover 55 has an uneven shape in which the convex portions 57 and the concave portions 59 are alternately formed, and the air can be taken in from the outside of the exhaust cover 55 through the concave portions 59 to generate ozone. To maintain the ozone concentration required for treatment.

In the above description, the upper portion of the exhaust cover 55 has an uneven shape in which the convex portions 57 and the concave portions 59 are alternately formed, and the convex portion 57 supports the substrate W. However, as shown in FIG. While supporting the substrate W with the plurality of support pins 63, along the outer periphery of the opening 53 of the exhaust cover 55,
An air curtain nozzle 65 that ejects clean air upward may be provided to prevent the ozone gas from diffusing into the surroundings.

Further, in this case, an inert gas such as nitrogen gas can be jetted instead of air. However, in the process of decomposing the organic matter on the surface of the substrate W by utilizing the ozone gas generated from the oxygen in the air by the irradiation of ultraviolet rays, it is required that a certain concentration of oxygen exists in the exhaust cover 55 as described above. Therefore, it is necessary to set the exhaust amount from the exhaust port 61 and the ejection amount of the inert gas so that the outside air can be taken into the exhaust cover 55.

Next, the process of processing the substrate W in the substrate processing apparatus 40 will be described.

The substrate W to be processed is placed on the table 11 in the indexer section 3 of the substrate manufacturing apparatus while being accommodated in the cassette 1. Then, the transfer arm 71 in the transfer device 14 of the indexer unit 3 supports the substrate W from below, and places the substrate W on the exhaust cover 55 of the substrate processing apparatus 40, as shown in FIG. Prior to this, nitrogen gas is introduced from the inlet 49 and discharged from the outlet 51 to circulate the nitrogen gas in the lamp box 47, and the inside of the lamp box 47 is previously purged with nitrogen gas. Keep it.

Next, the dielectric barrier discharge lamp 41 is turned on and exhaust is performed from the exhaust port 61. As a result, the central portion of the back surface of the substrate W surrounded by the exhaust cover 55 is treated with the vacuum ultraviolet rays emitted from the dielectric barrier discharge lamp 41 to be made hydrophilic.

In the step of irradiating ultraviolet rays, the inside of the lamp box 47 is purged with nitrogen gas, so that the vacuum ultraviolet rays emitted from the dielectric barrier discharge lamp 41 are not attenuated in the lamp box 47 and are quartz. It is emitted from the plate 45 and reaches the substrate W. Further, in the exhaust cover 55, ozone gas converted from oxygen in the air is generated by vacuum ultraviolet rays, and this ozone gas is exhausted to the outside through the exhaust port 61. Therefore, the ozone gas does not diffuse inside the substrate manufacturing apparatus.

The exhaust port 6 during the ultraviolet irradiation process
It is sufficient that the exhaust gas from No. 1 has such a strength that ozone gas generated by ultraviolet rays does not leak from the space formed by the exhaust cover 55 and the substrate W.

When the time required for the ultraviolet irradiation processing on the back surface of the substrate W has elapsed, the dielectric barrier discharge lamp 41 is turned off. Then, the exhaust gas from the exhaust port 61 is maximized to completely exhaust the ozone gas remaining in the exhaust cover 55.

Then, as shown in FIG.
The transfer arm 73 of the main transfer device 29 supports the substrate W from below and transfers it to the substrate processing section 5.

If the dielectric barrier discharge lamp 41 is not turned off even after the ultraviolet irradiation process on the substrate W is completed, the oxygen in the air is converted into ozone gas by the ultraviolet rays, and the ozone gas is removed from the substrate W. Although it will diffuse into the inside of the substrate manufacturing apparatus through the opening 53 above the exhaust cover 55, as described above, the dielectric barrier discharge lamp 41 that stabilizes in a short time after lighting is used. By configuring the discharge lamp 41 to be turned off after the end of the ultraviolet irradiation processing, it is possible to prevent the generation of such unnecessary ozone gas. When a low-pressure mercury lamp or the like that is not stable in a short time after being used is used as the ultraviolet lamp, it is preferable that the shutter block the ultraviolet light to prevent generation of ozone gas.

Next, a modified example of the first embodiment of the substrate processing apparatus 40 according to the present invention will be described. Figure 7
FIG. 8 is a sectional view of a substrate processing apparatus 40 according to a modified example of the first embodiment, and FIG. 8 is a plan view thereof. In these figures, the same members as those of the substrate processing apparatus 40 shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 are designated by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The substrate processing apparatus 40 is provided with two dielectric barrier discharge lamps 41 for irradiating the back surface of the substrate W with ultraviolet rays. The dielectric barrier discharge lamps 41 have semicircular lamp covers 43a and 43b, respectively.
And a lamp box 47 composed of quartz plates 45a and 45b
It is stored in a and 47b. In addition, the lamp boxes 47a and 47b include lamp boxes 47a and 47b.
An inlet 49 for supplying nitrogen gas therein and an outlet 51 for discharging nitrogen gas in the lamp boxes 47a and 47b are provided.

An exhaust cover 55 having an opening 53 at the upper side and an exhaust port 61 at the lower side is arranged outside the lamp boxes 47a and 47b. In addition, the substrate W supported by the exhaust cover 55 is provided at the center of the exhaust cover 55.
A supply pipe 75 for supplying air is arranged on the back surface of the.

In this substrate processing apparatus 40, the substrate W placed on the convex portion 57 provided on the upper portion of the exhaust cover 55.
When irradiating the ultraviolet rays from the dielectric barrier discharge lamp 41 to the inside, exhaust is performed from the exhaust port 61 and the supply pipe 7
Air is supplied to the back surface of the substrate W from 5. Then, the air that has entered the exhaust cover 55 from the recess 59 of the exhaust cover 55 and the air that has entered the exhaust cover 55 from the supply pipe 75 are uniformly supplied to the back surface of the substrate W in the exhaust cover 55. Then, oxygen in the air is converted into ozone by vacuum ultraviolet rays, and the exhaust cover 5 on the back surface of the substrate W is formed.
The central part surrounded by 5 is made hydrophilic. The ozone gas used for processing the substrate W is exhausted from the exhaust port 61 provided below the exhaust cover 55.

In each of the substrate processing apparatuses 40 described above, the case where the central portion of the substrate W is covered with the exhaust cover 55 and only the central portion is irradiated with ultraviolet rays for processing is described. As described above, the exhaust cover 55 may be shaped so as to cover almost the entire back surface of the substrate W, and almost the entire back surface of the substrate W may be irradiated with ultraviolet rays for processing.

In the above-described first embodiment, the dielectric barrier discharge lamp 41 for irradiating vacuum ultraviolet rays, which has a short reach in the air atmosphere, is installed in the lamp box 47 purged with nitrogen gas, and the dielectric barrier is installed. Discharge lamp 41
The vacuum ultraviolet light from the substrate is irradiated onto the substrate W through the quartz plate 45 arranged close to the back surface of the substrate W. For this reason,
The vacuum ultraviolet light from the dielectric barrier discharge lamp 41 is applied to the back surface of the substrate W, but does not reach the outside of the substrate processing apparatus 40. Further, since the exhaust cover 55 surrounding the outer circumference of the lamp box 47 is provided and the gas in the exhaust cover 55 is exhausted from the exhaust port 61,
Ozone gas generated by vacuum ultraviolet rays is processed by the substrate processing apparatus 4
It does not leak to the outside of 0.

Therefore, the substrate processing apparatus 40 can be installed together with the transfer section 15 through which the substrate W carried in from the indexer section 3 always passes in the substrate manufacturing apparatus, which is special for the substrate processing apparatus 40. It is possible to eliminate the installation space and the transportation process.

Next, the second substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention
An embodiment will be described. 10 is a front view showing a second embodiment of the substrate processing apparatus 80 according to the present invention, and FIG. 11 is a plan view thereof.

The substrate processing apparatus 80 according to this embodiment
Is a function of irradiating the entire surface of the substrate W with ultraviolet rays to generate ozone, decomposing organic substances on the surface of the substrate W to make them hydrophilic, and supplying a cleaning liquid to the surface of the substrate W to clean the surface of the substrate W. It has the function to do.

This substrate processing apparatus 80 is shown in FIG. 1 and FIG.
It is installed in place of the spin scrubber 17 of the substrate manufacturing apparatus shown in, and functions similarly to the case where the spin scrubber 17 and the ultraviolet irradiation device are provided side by side.

The substrate processing apparatus 80 includes a spin chuck 81 that rotatably supports the substrate W, a brush arm 85 that includes a cleaning brush 83 that contacts the surface of the substrate W and cleans the substrate W, and the substrate W. Lamp arm 87 having a built-in dielectric barrier discharge lamp 41 for irradiating the surface of the body with ultraviolet rays
And a plurality of spray nozzles 89 for supplying the cleaning liquid to the surface of the substrate W, a cylindrical inner cup 91 for receiving the cleaning liquid scattered from the surface of the substrate W, and a processing chamber 95 having a processing liquid recovery container 93.

The spin chuck 81 has a substrate W at the center thereof.
A disk-shaped supporting base 99 having a recess 97 for accommodating the substrate W, a plurality of supporting pins 103 for supporting the lower surface of the substrate W, and the substrate W.
A fixing pin 101 for fixing the motor and a motor 105 for rotationally driving the support base 99 are provided. The substrate W is the support base 9
Along with the rotation of 9, the center of rotation rotates as the center of rotation C. The depth of the recess 97 and the height of the support pin 103 are set so that the surface of the substrate W and the surface of the support base 99 have substantially the same height when the substrate W is supported by the spin chuck 81. Has been done.

The brush arm 85 has a cleaning brush 83 in which bristles made of nylon resin or the like are planted at its tip. The cleaning brush 83 is driven to rotate by a motor (not shown) about a center of the cleaning brush 83 along a plane parallel to the surface of the substrate W. The cleaning brush 83 is configured to be vertically movable by a slight distance by a drive mechanism (not shown).

The brush arm 85 has a motor 107.
By driving the drive shaft 109 connected to the drive shaft 109, the cleaning brush 83 shown by the solid line in FIG. 11 faces the rotation center C of the substrate W which is supported by the spin chuck 81 and rotates about the axis of the drive shaft 109. It is configured to be swingable between a position, a position where the cleaning brush 83 shown by the one-dot chain line faces the end of the support base 99, and a standby position shown by the two-dot chain line.

When cleaning the substrate W with the cleaning brush 83, the brush arm 85 is moved with the rotating cleaning brush 83 abutting on the surface of the substrate W which is supported by the spin chuck 81 and rotates. The cleaning brush 83 is reciprocally rocked between a position where the cleaning brush 83 is supported by the spin chuck 81 and faces the rotation center C of the substrate W that rotates, and a position where the cleaning brush 83 faces the end of the support base 99. By doing so, the cleaning brush 83 can slidably contact the entire surface of the substrate W for cleaning.

As described above, when the substrate W is supported by the spin chuck 81, the recess 97 is formed so that the surface of the substrate W and the surface of the disk-shaped support base 99 are substantially at the same height. Since the depth and the height of the support pins 103 are set, damage to the bristle tips when the cleaning brush 83 makes sliding contact with the edge of the rectangular substrate W is reduced.

The lamp arm 87 includes a dielectric barrier discharge lamp 41 for irradiating the surface of the substrate W, which is supported by the spin chuck 81 and rotates, with ultraviolet rays, as will be described later in detail.

The ramp arm 87 is used for the motor 1
By driving the drive shaft 113 connected to the shaft 11, the swing position can be swung between the standby position shown by the solid line in FIG. 1 and the ultraviolet irradiation position where the lamp arm 87 shown by the chain double-dashed line faces the rotation center C of the substrate W. It is composed.

This ultraviolet irradiation position is the lamp arm 87.
The ultraviolet rays emitted from the dielectric barrier discharge lamp 41 built in the substrate are irradiated from the rotation center C of the substrate W supported by the spin chuck 81 to the edge thereof. That is, at the ultraviolet irradiation position, the irradiation region of the ultraviolet rays emitted from the dielectric barrier discharge lamp 41 to the surface of the substrate W reaches the position where the tip thereof is slightly beyond the rotation center of the rotating substrate W, and the other end is the substrate. The radius is set to be slightly longer than the radius of the rotation locus of the corner of the substrate W so as to be located outside the corner of W. Therefore, at the ultraviolet irradiation position,
By radiating ultraviolet rays to the substrate W from the dielectric barrier discharge lamp 41 while rotating the substrate W, the entire surface of the substrate W can be irradiated with the ultraviolet rays.

Next, the structure of the lamp arm 87 will be described. 12 is a side sectional view showing a part of the lamp arm 87, and FIG. 13 is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG.

In these figures, reference numeral 41 denotes a dielectric barrier discharge lamp similar to that used in the first embodiment, which is housed in a lamp box 119 composed of a lamp cover 115 and a quartz plate 117. A reflection plate 118 is provided between the upper surface of the lamp cover 115 and the dielectric barrier discharge lamp 41, and the ultraviolet rays from the dielectric barrier discharge lamp 41 are efficiently guided to the substrate W side.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 12 and 13, one dielectric barrier discharge lamp 41 is arranged in the lamp box 119, but a plurality of dielectric barrier discharge lamps 41 are arranged in the longitudinal direction of the lamp arm 87. The body barrier discharge lamps 41 may be arranged in a row. It is also possible to arrange a plurality of dielectric barrier discharge lamps 41 in a row in a direction intersecting the longitudinal direction of the lamp arm 87. Furthermore, the dielectric barrier discharge lamp 41 having a planar light emitting portion
Can also be used.

Ultraviolet rays from the dielectric barrier discharge lamp 41 are applied to the substrate W through the quartz plate 117. Therefore, as in the first embodiment, it is necessary to employ a quartz plate 117 that transmits ultraviolet rays with minimum attenuation, as in the first embodiment.

A nitrogen gas inlet 121 is provided in the upper right portion of the lamp cover 115 shown in FIG. 12, and the nitrogen gas supplied from a nitrogen gas supply source (not shown) enters the lamp box 119 through the inlet 121. be introduced. On the other hand, on the left side of the lamp cover 115, a nitrogen gas discharge port 123 connected to a discharge unit (not shown) is provided. The nitrogen gas introduced through the inlet 121 and passing through the inside of the lamp box 119 is discharged through the outlet 123.

Since the reaching distance of the ultraviolet rays having a wavelength of 172 nm emitted from the dielectric barrier discharge lamp 41 in the air atmosphere is about 10 mm, the lamp arm 87 is used.
When the quartz plate 11 moves to the ultraviolet irradiation position,
The distance between the lower surface of 7 and the surface of the substrate W supported by the spin chuck 81 is about 5 mm.

The lamp arm 87 has a lamp box 1
An exhaust cover 127 that surrounds the outside of 19 and has an opening 125 is formed below. The lower end portion 129 of the exhaust cover 127 that constitutes the outer peripheral portion of the opening 125 is in a state where the lamp arm 87 has moved to the ultraviolet irradiation position.
Substrate W supported by spin chuck 81 and support base 9
It is arranged at a position as close as 1 mm to the surface of 9. Further, an exhaust port 131 for discharging the gas inside the exhaust cover 127 to the outside is provided on the left side of the exhaust cover 127.

The exhaust cover 127 is provided to prevent the diffusion of ozone gas generated in the irradiation step of ultraviolet rays, which will be described later, into the surroundings. The exhaust cover 127 has an inner peripheral surface and an outer peripheral surface of the lamp cover 115. An exhaust portion 133 surrounding the lamp box 119 is formed by the gap therebetween. Then, by exhausting gas from the exhaust port 131, the gas containing ozone is sucked from the exhaust part 133 formed around the lamp box 119, and the diffusion of ozone gas is prevented. At this time, when the lamp arm 87 is moved to the ultraviolet irradiation position, as shown in FIG. 12, the entire surface of the opening 125 of the exhaust cover 127 faces the substrate W supported by the spin chuck 81 and the support base 99, In addition, since the lower end portion 129 of the exhaust cover 127 that constitutes the outer peripheral portion of the opening 125 is disposed at a position close to the surface of the substrate W and the support 99 by about 1 mm, the exhaust cover 127, the substrate W, and The gas inside the space formed by the support base 99 is efficiently exhausted through the exhaust port 131.
Emitted from.

The exhaust part 133 is shown in FIG. 12 and FIG.
As shown in FIG. 3, it is not necessary to surround the entire circumference of the lamp box 119. For example, only the opposite side of the entrance side where the surface of the substrate W newly enters the lower surface of the lamp arm 87 due to the rotation of the substrate W. The exhaust unit 133 may be provided. In this case, the air containing oxygen is taken into the inside of the exhaust cover 127 from the entrance side, this oxygen is converted into ozone gas by irradiation of ultraviolet rays, and is used for processing the substrate W. Then, this ozone gas is sucked from the exhaust portion 133 provided on the opposite side to the entering side,
It is discharged from the exhaust port 131 to the outside of the exhaust cover 127.

In the above description, the exhaust cover 127
Lower end 129 of the substrate W and the surface of the support base 99 to 1 m
Although it has been described that the air curtain nozzles are arranged at positions close to each other by about m, as shown in FIG. 14, an air curtain nozzle 135 for ejecting clean air downward is provided along the outer periphery of the opening 125 of the exhaust cover 127. By disposing it, the ozone gas may be prevented from diffusing into the surroundings. Further, in this case, an inert gas such as nitrogen gas may be jetted instead of air.

Next, the process of processing the substrate W in the substrate processing apparatus 80 will be described.

First, nitrogen gas is introduced into the lamp box 119 through the nitrogen gas introduction port 123 of the lamp arm 87 to fill the lamp box 119 with nitrogen gas. Next, the main carrier 29 of the substrate manufacturing apparatus carries the substrate W to be processed into the recess 97 of the support base 99 of the spin chuck 81, and fixes the substrate W with the fixing pin 101. At this time, the lamp arm 87 is shown in FIG.
At the standby position indicated by the solid line in FIG.
Since 5 is located at the standby position indicated by the chain double-dashed line in FIG. 11, these arms do not hinder the loading of the substrate W.

Subsequently, the motor 105 rotates the support base 99 to rotate the substrate W held thereon at a rotation speed of, for example, 20 rpm. This rotation speed is
It is preferable to set it at several rpm to 50 rpm. Then, the dielectric barrier discharge lamp 41 is turned on, and the lamp arm 87 is moved by the drive of the motor 111 via the drive shaft 113 to the ultraviolet irradiation position shown by the chain double-dashed line in FIG. Further, by exhausting air from the exhaust port 131, the ozone gas generated in the exhaust cover 127 is exhausted to the outside.

As a result, the substrate W rotating with the support base 99 is irradiated with the ultraviolet rays emitted from the dielectric barrier discharge lamp 41. At this time, the substrate W is irradiated with ultraviolet rays from the rotation center C thereof to the edge thereof, and since the substrate W itself is rotating, the substrate W is uniformly irradiated with ultraviolet rays over the entire surface thereof. .

By irradiating the substrate W with ultraviolet rays, air is emitted.
Ozone is generated from the oxygen contained therein, and this ozone decomposes the organic substances on the surface of the substrate W to make the surface of the substrate W hydrophilic.

During the irradiation of the substrate W with the ultraviolet light, the substrate W is rotated while swinging the lamp arm 87 between the irradiation position of the ultraviolet light and the position facing the end edge of the support base 99. It may be configured to irradiate ultraviolet rays to the. Furthermore, the substrate W is not continuously rotated, and at least 36
Even when the substrate W is rotated by 0 degrees, it is possible to irradiate the entire surface of the substrate W with ultraviolet rays.

In the step of irradiating with ultraviolet rays, since the lamp box 119 is filled with nitrogen gas, the ultraviolet rays emitted from the dielectric barrier discharge lamp 41 are not attenuated in the lamp box 119 and are quartz. It is emitted from the plate 117 and reaches the substrate W. Further, in the exhaust cover 127, ozone gas converted from oxygen in the air by ultraviolet rays is generated, but this ozone gas is sucked from the exhaust portion 133 of the exhaust cover 127 and discharged to the outside from the exhaust port 131. Therefore, ozone gas does not diffuse into the substrate manufacturing apparatus.

When the time required for the ultraviolet irradiation processing on the substrate W has elapsed, the exhaust gas from the exhaust port 131 is maximized to completely discharge the ozone gas remaining in the exhaust cover 127 and the dielectric barrier discharge lamp 41. Turn off. Then, the lamp arm 87 is moved to the standby position.

Here, also in this embodiment, since the dielectric barrier discharge lamp 41 which is stable in a short time after lighting is used and the dielectric barrier discharge lamp 41 is turned off after the ultraviolet irradiation processing is completed, It is possible to prevent a phenomenon in which ozone gas is generated due to ultraviolet rays leaked from the opening 125 of the exhaust cover 127 to the outside.

When the step of irradiating the substrate W with ultraviolet rays is completed, the process moves to the step of cleaning the substrate W with the cleaning brush 83.

First, the rotation speed of the support base 99 that is currently rotating at 20 rpm is increased, and the substrate W held on the support base 99 is increased.
Is rotated at a rotation speed of about 300 rpm. And
By supplying pure water as a cleaning liquid to the surface of the substrate W from the plurality of spray nozzles 89, the surface of the substrate W is rinsed with pure water.

Next, as shown by the solid line in FIG. 11, the brush arm 85 is moved to a position where the cleaning brush 83 is opposed to the rotation center C of the substrate W, and then the cleaning brush 83 is rotated. The lower end is lowered to a position where it comes into contact with the surface of the substrate W. And the brush arm 85
Between the position where the cleaning brush 83 indicated by the solid line in FIG. 11 faces the rotation center C of the substrate W and the position where the cleaning brush 83 faces the end of the support base 99 indicated by the alternate long and short dash line. Move back and forth twice. As a result, the rotating substrate W is cleaned over the entire surface of the substrate W by the cleaning brush 83 that is in sliding contact therewith, and particles adhering to the surface of the substrate W are removed.

In parallel with the cleaning of the front surface of the substrate W by the cleaning brush 31, pure water is supplied to the back surface of the substrate W by a back surface rinsing mechanism (not shown) to clean and contaminate the front surface of the substrate W. It prevents the pure water and the like from wrapping around to the back surface of the substrate W. The supply of pure water to the back surface of the substrate W is continued until immediately before the step of drying the substrate W described later. Also,
The pure water used for cleaning the substrate W is prevented from scattering by the inner cup 91, collected in the collection container 93 of the processing chamber 95, and discharged to the outside.

When the cleaning with the cleaning brush 83 is completed, the brush arm 85 is moved to the standby position and the process of drying the substrate W is started.

In this step, the rotation speed of the substrate W is increased to about 2000 to 2500 rpm, the pure water attached to the substrate W is shaken off by the centrifugal force, and the substrate W is dried. At this time, the supply of pure water to the back surface of the substrate W is stopped, and instead of this, the nozzle 10 is replaced.
By blowing nitrogen gas onto the central portion of the back surface of the substrate W from 2, the drying of the substrate W is promoted.

When the processing of the substrate W is completed, the rotation of the support base 99 in the spin chuck 81 is stopped. And
The substrate W is processed by the main transfer device 29 of the substrate manufacturing apparatus.
The wafer W is unloaded and the cleaning process of the substrate W is completed.

Also in the above-described second embodiment, as in the first embodiment, the dielectric barrier discharge lamp 41 for irradiating vacuum ultraviolet rays having a short reach in the air atmosphere is placed in the lamp box 119 purged with nitrogen gas. The substrate W is radiated with vacuum ultraviolet rays from the dielectric barrier discharge lamp 41 via the quartz plate 117 arranged close to the surface of the substrate W. Therefore, the vacuum ultraviolet rays from the dielectric barrier discharge lamp 41 are applied to the surface of the substrate W, but do not reach the outside of the substrate processing apparatus 80. Also,
Since the exhaust cover 127 that surrounds the outer circumference of the lamp box 119 is provided and the gas inside the exhaust cover 127 is exhausted from the exhaust port 131, ozone gas generated by vacuum ultraviolet rays does not leak to the outside of the substrate processing apparatus 80. Absent.

Therefore, by installing this substrate processing apparatus 80 in place of the spin scrubber 17 in the substrate manufacturing apparatus, the same functions as when the spin scrubber 17 and the ultraviolet irradiation device are provided side by side. Therefore, the substrate processing apparatus 80
Therefore, it is possible to eliminate the need for a special installation space and a transfer process.

In the first and second embodiments described above,
The case where the present invention is applied to a substrate processing apparatus that processes a rectangular glass substrate W for a liquid crystal panel has been described, but the present invention is similarly applied to a substrate processing apparatus that processes a semiconductor wafer. It is possible to

[0095]

According to the first to sixth aspects of the present invention, vacuum ultraviolet rays are applied to the substrate by an ultraviolet lamp housed in a lamp box supplied with a gas having no ultraviolet absorption band contributing to the processing of the substrate. Since it is configured to irradiate
UV rays can be prevented from reaching the outside. For this reason, this substrate processing apparatus can be installed side by side with the substrate transfer unit and other processing units in the substrate manufacturing apparatus without providing a dedicated processing chamber for ultraviolet irradiation processing. Therefore, it is possible to eliminate a dedicated space and a carrying process.

Further , since the exhaust cover and the exhaust port for discharging gas from the inside of the exhaust cover are further provided,
It is possible to prevent the ozone gas generated in the exhaust cover from being diffused to the outside by the irradiation of ultraviolet rays.

According to the sixth aspect of the invention, since the dielectric barrier discharge lamp which is stable in a short time after lighting is used as the ultraviolet lamp, the lamp is turned off except the time required for the ultraviolet irradiation treatment. It is possible to prevent the generation of ozone due to ultraviolet rays during non-treatment.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a substrate manufacturing apparatus to which a substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a front view of a substrate manufacturing apparatus to which the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention is applied.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing a first embodiment of the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a first embodiment of the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing a modified example of the substrate processing apparatus.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing a delivery state of substrates.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing a modified example of the substrate processing apparatus.

FIG. 8 is a plan view showing a modified example of the substrate processing apparatus.

FIG. 9 is a plan view showing a modified example of the substrate processing apparatus.

FIG. 10 is a front view showing a second embodiment of the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a plan view showing a second embodiment of the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a sectional view of a lamp arm.

13 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG.

FIG. 14 is a cross-sectional view showing a modified example of the lamp arm.

[Explanation of symbols]

40 Substrate processing equipment 41 Dielectric barrier discharge lamp 43 Lamp cover 45 quartz plate 47 lamp box 49 inlet 51 outlet 53 openings 55 Exhaust cover 57 convex 59 recess 61 Exhaust port 63 Support pin 80 Substrate processing equipment 81 Spin chuck 83 Cleaning brush 85 brush arm 87 lamp arm 99 support 103 Support pin 115 lamp cover 117 quartz plate 119 lamp box 121 Inlet 123 outlet 125 openings 127 exhaust cover 131 Exhaust port W board

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A 61-67920 (JP, A) JP-A 9-199459 (JP, A) JP-A 5-226262 (JP, A) JP-A 4- 206723 (JP, A) JP-A-1-206630 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H01L 21/304 H01L 21/3065

Claims (6)

(57) [Claims] 1. A substrate processing apparatus for irradiating a substrate with ultraviolet rays to process the substrate, the substrate supporting means for supporting the substrate, and an ultraviolet lamp for irradiating the substrate supported by the substrate with vacuum ultraviolet rays. A lamp box having a lamp cover and an ultraviolet ray transmitting plate and housing the ultraviolet ray lamp in an airtight state; and a gas supply for supplying a gas having no ultraviolet ray absorption band contributing to the processing of the substrate into the lamp box. Means, an exhaust cover surrounding the outer circumference of the lamp box and provided with an opening on the side facing the substrate supported by the substrate supporting means, and an exhaust port for exhausting gas from the inside of the exhaust cover. , In front of the UV transmission plate in the lamp box
Arranged so as to face the substrate supported by the substrate supporting means.
In addition, the exhaust cover should be
A pair of an external line transmission plate and a substrate supported by the substrate supporting means.
A substrate processing apparatus, which is arranged so as to surround a facing region . 2. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1.
Te, features are Ru substrate processing apparatus to the transfer portion receiving and transferring the substrates between two transport device for transporting the substrate. 3. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the back surface of the substrate is irradiated with ultraviolet rays. 4. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1.
And a cleaning mechanism that supplies cleaning liquid to the substrate
That the substrate treatment device. 5. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the substrate supporting means is composed of a spin chuck that rotatably supports the substrate. 6. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the ultraviolet lamp is a dielectric barrier discharge lamp.